What to do with these kids...very sad

[MN72Busa]

Lots of chatter on Talk radio this morning about 3 Minnesota boys ( 2 boys the age of 6, and 1 boy the age of 8) kill a neighbors puppy. In Minnesota if you are under the age of 13 as in many states, you can not be prosecuted for a crime. What do you do with 3 kids of this age that commit this sort of crime? Counceling, punishment, jail, do nothing, is there a psychological issue in need of medication, let the parrents decide or let the state decide?

Link to Local News Story

 

[warwgn]

up to the parents!! It's none of our buisness and we should keep our nose out, I cant belive that made the news. When most of us were kids we would have got the belt across our buts and that would have been the end of it, now it goes on the news and it becomes a community issue. That is what is wrong with our country now, people cant mind their own buisness!!!

 

[VaBusa]

Yeah, I agree, the parents need to be involved in that one and make certain those kids understand fully what they've done, suffer the consequences...

At 6 and 8, they are still just kids and it's up to the parents to work this out...

 

[Fugly]

Agreed; Have the Parents correct these children. If the parents feel they can't (or won't) then hold the parents accountable and have them corrected.

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[Don Hardcastle]

People People People,
There is a much bigger issue here than what you are seeing. The parents should not be allowed to correct these children. Why do you think the kids killed the dog in the first place? The parents have already demonstrated gross negligence in helping their children to develop acceptable social behavior. These kids need to be removed from the home, put into counseling and see if they can be socialized properly.

Don

 

[nitrousjunkie]

Correct me if I'm wrong,but isnt this a classic sign of more violent crimes to come in the future? I'm sure I've heard this before,violence or cruelty to animals,then towards people sooner or later in life?

personally,I think they should be seriously "talked" to,the parents should be charged with neglect.

 

[VaBusa]

People People People,
   There is a much bigger issue here than what you are seeing.  The parents should not be allowed to correct these children.  Why do you think the kids killed the dog in the first place?  The parents have already demonstrated gross negligence in helping their children to develop acceptable social behavior.  These kids need to be removed from the home, put into counseling and see if they can be socialized properly.

Don

Gonna have to disagree here simply because there may have been outside influences we don't know about...perhaps kids at school dared 'em to do something like this and we know kids cave to peer pressures, or perhaps they saw something on TV that prompted this behavior...

True, it could be signs of worse to come, but having kids do something like this doesn't necessarily mean the parents are two-bit drug users that didn't raise their kids right. They may be and they may not be, who knows...

In the least, I hope Social Services takes a closer look at their home environment and things progress for the better after that...

 

[Don Hardcastle]

People People People,
   There is a much bigger issue here than what you are seeing.  The parents should not be allowed to correct these children.  Why do you think the kids killed the dog in the first place?  The parents have already demonstrated gross negligence in helping their children to develop acceptable social behavior.  These kids need to be removed from the home, put into counseling and see if they can be socialized properly.

Don

Gonna have to disagree here simply because there may have been outside influences we don't know about...perhaps kids at school dared 'em to do something like this and we know kids cave to peer pressures, or perhaps they saw something on TV that prompted this behavior...

True, it could be signs of worse to come, but having kids do something like this doesn't necessarily mean the parents are two-bit drug users that didn't raise their kids right.  They may be and they may not be, who knows...

In the least, I hope Social Services takes a closer look at their home environment and things progress for the better after that...

VaBusa,
I agree with you. My education is in Psychology. There very well may be other influences in these kids' lives; however, based on the information available to us, there is probably something missing in the nurturing of these kids.


Don

 

[dudewizr]

Yeah, I agree, the parents need to be involved in that one and make certain those kids understand fully what they've done, suffer the consequences...

At 6 and 8, they are still just kids and it's up to the parents to work this out...

I agree. One of the problems with things these days is that it gets the media attention (which is a joke) and the counselors will be crawling out of the woodwork to label these kids as a menace to society and start treating them like sociopaths. Dr. Phil will get ahold of them or Oprah and they'll have it all figured out. The shrinks will tell these kids what they are going to turn into and sure enough they will. When I was a kid we blew up toads, cats and anything we could catch with M80's, draino bombs and anything else we could find that explodes. We took out pellet guns everywhere and not too many things were safe from that either. last time I checked none of us were serial killers, convicted of violent crimes and are by all standards productive members of society.

