[Marsupialmom]

I do think they need to do something for rescitution to the families they have effected but I hope the legal system sees some lenancy.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/world/us_wo...storyid=114606

Boys, 7, 10 and 11, Charged With Arson

Quote:

Police found small footprints near the blaze. Later that day, the mother of two of the boys brought the three boys to the police station, where they cried as they confessed, police said.

I wanted to add poor families that lost their home. I don't feel my first post gave them the sympathy they deserve. Hopefully they are helped out.

 

[wednesday]

Where the hell were the parents? I mean yeah these kids did something they should have known better not to do, but I'm trying to imagine my 9-year-old nephew, for example, being so utterly unsupervised that he could go wandering around some industrial area breaking into property. It just wouldn't happen. His parents know where he is at all times, he isn't just wandering around.

 

[KatWrangler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wednesday Where the hell were the parents? I mean yeah these kids did something they should have known better not to do, but I'm trying to imagine my 9-year-old nephew, for example, being so utterly unsupervised that he could go wandering around some industrial area breaking into property. It just wouldn't happen. His parents know where he is at all times, he isn't just wandering around.

The story said they were visiting a Grandmother.

Quote:

The boys were visiting their grandmother in Loganville on Sunday when they went to a nearby welding company, police said. They got in through a broken window, police said, and stole some tools, including two hammers, a marker, a level, a saw, a clamp, a punch, an oilcan and a disposable lighter.

 

[Marsupialmom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wednesday Where the hell were the parents? I mean yeah these kids did something they should have known better not to do, but I'm trying to imagine my 9-year-old nephew, for example, being so utterly unsupervised that he could go wandering around some industrial area breaking into property. It just wouldn't happen. His parents know where he is at all times, he isn't just wandering around.

I don't necessarily see this as an industrial area. Many neighborhoods have businesses, that includes welding in them. I let my kids play in a field that is behind some homes (two away from mine). I feel sorry for these kids because they made a mistake and it has changed them and other peoples lives. It could permantly change them for the negative if they spend to much time in jail or labeled (defind) as bad kids. Not kids that did a bad thing.

 

[tboroson]

At 9, I had the run of the whole town. I had a bicycle, and was allowed to bike to the pool 2 miles away, or just around the neighborhood (and "neighborhood" was pretty widely defined). I checked in periodically, so my parents had a general idea where I was. But, I could have lied, or sidetracked on my way home, and been somewhere they didn't know about. I think the idea that parents are directly supervising a child of that age at every moment to be utterly overbearing and absurd.

I'm sorry for the family who suffered a loss, though

 

[wednesday]

Well really, we have threads miles long, and even laws, against children under 12 being left AT HOME unsupervised. But somehow it's okay for kids of that age to be roaming around out of the house with no supervision?

I also could go wherever I wanted beginning around age 7. On one occasion I was a victim of sexual assault, on another I was flashed by a pervert. What about this guy in the news recently who kidnapped the two pre-teen boys? I don't understand how anyone can be totally blase about kids of this age running around totally on their own.

 

[Marsupialmom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wednesday Well really, we have threads miles long, and even laws, against children under 12 being left AT HOME unsupervised. But somehow it's okay for kids of that age to be roaming around out of the house with no supervision? I also could go wherever I wanted beginning around age 7. On one occasion I was a victim of sexual assault, on another I was flashed by a pervert. What about this guy in the news recently who kidnapped the two pre-teen boys? I don't understand how anyone can be totally blase about kids of this age running around totally on their own.

The second boy was walking home from school after being dropped off the bus. In reality these things happening are not the norm but the rarity. Your children are more likely to be flashed and/or assulted by a relative than a stranger.

 

[DragonflyBlue]

Poor boys?

Yeah...

I think not.

Janis

 

[Flor]

My brother caught a playground on fire when he was about 8. The playground was across the street from our house. My mom knew where he was, and could even see him out the window, but it only took a few minutes for him and a buddy to find a lighter and light the brush on fire. My mom heard sirens then found my brother hiding under the bed. He never lit another fire. It wasn't a reflection of who he was or my family. Just an 8 yo playing with lighter. It's hard to imagine the situation without seeing the layout of the block.