Unruly schoolboys or sex offenders?

Absolute insanity, I've been following this case on other sites.

I consider things like this as something of a bellweather for how sick the culture is getting, and when we have kids facing 10 years for a slap on the butt, and getting registered as sex offenders for getting caught playing doctor, the culture is very sick indeed.

Terminally so, in my opinion

so who wants part of the zero tolerence for zero tolerence policies?

this has gotten way out of control...we do not need little mindless robots out there.
EVERY situation is different but IMO, no matter how you look at this, it is an over reaction...the kids already did 5 days...

the parents have already had to dish out TEN THOUSAND dollars in legal fees.

so we have to look at that as well. along with ruining these kids lives, more than likely it is going to bankrupt the parents too.

way to go justice system...instead of a lecture in maybe an in school detention, they ruin a couple kids lives, possibly have them face prison, possibly bankrupt the parents, and possibly have teh kids on a sex offender list...

yeah, thats the way to have a healthy society


remember back a few months ago this guy was convicted for like his 8th time on molestation charges and the judge gave the guy probation instead of jail cause the judge thought he was 'too small and weak' for prison.the hell man?

Ok - I'll step up as Devil's Advocate here:

A factor not mentioned that might have been influential in the rather "harsh" sentence and cuffing of the young boys:

The young mens attitudes towards the entire affair.

Perhaps they were the standard "but I always get away with everything", "don't you know who my (insert relative here) is" or "whatever" types of young men whose fathers don't make much of a presence in home disciplinarian issues, does not present a positive role model, or isn't even there.

Or, perhaps: the kinds of kids who believe that their good looks, material affluence of their parents, and so on, is enough to justify any act of indiscretion they may have.

(I'm the first to admit I don't know the background of these kids and there are very few such details in cases involving minors anyway - remember, news is all "about the shock value", right?)

Back to point:

Perhaps the officers stepped in to levy a punishment that really broke through these kids egos and self righteous worldviews (if they indeed had one to begin with) and really drive the lesson home?

I don't know about these young men in particular, but there is an alarming trend in the cavaliier attitudes and liberties taken by todays youth that far surpasses anything my generation ever dreamed up...and this is coming from a girl who when she went to school in the second grade avoided wearing dresses on Friday because it was the day all the creative young boys would run around flipping the skirts of girls up over their heads.

Now granted, that's second grade and many eons ago...but if the trends of aggression, sexual promiscuity and bullying in the schoolyard these days is anything compared to what I've seen online....well, I can't blame the generations above me for getting a little heavy handed in their judgement calls.

Catch them while they're young - levy a harsh punishment, drive the lesson home. CERTAIN BEHAVIOR WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

I can't say for sure, I wasn't there. Just a thought concerning the missing details of this news snippet. Not claiming I'm right, or saying this is my ultimate opinion and conclusion on the issue (like I said, I don't have enough of the details to come to a conclusion)...just playing the Devil's Advocate to see how the soup thickens.

Now, I know this is going to get me a lot of flak from some members out there - and, forgive the fact that I may not be able to attend this post as lovingly as I do my daily routine and real world responsibilities...but flame away if you so desire...flame away, flame away.

[edit on 25-7-2007 by GENERAL EYES]

I think the problem is that there is a police officer stationed in the school, at least that's what the article says. Normally I think this type of thing would go to a principal and the principal would discipline the students with detention, expulsion, whatever. But since there is a police officer stationed in the school and he was present for the questioning he must have determined that their actions broke the law and as a police officer he must arrest them. The problem seems to be that schools cannot separate inappropriate actions from criminal actions anymore. Kids do stupid things at school and they always will. We have to come up with a better system that doesn't involve running to the police every time a kid screws up.

[edit on 25-7-2007 by zerotime]

Originally posted by GENERAL EYES
Ok - I'll step up as Devil's Advocate here:


Perhaps they were the standard "but I always get away with everything", "don't you know who my (insert relative here) is"

perhaps....i dount it though...watch the video...kids don't strike me as such and even if they were like that, 5 days in dh is a bit much. these sexual charges and the time they face is way, way too much...

even if they were acting like little pricks which nothing in the article indicates at all.
on the contrary. the 'victims' seem to be saying they felt forced to give statements and did not feel threatened at all.

they are trying to promote a society of robots.



keep your distance lincoln 6 echo and jordan 2 delta......no touching. remember the rules of 'the island'

Originally posted by zerotime
The problem seems to be that schools cannot separate inappropriate actions from criminal actions anymore. Kids do stupid things at school and they always will. We have to come up with a better system that doesn't involve running to the police every time a kid screws up.

i very much agree with this...the police do not need to be involved in every damn situation....how can 13 year olds face 10 years for patting an ass and a multiple, adult molestor can get off with probation?

"the united states is a nation of laws, badly written and randomly enforced" FZ

I'm not at all comfortable with the way the law is working in conjunction with the government (schools) to usurp the authority of parents. This matter should never have the law involved! The school should have meted some punishment (detention or suspension) and let the parents know and then the parents could handle it.

This kind of thing is happening far too often where the school calls the law instead of the parents.

I don't like where this is going... I'm glad I don't have kids in the public school system.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I don't like where this is going... I'm glad I don't have kids in the public school system.

You aren't the only one. The people bringing kids into todays western society do not know what society they are bringing people into. The bit that i think should be addressed is the double standard, that applies to boys and girls. Especially as girls grow up much faster than boys.

Boondock - I must be missing the video url somewhere.

If you could refresh it, it would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Catch them while they're young - levy a harsh punishment, drive the lesson home. CERTAIN BEHAVIOR WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

I agree here to a certain point. While we shouldent be sending kids to prison for slapping another kids butt there are cases where we need to come down hard ex. fights that result in serious injuries, robberies, etc. It makes no sense to me that the kid who slaps another kids but get the possibility of prison yet the kid who goes around beating people up and robbing them and committing other serious offenses either just gets probation or isent even punished at all. It really baffles me.

Heres a story of mine. When I was in middle school and the early part of high school (well say around 2002/2003ish) there was a kid in my class who had a habit of going around and trying to burn down the school, shoot bb guns at the bus drivers and school workers while hiding in the creek bed behind the school. Time and again they would give him detention, in school suspension, etc and finally one day he planted a bomb (yes a real bomb) inside the school in one of the bathrooms. The bomb was discovered by another student who told a teacher and then the police department's Emergency Services Unit came and disarmed the bomb after the school was evacuated. Being that he was an idiot he went around bragging how it was him and blah blah blah so he gets arrested. Now this kid but a live working bomb (of course crudely made) and guess what, our justice system in all its wisdom just gives him 2 years of probation and orders him moved to another district's high school (meaning the taxpayers pay for a bus to come and pick him up everyday and take him to another school district's high school).

Needless to say, its now 2007 and the same kid is still running around. Now hes advanced to become a drug dealer and he still runs around robbing people and fighting, etc. Sometimes I really feel like I need to go vigilante because the existing police and judicial systems clearly are not working. I realize that probation is necessary because of our overcrowded correctional facilities (and no its not just because of drugs, alot of it is related to gangs as well) but we need more of a deterrent for minors who commit crimes, where I live the sheriff's office serves 1.5 million people and the juvenile wing at the county jail (sheriff handles juvenile corrections in NY counties) can only hold about 30 people in custody at a given time and they have to have males and females in separate sections, mentally disabled have to be held in their own cells, etc so its tough.

Ongoing news disussion...

Here:

www.belowtopsecret.com...

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