Res Ipsa Loquitur

Hi Rita. If this is too long or abstruse, or even too close to bordering on pontification, dump it. I really just wanted to say hello.

Those are the actions of children (probably college students) and childish adults (probably lifer college students). It's also another form of gang banging and both would be easy to fix. When I had a school for incarcerated juveniles the hardest wall I had to breach was the initial murderer/thug/gangster/bully confrontation. Sometimes it went smoothly, but sometimes it took a while to get their attention and neutralize the danger in them. The student body changed constantly so I did that in many different ways at many different times. With one especially agressive, multi-gang infested group, I one day walked into class and announced that the State had just passed a new law that pertained to them. They heard me for the first time. I said that after they served their sentences they probably wouldn't ever come to jail again until they were adults. They were listening, really interested. I said that from that day on, whoever was responsible for them would be going to jail for any crimes that they committed as juveniles. They freaked completely out. They changed from insolent, sign-slinging hostile thugs to bawling little boys in an instant. All of them were saying that their parents had no control over their behavior. That it wasn't their parents' fault that they committed crimes. (Actually, out of hundreds of children, only a couple had both parents. A few more had only the Mother, and most lived with the Grandmother or Grandparents.) They were so emotional, for so long, that it was obvious if such a law was in place those children would have behaved much better. Anyway I then had the key to that particular group, and since they wouldn't find out the truth for months, I continued and delivered their first lesson from my class, "they've determined that whoever supports you physically while you are engaging in acts that you and they know to be criminal, is more guilty of your crime. If they didn't feed you and give you a place to sleep you would either be too weak from hunger and sleep deprivation to engage in this nonsense, or too tired from having an actual job, to pay your actual bills, and otherwise taking care of the real demands of your real life to engage in this nonsense".

The new law wasn't true but I controlled that group of dangerous little berserkers with it for a while, and I never felt guilty for telling it. It should be true, for them and for Eco-gang bangers as well. Someone is feeding them, giving them shelter and paying the "necessary for actual survival" bills. Find those people, effectively inform them of their responsibility, convince them to pay attention by making them pay time and/or money, and they will curtail the more outrageous behaviors of those for whom they are financially and/or legally responsible.

You're always welcome to comment all you like, Kenneth. You make an excellent point: Holding the person(s) really responsible for this behavior responsible, and you can control the behavior. And I think that was the real problem here. The police weren't doing that much to hold anyone responsible, seems to me.

Of course, this was in England and the laws are different there....which is why they're having such a problem with thuggism in general.

And I agree completely. Our juvenile justice system would work much better if parent(s) and/or caretakers were held more responsible for kids' actions. Interesting isn't it that your tale got those kids to admit their own responsibility for their actions? Probably the first time that'd happened in their lives. Good experience for them I'd say.

Horrible and appalling, you may be interested in my article on it at www.samanthaburns.com