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Be careful out there

Interesting about the family connections thing. I hope they don't draw a soft judge who falls for an "affluenza" defense.

I agree with the comments in the stories in that I hate to see a 16 y/o's whole life ruined. That said, everything in the news stories pretty strongly points to deliberate harassment. If that's the case, there need to be consequences. But that's what juries are for, assuming it goes to court and a jury is involved (I believe there was no jury in the affluenza teen trial). At least in my personal experience, juries do a pretty good job getting it right.

I'm betting that drivers ed classes spend very little time talking about adult responsibilities & adult consequences, things that are inherent in driving.

Anyhow, with or without criminal charges, assume that there will be lawsuits filed as well.
 
I'm all for ruining a 16 year olds life. Just make sure it gets a ton of publicity. Hopefully it'll discourage the other irresponsible 16 year olds. Gotta make an example out of some one.

This actually brings up something I've thought of rather recently. We really ought to settle on a single age of majority. I'm not advocating any particular age, but before it you're a child, after you're an adult. That includes driving, drinking, smoking, voting, and military service. Sure would simplify things.
 
I agree with the comments in the stories in that I hate to see a 16 y/o's whole life ruined.
Comments like that tend to pop up when the perp is a wealthy white kid.

There are 16yo's getting their lives quietly ruined for less across the country today, but they are in different tax brackets and ethnic groups than this kid.

I'm with William. Seems like a good time to make a very public example.
 
Testosterone makes kids do stupid stuff. I've partaken in my fair share of irresponsible and dangerous stuff just not endangering others for a goof. I'm very much for harsh punishment in this case. But I also believe the kid needs a chance at pulling himself out of a completely ruined future. What his punishment should be is something I'm not creative enough to come up with. But a long probation with lots of community service should be part of it.
 
So then why haven't there been any aggravated assault charges brought? Seems a dereliction of duty on the part of the prosecutors.
I think jarrett hit the nail on the head. If you get called to a bar fight, you’re expecting to see assaults, so you’re guided to investigate in a certain manner, and will likely find testimony to prove the assault charges. If you’re called to a collision, even between a bicycle and a car, the officers probably are already in ‘clear the wreck’ mode, and may not be putting together an assault investigation on the scene.

The special prosecutor appointment is a promising sign, and probably means bad juju ahead for the teenager. For all that I hated Harris County’s ******** sometimes, they did have a nifty Vehicular Assault Team that would go to every scene where a death occurred involving a vehicle. I think it was usually two-three prosecutors and detectives, and they would do the investigation for whether an assault/murder had occurred on scene while officers would work the wreck.
 
I think jarrett hit the nail on the head. If you get called to a bar fight, you’re expecting to see assaults, so you’re guided to investigate in a certain manner, and will likely find testimony to prove the assault charges. If you’re called to a collision, even between a bicycle and a car, the officers probably are already in ‘clear the wreck’ mode, and may not be putting together an assault investigation on the scene.

The special prosecutor appointment is a promising sign, and probably means bad juju ahead for the teenager. For all that I hated Harris County’s ******** sometimes, they did have a nifty Vehicular Assault Team that would go to every scene where a death occurred involving a vehicle. I think it was usually two-three prosecutors and detectives, and they would do the investigation for whether an assault/murder had occurred on scene while officers would work the wreck.

Wow. That must be the only thing Harris county does right!
 
I knew better than to engage in those sorts of behavior when I was 5. No excuse at 16. Honestly, they ruined their own life... reap what you sow.
true, he's got plenty of time to get it right still.
 
I read this, and I guess I don't know how any of those riders being careful would have changed things, except by staying home. I understand the sentiment, though.
 
When he gets no jail time for this incident it will just embolden him even more. "look at what I was able to get away with!"
Teenagers already believe they are invincible.
Your counting chickens before they hatch. Who knows if he's getting jail time or not. Special DA hasn't even filed the charges yet.
 
My assumption is that this 16 year old kid was imitating the behavior he had previously observed (grew up with). I would bet that his parents or friends would do the rolling coal to cyclist, so of course he would do it when he was driving. He is still responsible, but if I am right, then others should reflect on their actions as well.
 
