Friday, April 06, 2007

Failures as Parents

So an interesting set of recent events that have gotten me ticked off..

Taylor Tillung, moons his teacher. A student at "Palm Harbor University High when the incident occurred, Taylor was suspended for six days and reassigned to Clearwater High for the rest of the school year."

His family sues to get his punishment reduced.

"A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court alleges the transfer was unreasonably harsh because it denies him the once-in-a-lifetime chance to graduate next month with his class, participate in senior activities leading up to graduation and play his final season on Palm Harbor's varsity baseball team.

Tillung, according to the suit, had hoped a successful senior season would help him make the baseball team at Florida State University, where he has been admitted."

Tough. Actions have consequences. Time to learn about them.

Next we have "Jesse Knight, a hulking teenager, was arrested Wednesday after witnesses told police he fondled a 5-year-old girl in a back yard.

But as police Officer Jennifer Lich looked at Knight, a 5-foot-11, 290-pound 16-year-old wearing Dickies brand shorts, she realized that he resembled the composite sketch of a man wanted for raping a 45-year-old jogger on Monday night."
. . .

"Police say Knight stalked the jogger and may have followed her for about half a mile along Beach Drive SE. Several people asked Knight what he was doing, according to Sgt. Joanne Lindsay. He told them he was just "exercising," and they didn't call police."

Did not call police. Sounds that could have been a suspicious person call to me.

"Knight . . . has a criminal record that includes arrests on charges of aggravated battery, larceny and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

His stepmother, Tracy Knight, 36, said she was surprised by the charges. She said he made the honor roll regularly. "I'm going by what my son tells me," she said. "He's a good student and tells me that he goes to school. ... I know in my heart of hearts that he wouldn't be capable of doing something like this."


Maybe Tracy Knight needs a heart transplant because he apparently is capable of something like this.

When asked about her son's criminal record, Ms. Knight replied, "Those are minor things ... just the things teenagers do."

Really?

Its too bad Tracy Knight can be charged with felony stupidity as a parent.

In contrast to this, this week I was at the County Commission meeting and I happen to be present when Angel Perez received an commendation for rescuing Dontae Vincent from a pack of dogs that attacked him.

"Dontae and his 12-year-old sister, Shaneka Vincent, were heading home from an area Boys and Girls Club when the dogs attacked. Perez and her boyfriend happened to be driving nearby when she saw the dogs chasing Dontae.

Her boyfriend stopped the car, and Perez went after the dogs, armed with her fists and a bottle of mace she keeps on her key chain."

Thankfully we have people like Angel Perez out there to counter balance the fools.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gotta agree on all counts.

Had I done something as totally disrespectful to anyone, much less an adult authority figure, my parents would have tanned my ass so hard, I'd never be able to flash it again. The school should have brought charges up against him as well. It is illegal to "moon" someone.

Like you said, actions have consequences, and it's time this little punk with an attitude learns a valuable lesson. But obviously, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. His parents, by their actions, prove that they are just as maladjusted as their kid is.

I don't care that he is a good athlete and that he had aspirations to play college ball. People who use poor judgement and cause other people harm shouldn't be pardoned, or given lesser punishments just because they're bright, athletic or beautiful (case in point, Deborah LaFave). I don't care that he's a senior. I don't care that he's gonna miss out on all the fun things seniors get to do. Too bad. Let this be a lesson that he carries with him for the rest of his life. Let him use this experience to teach his own kids that you must always think twice before doing something so stupid, because repercussions of such actions will come back and bite you in the ass (no pun intended.)

Just think of all the more important and life altering cases that NEED to go before a judge, but are backlogged due to frivolous lawsuits such as this one.

Bungalowlady said...

Well, two idiot parents have just been noted. The problem with the kids today is their parents. As long as parents think eliminating all punishment is the way to raise children, children will be problems.

Once these children go out into the "real" world they will find that no one except their parents thinks their immune to the consequences of their actions.