Is this the way it is now?

[mimitabby]

Yes, it's not just kids today; but the same rules apply.
My mother and her brother got into all sorts of mischief.
my father used his dead brother's birth certificate and got married when he was 17.

I agree kids should be made accountable, but let the punishment fit the crime.

[Aggie_Ama]

I think the punishment for breaking into someone's house should be pretty stiff. I mean just because they obtained the key they still broke in. It is up to the home owners but I wouldn't take this lightly.

I was raised to respect others property, appreciate what I was given and try to stay out of trouble. The respect and appreciation came from having a father who was shuffled through the foster system until he was finally adopted at 7 and a mother who came from a family of limited means. I had a charmed life (nice house, good schools, plenty of toys) and I knew I should be thankful. We always volunteered, picked out a Blue Santa toy at Christmas and would have been spanked for treating anyone the way teens treat me. I can still remember the stinging butt from telling my Nanny I didn't need to pick up some trash I dropped because there was a lady sweeping and she was paid to do that. I am only 27 and appalled by what I see lately. I try to focus on the polite, kind teenagers I meet so I don't get too cynical about the state of humanity!

[aly]

I'm a public defender and I've been representing juveniles for awhile now. I think there are many excellent kids out there and a lot of them make really stupid (and often dangerous) decisions. There are also some very bad kids out there, too. This is likely the way it has always been- but now, where I work (Los Angeles), there is also the whole issue of gangs and gang-violence- now that's a whole different bad. Most of us never had to deal with anything like that as a kid.

The whole juvenile justice system is out of whack. Kids are often treated too harshly, their lives are marked and opportunities go away, others need so much more than they get. Often it seems the parent(s) are the kids main problem, oftentimes it is the lack of parenting. Many times, it's just the kid's inability to think things through. Brains don't work the same for teenagers- really, it's science.

Things that many kids did when I was young, are charged as felonies now. Shoplifting- a felony, a fight at school- a felony, and so on. Many studies have been conducted that basically show that the juvi system doesn't really make much of a difference. If the kid is going to straighten up, they'll probably do it on their own. If they're destined to live a "life of crime", it'll probably happen no matter what steps the court system takes. Of course, there are exceptions. I think I'm a little tired of my line of work...

At least out here, it's up to the police and the DA to file charges. The "victim" or complaining witness can urge action, but they don't "file" charges, contrary to what most people believe. They also can't "drop" charges once they're filed.

I'm glad the parents are willing to try to do what they can to make up for the kid's actions, but I wonder how the parents are dealing with their child.

[Tuckervill]

Yesterday at my son's state tournament, we sat near some teenage girls, who attracted various teenage boys to their picnic table. We shook our heads a lot at the shenanigans, but I didn't speak until one of the girls unwrapped a piece of candy, decided she didn't want it, and went out of her way to toss it onto the paved walking path 20 feet from her.

I had to look directly through her to see the field from where I was sitting, so I could see that she just was trying to get rid of it and it made sense to her to put it on the pavement instead of in the grass (??).

It looked like a piece of Bazooka gum. Flat, rectangular and pink. So I spoke up across the 10 yards that separated us, and said, "Are you just going to leave that there, on the pavement?" She said, "It's just a piece of candy."
So I said, "You're just going to leave it there to melt on the pavement so someone can step on it and get it stuck on their shoe? The trash can is over there." and I pointed.

She got up and put it in the trash can, finally. She was so nonchalant about it, and non-giggly about putting it on the pavement, I'm inclined to think she really did just think it was a good idea to leave it there on the pavement instead of putting it in the trash. Even the grass would have been better.

But now I'm thinking, since I've slept, that maybe she's melted gum on the sidewalk so many times before, intentionally, that she just gets the satisfaction of doing it, and seeing someone step in it, and she doesn't have to get so giggly about it beforehand and show off for her friends. Maybe one of the boys dared her to do it. Maybe she's just evil.

Nah.

Karen

I think the punishment for breaking into someone's house should be pretty stiff. I mean just because they obtained the key they still broke in. It is up to the home owners but I wouldn't take this lightly.

I was raised to respect others property, appreciate what I was given and try to stay out of trouble. The respect and appreciation came from having a father who was shuffled through the foster system until he was finally adopted at 7 and a mother who came from a family of limited means. I had a charmed life (nice house, good schools, plenty of toys) and I knew I should be thankful. We always volunteered, picked out a Blue Santa toy at Christmas and would have been spanked for treating anyone the way teens treat me. I can still remember the stinging butt from telling my Nanny I didn't need to pick up some trash I dropped because there was a lady sweeping and she was paid to do that. I am only 27 and appalled by what I see lately. I try to focus on the polite, kind teenagers I meet so I don't get too cynical about the state of humanity!