--- 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Police Quickly Helped This Fifth-Grader With Her Math Homework Emergency > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 21, 2017 6:54 PM UTC  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](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Feb 21, 2017 6:54 PM UTC 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/) – 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/), 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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