--- title: Police for Math Homework Help Call Response description: A precocious fifth-grader reached out to her local police for help with her math homework, with a surprising response from the officers. canonical: https://time.com/4677088/police-math-homework-help/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-21T18:54:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:41:16.155Z og:title: Police Helped This Girl With Her Math Homework Emergency og:description: Here's how they responded og:url: https://time.com/4677088/police-math-homework-help/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a46fcf8285b15d1/6988bb2586f68e4fa96e394a/police-help-homework.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2/12/98 - PHOTOG: Sarah L. Voisin, FTWP 1310 S. Pollard St. Arlington, VA home of the Flaherty Famil og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Police Helped This Girl With Her Math Homework Emergency twitter:description: Here's how they responded twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a46fcf8285b15d1/6988bb2586f68e4fa96e394a/police-help-homework.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Police Quickly Helped This Fifth-Grader With Her Math Homework Emergency  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 21, 2017 6:54 PM CUT  2/12/98 - PHOTOG: Sarah L. Voisin, FTWP 1310 S. Pollard St. Arlington, VA home of the Flaherty Family DESCRIPTION: Mike and Sabra Flaherty and sons Joseph, 11, Kyle, 8, and daughter Hannah, 5, have been battling with the Arlington school authorities for months over changes in rules for special education students, which may force them to move or find more money for special programs for the sons, who have mild learning disabilities. - Mike and Sabra Flaherty work closely with their children on their homework for about two hours every day. They usually work an hour in the evening completing homework and then another hour in the morning before school, studying for tests and spelling bees. Mike Flaherty says the boys need that extra time in the morning to help them to remeber what they learned. Sabra Flaherty says, ' You need to be right over them to direct their attention back to what they are doing. It is very rare for them to do it on their own.' Sabra Flaherty helps her son Kyle, 8, with his math problems. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post/Getty Images) 2/12/98 - PHOTOG: Sarah L. Voisin, FTWP 1310 S. Pollard St. Arlington, VA home of the Flaherty Family DESCRIPTION: Mike and Sabra Flaherty and sons Joseph, 11, Kyle, 8, and daughter Hannah, 5, have been battling with the Arlington school authorities for months over changes in rules for special education students, which may force them to move or find more money for special programs for the sons, who have mild learning disabilities. - Mike and Sabra Flaherty work closely with their children on their homework for about two hours every day. They usually work an hour in the evening completing homework and then another hour in the morning before school, studying for tests and spelling bees. Mike Flaherty says the boys need that extra time in the morning to help them to remeber what they learned. Sabra Flaherty says, ' You need to be right over them to direct their attention back to what they are doing. It is very rare for them to do it on their own.' Sabra Flaherty helps her son Kyle, 8, with his math problems. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post/Getty Images)The Washington Post—Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 21, 2017 6:54 PM CUT A precocious fifth-grade girl in Marion, Ohio turned to her local police for help with [math homework](http://time.com/3755573/homework-teens-how-much-math-science/ "undefined") – and not only did the police respond, but they attempted to guide her through her equation. Lena Draper, 10, messaged Marion Police Department on Facebook, asking for help with her math assignment and surprisingly, police department lieutenant B.J. Gruber, who runs the page, answered her by advising that Draper work from left to right on her problem, solving the work within the parentheses first. Draper’s mother, Molly, found the Facebook exchanges between Lena and the police, and shared screenshots of it on Facebook, where it quickly went viral with more than 2.6 million shares. In an interview with [_CBS News_](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fifth-grader-asks-police-for-help-with-math-homework-and-this-was-their-response/ "undefined"), Molly Draper said that the kind response from the police was not surprising to her. “I was happy, but not surprised that they responded so quickly,” Draper said. “They are wonderful with their communication with the community.” As some users pointed out, some of the officer’s math advice was incorrect, but Lieutenant Gruber hopes that people will remember that “it is truly the thought that counts.” See the full post below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4677088/police-math-homework-help/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4677088/police-math-homework-help/"},"headline":"Police Quickly Helped This Fifth-Grader With Her Math Homework Emergency","datePublished":"2017-02-21T18:54:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:41:16.155Z","description":"A precocious fifth-grader reached out to her local police for help with her math homework, with a surprising response from the officers.","url":"https://time.com/4677088/police-math-homework-help/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","kids","Humor","Funny","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a46fcf8285b15d1/6988bb2586f68e4fa96e394a/police-help-homework.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a46fcf8285b15d1/6988bb2586f68e4fa96e394a/police-help-homework.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2/12/98 - PHOTOG: Sarah L. 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