My assumption is that this 16 year old kid was imitating the behavior he had previously observed (grew up with). I would bet that his parents or friends would do the rolling coal to cyclist, so of course he would do it when he was driving. He is still responsible, but if I am right, then others should reflect on their actions as well.
^This. I doubt this straight-A HS Honor Roll kid just just got up that morning and decided to roll coal on some bicyclists.

For most kids, their parents are the most significant influence, on their behavior, career choice, and outlook on life. I'm continually amazed at just how much influence I have on my own. It's an awesome responsibility. I also see that they don't always take blindly after me, either. I'm not perfect and certainly don't get it right every time. My kids know it too. The ability to judge - others as well as oneself - is the single most important lesson a parent can teach their kids.

I've seen far too many adults lacking that ability, much less a 16yr old.
 
^This. I doubt this straight-A HS Honor Roll kid just just got up that morning and decided to roll coal on some bicyclists.

For most kids, their parents are the most significant influence, on their behavior, career choice, and outlook on life. I'm continually amazed at just how much influence I have on my own. It's an awesome responsibility. I also see that they don't always take blindly after me, either. I'm not perfect and certainly don't get it right every time. My kids know it too. The ability to judge - others as well as oneself - is the single most important lesson a parent can teach their kids.

I've seen far too many adults lacking that ability, much less a 16yr old.
You're fortunate that your influence is dominant with your kids.

For the rest of the geneal public, I'm not sure how much influence parents have on their kids anymore. With social media and 2 exhausted working parents typically, the family unit isn't what it once was. Kids are raising themselves and aping what celebrities and their friends do. The parents get a couple hours a day with them and it's usually a one word answer while their nose is in their phone. When we were all unplugged, we had great quality family time, kids learned from US, not others who don't have the same values. The homeschoolers here are doing it right. I just wish they could get a break and apply their mandatory school taxes towards their homeschooling/private school instead towards the public reeducation camps. More people would do it and society woud start getting better morally.
 
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You're fortunate that your influence is dominant with your kids.

For the rest of the geneal public, I'm not sure how much influence parents have on their kids anymore. With social media and 2 exhausted working parents typically, the family unit isn't what it once was. Kids are raising themselves and aping what celebrities and their friends do. The parents get a couple hours a day with them and it's usually a one word answer while their nose is in their phone. When we were all unplugged, we had great quality family time, kids learned from US, not others who don't have the same values. The homeschoolers here are doing it right. I just wish they could get a break and apply their mandatory school taxes towards their homeschooling?private school instead towards the public reeducation camps. More people would do it and society woud start getting better morally.
Well, stand in line. Here are some complaints that pre-date yours by a few centuries.

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They [Young People] have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things -- and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning -- all their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything -- they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else.

(Aristotle)

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"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."

(From a sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in A.D. 1274)

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"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint".

(Hesiod, 8th century BC)

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"I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid."

(G.K. Chesterton)

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'The children now love luxury; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are tyrants, not servants of the households. They no longer rise when their elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize over their teachers.'

(Commonly attributed to SOCRATES by Plato, according to William L. Patty and Louise S. Johnson, Personality and Adjustment, p. 277 (1953), but the NY Times (April 3, 1966, p16) only found a reference to the Mayor of Amsterdam, Gijsbert van Hall, following a street demonstration in 1966).

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I know this is not really on topic, but talking about young people today and whether there's something distinctly different, I think there is. Not distinctly unique among all generations of youth, but distinct from my generation, the generation before, because we have made a change that impacts society's very structure and is having an effect on the last two generations that is a potentially troubling, lasting effect. Certainly this kind of thing has happened in times past, but it didn't happen 20 years ago or 50 years ago, and before you go comparing it even to the printing press or whatever, those things didn't impact a certain generation in quite the same way.

