[mrnoodle]

IMV, a child under a certain age is completely the responsibility of those to whom the child is entrusted. In the Columbine shooting that happened down the road from me, those kids had been making plans, building IEDs, stockpiling illegal guns and sawing barrels off. Where were the folks? Upstairs watching "Friends" reruns. Why were they up there? They wanted to make sure their kids had their 'privacy' (more likely, they didn't give a damn).

The kids, regardless of their motivation, killed people. They would've killed more if they hadn't committed suicide before their sick little plan was finished. If they had survived, there would be rioting in the streets if they were to go to "juvie" for a couple years. Despite their age, these kids were absolutely without remorse - people ask me sometimes why I believe in such a thing as demon possession. Exhibit A. What happened there was just sick.

So, the kids are guilty of murder x[however many]. The parents should fall under a new statute which could be paraphrased thusly: "You didn't just fail to bring up your kids right. You failed to see that they got the help they needed to mitigate the damage they would cause the rest of society. You may not walk away from this like any other grieving parent. You must, for the rest of your natural lives, speak at a violence-prevention seminar, detailing exactly what you did wrong to help produce such evil, violent kids. You can't blame the video games - you know where the off switch is. You can't blame the guns - if you're not routinely turning over your violence-prone teenager's room, you not only disservice them, but the rest of us. You can't blame the school - they warned you about anti-social behavior.

Let us worry about all that other stuff - it's out of your hands now. You stick to what you could have done to prevent it. On the 200th week of your seminar, you should have a pretty good idea of where you went wrong. At that point, we will decide whether you are capable of understanding your role. If so, have a happy life. The next phase of your sentencing is a monthly visit to the gravesites of your son, his friends, and all the people they killed. You will place a hand-written apology on the tombstone of each, explaining that you were a spineless coward who was more afraid of disciplining your child than of the horror your child could unleash. This will occur, unfortunately, only until it all cools down and we have the next flavor du jour murder. I hope that doesn't happen any time soon.

Sending a kid to an adult prison will get them out of the way, but don't pretend it will rehab them. Don't ever let them out. Ever. They might have had a chance to do right, but some things can't be undone. Too bad they had to learn it firsthand, but so did their victims.

Grr.