my parents wont let me go into law enforcement, what sort of action should I take? answer greatly appreaciated

Question

Ever since my parents can remember, i've been wanting to be a cop or wanting to go into law enforcement. Watching Cops with my dad at the age of 6 , all my toy cars were police vehicles, and i dreamed of being a police officer, fbi agent, or something related with law enforcement.


Now im at the age of 15, going to be a sophmore at high school, and its almost time to decide my career path. My family is middle-high class and im a teenage boy.

Now my dad has left overseas as he owns a company and had to move with them. I am left with my uncle and mother.
They tell me soooo much that i am not allowed to go into law enforcement, that i will get killed, that im an only child. The main reason is the pay. My family is sort of wealthy and they say you can barely make ends meet being a cop. Im not neccesarily looking to be a cop, maybe being a cop while i do my bachelors then apply for being a fbi agent..


how do i approach my family?

why do some people point out every mistake? as one answer stated that im a typical teen and change my answers. the reason i said i dont want to be neccesarily a cop is because my parents say the pay is low and terrible. so i thought maybe a few years of that and then i move on higher and higher to other law enforcement jobs. just because your mom didnt pamper you enough when you were younger doesnt really mean you can take it out on 15 year olds trying to get their future set.

thanks for the answers. i speak 2 languages fluently. english , punjabi, and have been getting private classes for spanish for a couple years now. my grades are decent and i am looking forward to college. thanks a bunch guys

Answer 1

sometimes you gotta learn to swin with no life guard. - lil wayne

Answer 2

my daughter wanted to be a homicide detective but was told she had to become a police officer first, so she became a cadet for our local police dept at age 16. In the state of California you are a cadet between the ages of 16 to 21 and cannot be sworn in as an officer until you are 21. So she went that path, she tried it, and decided that was not what she wanted after all, so maybe you should tell your parents about this program and maybe they should let you give it a try, you may decide that is not what you want, and if not, you can still have that to put on a resume. I also know someone who was a cadet for 6 years and is now a corrections officer. There are so many opportunity's in law enforcement, you dont have to be a police officer. Your parents should be proud of you that your not on the other end of the law. Its good experience and I think you should try to per sue it. GOOD LUCK!!

Answer 3

I am sorry that this is a difficulty. As a 15 year old you do need to obey your parents, you are a minor and they have authority over you, it is the law. Please remember that you are young and your desires for a career might change. Your idea of going to work for the FBI is rather convenient this way because FBI agents are required to be fully educated, I believe they need to be either fully accredited lawyers or accountants and to achieve this level you will acquire a good education. Education is a great tool for expanding your possibilities. Often people enter college intending on one career but become exposed to some new field of study that captures their imagination and their attention and they develop a new, lifelong passion of study. If you acquired a law or accounting degree you would be very well equipped for a successful career. Law enforcement is a fine career. It is a totally respectable form of employment and if I were a parent I would be proud to have a child in that career.

Answer 4

I'd suggest looking into pay for officers in your area, since that is one of their concerns. I know that the pay in my area is pretty decent, and pays more than many other jobs. You should also look into statistics for the local agencies to see how dangerous the job really is. My current understanding is that officers are more likely to be killed by a car accident than a shooting, while on duty. This might be surprising to your family. I think that if you do your research and learn all you can about the career and present that to your family, they will see that you're serious, and hopefully will be more supportive. Ultimately you have to be happy, so you have to do what you want in life. One thing to consider is that many agencies require you to be 21 before you can join...what will you do for the few years between high school and turning 21? If you have a well thought out plan, have looked into all the details, and still have the passion to go for it, I doubt anyone can stop you.

Answer 5

I have three boys, the middle is 9 years old. Since he could talk, wants to be a fighter-jet pilot. There is nothing that is changing his mind. He reads books and watches war movies all the time. He will be what he will be. There is nothing his father or I can do about that. I would be happy if he changed his mind, but proud if he followed threw with his dream.

Being a mom I understand your parents point of view and I don't want to condone your actions. You are 15 years old and have 2-3 years of high school left. I would recommend you drop the subject until graduation. I'm not saying you will change your mind, but if mentioned again when you are 18, your mom and dad may be less hesitant to reject your decision and may understand how important this is to you.

Good luck to you. E-mail me if you need anything else.

Answer 6

One minute you say that you have always wanted to be a cop since you were young then you change asn day Im not neccesarily looking to be a cop? it sounds to me you just want to do cause adults are telling you not to .. that is what teens do best... I know I did myself.. doing something my adults didnt want me to do. You say one thing but change the next, are you really sure you want to do this since you apparently have written you are not neccesarily looking to be a cop but going for a bachelors or an fbi agent. Try checking out the agent info or other related cop fields that make just as much but may not be as dangerous so your adults in the family wont freak.

Answer 7

um, first you gotta understand that 99% of the time, what is on cops is not what we are doing. second. if your 15, start getting involved with the department, see if you can go on ride alongs. try to convince your parents that if you look deeper into the job that you might consider another carrear path. you seem to have your head on straight, with the right ideas regauding college. if your school has a school resource officer, talk to him/her about law enforcment. but once you turn 18 your parents have no say in what you want to do with your life, even though they usually control the funding for school. (tip) take spanish as much as you can in high school and college. you will need it. and when you turn 21 you can apply for the acadmey, and if your parents feel that you are still making a mistake, then it is their problem...
police officers dont make a TON of money, but i make enough along with my financee to have a fairly middle class life.

Answer 8

I suggest asking the same question in a few years, I always wanted to be an astronaut but then realized I wanted to do something else later in life. I now exactly how you feel, religion and study has helped me to realize, in such situations, being so selfish will get you nothing. Lets say you become a cop, then your mom and uncle hate you, so what right, but that will hurt you too. But I admire someone knowing what they want to do early in life. You should keep some dreams and lose some dreams to reality. I am not saying to lose your dream of being a cop, because a good person tries to keep all their good dreams.

Answer 9

Tell them that you appreciate their concerns in regards to your future. But you wont ever truly be happy unless you are able to make money(no matter how little the paycheck) the way that you want. Ask them to be openmided about your dreams. Inform them that Although you will keep an open mind to other careers, you would like to start off with being a polic eofficer. Explain to them you would liek to work your way up to an fbi agent and let them know it's really important for you to know you have their support as yo ufollow your dreams. Remind them that they were young once and had dreams of their own....

Answer 10

I wouldn't approach them at all. I would wait until I was of legal age to get into the academy (or whatever it's called) and I would just do it. Follow your passion. Don't let them decide your future for you. You will be miserable for the rest of your life and everytime you pass a cop on the street, or see a cop somewhere you will hate your family. Once I became of age (I guess it's 18) I would just go!!! You have been wanting this since a little kid. Go for it!

Answer 11

You're going to have to come to your own answer of what to do. If you hesitate now, struggling with this problem that's not life threatening, imagine how you would be facing an armed perpetrator with a hostage! The FBI has their own academy and don't need prior law enforcement experience, though its good for points. Call the academy or their recruitment office.