I'll put the point on it: the youth of today have not learned to relate to their elders and even to consider respecting them in the same way previous generations did, simply because it has not been strictly necessary in order for them to learn. When all of us Gen-X and older were children or teenagers, formative years of learning how to become an adult, if we wanted to learn things we had to first interact with our elders. Information was required by the young, and they would not receive it if they were not willing to submit to their elders, at least grant them audience, by which they could convey wisdom and instruction along with just information. It's like on Gran Torino ... when the neighbor kid wanted to learn to fix something, borrow a tool, he had to actually talk to and spend time with the old man, who was able to teach the kid some wisdom along the way. But today, kids just go to the internet when they want information. If your 13 year old kid wants to learn to fix a carburetor on their motorcycle, they don't ask their grandpa, they search on YouTube. YouTube doesn't teach them more than just how to adjust a carburetor like grandpa would. My generation learned how to be adults by having to engage adults to learn. But today's generation is not required to learn that way, and I see the fruit of this in society.
 
Is parenting even possible in the age of socialist media?
My folks gave me a very long leash in the dangerous ages, but had tried hard to give me tools to make good decisions.
I had a friend named Eddie. Eddie was a very fast talking kid and was smart. His parents were dumber than two boxes of dirt.
Eddie discovered he could make a lot of money buying huge bags of pot and selling them as small bags of pot.
I met Eddie's connect once. I told Eddie I couldn't hang out with him anymore and that "Jack" was a very bad man.
Sometime in '75 Jack put a bullet in Eddie's head execution style. Jack will die in Anamosa prison in Iowa.
Did my folks give me the tools to stay away from my friend? Yes. An extreme example but times are extreme.

Remember the young girls that stabbed their friend because this Slenderman game told them to?
Where the **** were the parents???
Kids have to be held accountable for their actions no matter how harsh.
 
I am more optimistic and less cynical about younger generations.

It's natural for the old to look upon the young with a judgmental attitude. Today is no different than millennia past. Quite often, I see young folks brush off older people precisely because of this dismissive attitude the old hurls towards them. Yes, we have decades more experience and, along with that, hopefully knowledge and wisdom under our belt. But much of that comes from learning from mistakes, heartaches, and a broken bone or two. Stuff that could benefit the young and inexperience, if only we have the patience to teach. My sour attitude will just sour their attitude.

Today's youth are no different than any other previous gen. They are facing much of the same challenges we've had to cope with, plus some seriously grievous ones that were created by none other than ourselves. Simply put, they are gonna have to deal with legacy crap we dumped on them.

Parenting isn't easy, but if you gonna bring kids into this world, don't abdicate the responsibility to bring them up right. It's easy to spout excuses and blame it on everything other than ourselves. Doing so means we will never change our ways and do better, try harder. Then... don't expect the kids to be any different.
 
The point in which you permanently alter someone else's life forever (or 4 individuals in this case), is the exact same point in which we can stop referring to the individual that caused the mayhem as a "kid/minor/16yr old." That kind of talk should be reserved for the defense team.. Play big boy games in the truck daddy bought for you, have fun playing with big boys that are incarcerated with you.
 
You're fortunate that your influence is dominant with your kids.

For the rest of the geneal public, I'm not sure how much influence parents have on their kids anymore. With social media and 2 exhausted working parents typically, the family unit isn't what it once was. Kids are raising themselves and aping what celebrities and their friends do. The parents get a couple hours a day with them and it's usually a one word answer while their nose is in their phone. When we were all unplugged, we had great quality family time, kids learned from US, not others who don't have the same values. The homeschoolers here are doing it right. I just wish they could get a break and apply their mandatory school taxes towards their homeschooling/private school instead towards the public reeducation camps. More people would do it and society woud start getting better morally.
The only "fortune" is the luck of the draw as to what temperament each of my kids was born with. Every child is different. What works well for 1 kid could fail miserably with another.

Your family is what you choose it to be, with the choices you make, bearing what sacrifice you will. My kids don't make those choices; I do. When we started out, having only 1 parent earning a paycheck was tough, but we were adamant on that choice, come what may. So we drove Hyundai's, instead of Lexus's. So what... they got us around just as well. If you ask any toddler, which they'd choose - mommy or Lexus. No child on this green earth will choose otherwise.

Yet... lots of parents we know chose Lexus.
 
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