No, you can't diddle the definition of dependent that way. Of course, it's not your issue, you can definitely not claim your child if you don't want to. It's your child who gets in trouble, or not, for checking the box, or not.
If your child has income from working, then if they check the boxes for "I can be claimed as a dependent" and "the person who could claim me won't claim me" they may be eligible for some of the AOTC.
