Opinions Yet Again Creep Into Journalism: Boy Calls 911 In Attempt To Avoid Bedtime

I was reading this article about a Massachusetts boy who called 911 in an attempt to avoid his bedtime and was reminded of how opinions sometimes creep into journalism. I’d give you the background, but I pretty much already did. The 10-year old boy didn’t want to go to bed when his mom wanted him to and he called the cops.

So where does the opinion come in? Well, the article states that: “There was no emergency.” If that isn’t opinion, I don’t know what is (and I might not).

Certainly, this was a case where there was not an appropriate emergency that justified calling 911. However, is it strictly true that there wasn’t an emergency? Or, was it just the case that there was not an emergency from the perspective of the journalist (as well as the police and most adults)?

Personally, I wouldn’t have called this an emergency, but I’m not this particular little boy. His mom was forcing him to go to bed, right then. He didn’t want to go to bed. It seems like this could count as an emergency for him. Absent assistance, he was probably going to have to go to bed at that point.

Now, I am not saying that this boy should have called the cops…but whether or not there was an emergency depends on your perspective. As such, stating that there was not an emergency amounts to an opinion. Just saying.