Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

Two twelve year old boys in New York have been arrested after they allegedly pushed a shopping cart off of a building, which struck a mother in the head and put her into a coma.  Reports are that the two miscreants were joking and laughing as they were led away.

I thought there was little left in the world that would shock me, but yet again, I was wrong.

Look, I've played pranks in my day.  The culmination was probably the night two friends and I tied a rope around a mannequin and hung it from a highway overpass somewhere in the wilds of North Dakota.  If I recall correctly, that one required a county sheriff to pull off the road and investigate.  No-one got hurt, and other than a police officer who had to get out of his warm cruiser on a crisp late October evening, no-one was inconvenienced.

Here we have these two twits who think it's cool to push shopping carts off the side of buildings onto crowded sidewalks.  Since they're only 12, I assume they'll be tried as juveniles, which means at best they'll get a slap on the backside and told to not do it again.  Their parents will go on the nightly news and cry about how their kids were just confused and out for a bit of fun, and how sorry they really were.  When shown footage of their sons smiling for the cameras and not looking remorseful at all, the term "your lying eyes" will probably be uttered in some form.

I had a conversation with both Little Bear and Junior when they turned 12 or so, and I'm due to have it with Girlie Bear.  Basically, it summed up how they could get into trouble that I couldn't help them with, and their chances if they were ever arrested.  To put it in a nutshell, if they find themselves in jail, I suggest they get comfortable, because I'm not bailing them out.  It matters little to me whether or not they actually did what they are accused of, or if it was a friend that got them into trouble.  Simply being in a situation that might bring the attention of Officer Friendly is reason enough for them to spend a night in jail.

Junior got through high school without an arrest record, and things are looking good for Little Bear.  Hopefully their sister and little brother follow in their footsteps.

Something has changed in our children, and for the life of me, I can't figure out what it is.  Whatever it is, we, as parents, need to find and eliminate it. 

7 comments:

bluesun said...

What has changed is that more parents don't see the need to find what's wrong.

Matt said...

It sounds to me like the nearest full-grown male relative of this woman that is in the prime of his life needs to be allowed about 10 minutes alone with each of these worthless punks to beat the holy crap out of 'em. Anything else ( minus an outright killing ) is too good for them.

Irish said...

That is absolutely disgusting. I can't even imagine having that phone call come in. Those two kids are animals that should be treated as such as well as their parents...
Absolutely horrible.

Ruth said...

Parents are refusing to see the problems when they're small enough to be correctable. Or they don't correct the problem they see because "he's just a kid" or "I couldn't punish him for that", or some such. Then their teenager drops a shopping cart on a mother out shopping for the fun of it. And people wonder why I can't stand kids (with very few exceptions).

Bryan Reavis said...

Part of the problem is the "child protection" arm of the .gov has bought into the idea that pain is the same as harm. At a certain age a properly administerd spanking is the best training tool a parent has.

But no, corporal punishment has gone the way of the dodo. Too wrapped up in junior's "self-esteem", not paying enough attention to his self-respect.

"PISSED said... Those two kids are animals that should be treated as such as well as their parents..."

I dunno PISSED, people usually live up to the way you treat them. Treat them like animals and that's what they act like. Which sounds like what actually happened here. No one required these boys to act like the responsible young men that they were to become and instead indulged them in whatever whims struck their fancy. As a result they may have killed a person and think nothing of it.

You don't blame a puppy for not being housebroken if you never bother to train them not to piddle on the rug.

Ruth said...

Rauobjorn: When the puppy piddles on the carpet cause he doesn't know better, you deal, but when the 100lb dog does it you better find a solution in a hurry.

These kids are old enough to have a better than basic understanding of right, wrong, and the consequences thereof. Obviously they've never been taught better yes, but teaching them better now is going to require a LOT more effort than it would have when they were two, and I will be EXTREAMLY surprised if the parents show ANY inclination to do so. (I've been wrong about that a couple times, but not often.)

The parents are responsible for the minor child's actions and (unless I'm wrong, see last sentence) these parents have shown that they can't or won't. I totally agree with PISSED. Maybe if the authorities start punishing the parents with the child someone will get a clue.

Bryan Reavis said...

Ruth,
I agree wholeheartedly that both the children and their parents (if you can really call them that) should be punished for their actions. What I do not agree with is the need to demonize them. The more one de-humanizes an opponent the more likely one is to treat them as less than human.

I agree that a solution needs to be found, but the one that would be used for an animal is one I consider unacceptable.

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