I remember sophomore biology a kid in my class asked if he could do a video for the class project. The video started out showing 4 kittens buried up to their necks and then you hear a lawnmower start up, the mower goes by and the only thing left is fur and blood. They called the sheriff and the humane society to press charges. They made a big deal about it. Then he shows them the second tape that was being filmed at the same time which showed him not running over the cats but some rabbit fur from his last hunting trip. His point waqs things aren't always what they seem.

We don't know the situation with these kids, the dog may have chased one of them or tried to bite them. We just don't know and the parents should handle this behind their closed doors period.

 

[BigBSBusa]

My first thought is what is the underlying issue. Was this a one-time occurrence or is there something else causing these actions? Not sure what would cause a group of kids to kill an animal if it wasn't messing with them. Parents need to take responsibility, but they may not be able to deal with it or the kids.

 

[MN72Busa]

Dont think the dog was big enough to hurt the kids

 

[nitrousjunkie]

Dont think the dog was big enough to hurt the kids

Thanks for that clarification Valium,now I'm really pissed!

 

[MN72Busa]

Quote taken from another News station

"5 EYEWITNESS NEWS first told you about three North Branch boys that will not face criminal charges for beating a puppy to death because they are too young.

Ed Darwin and his family learned two six-year-olds and one eight-year-old came into their yard and beat their dog Princess Bella to death with a stick.

The family says the three-pound dog was secured when they took a quick trip to the grocery store. The Darwins learned the three neighbor children confessed to her killing.

Many 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS viewers responded to this story. Many wanted to help the family that lost the dog, and others were concerned about the future of the boys.

The mother of one of the children, Stephanie, says her family is remorseful about the incident, and that she has grounded her son. Because all three boys are under the age of 12, they cannot face criminal charges.

Studies by the U.S. Department of Justice show a correlation between abusing animals as a child and serious violent behavior as an adult. In fact, studies show that five of 11 students involved in school shootings in the late 1990s abused animals as a child.

"I think it's real sick, it's a sign of some real issues," Ed Darwin said.

So far, only one of the boys has apologized to the Darwins.

Watch 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS at 5 for more on the psychological impacts of this incident and watch 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS at 6 to see how our viewers are stepping in to help."

 

[oldhat]

Val....you slug.....change yer freakin avatar!

 

[warwgn]

who cares, boys will be boys. It doesnt mean I like what they did, but sometimes boys do shid like that for no reason at all or just a spur of the moment. Does not make them bad kids or mean they have major problems, they need to be punished for what they did not taken from their family and made out to be monsters and have psycho babble forced on them to make us feel better. Let the parents do their job, make the parents pay to replace the dog and thats the end of the story.

 

[Don Hardcastle]

.......have psycho babble forced on them to make us feel better.

Psycho babble, hmmm. There are a lot of people who have received a lot of help from ppl who have years of education in psycho babble.

Don

 

[jessup]

No offense to anyone here but if a neighbors kid killed one of my animals I would take it out directly on their ass... And then go for the parent. I read the story but when it comes to intentional animal cruelty I get a little bit psychotic. These kids had to of known that what they were doing was wrong and if they didn't then their parents are absolute sh!theads and deserve to be beaten down.
At eight years old most kids have a pretty defined sense of self and if that is the path they are on now I say put them away or put them down... They are our future serial killers.

 

[jessup]

who cares, boys will be boys. It doesnt mean I like what they did, but sometimes boys do shid like that for no reason at all or just a spur of the moment. Does not make them bad kids or mean they have major problems, they need to be punished for what they did not taken from their family and made out to be monsters and have psycho babble forced on them to make us feel better. Let the parents do their job, make the parents pay to replace the dog and thats the end of the story.

Dude what kind of statement is boys will be boys? When it comes to killing someone elses pet or destroying their personal property?... Thats like me having a kid and they burn your house down and kill some of your prize cattle and I just say Oh Well... It was a spur of the moment thing. Sorry but boys will be boys. Yup they destroyed your property but they are just finding themselves and sowing their oats get over it...

If they had accidentally ran over the dog with a big wheel I would be more understanding but beating an animal (and a helpless one at that) does not lead me to believe they are going to be fine upstanding citizens when they mature...

 

[warwgn]

read it closer, my point was what they did was wrong but they dont need to be taken from their family. I'm sure their was no evil plot to what they did, however they still need to have a belt across theis a$$'s.

IRT usn04limited- take my comment in context, I'm sure you know full well what I meant, and it was not as a derogitory comment toward you.

 

[jessup]

Warwgn... I think the part that irritated me was the boys will be boys... I understand and respect your viewpoint... I just disagree with it... I feel that the parents most certainly have not done a good enough job with their children if they can be coerced into an extremely negative behaviour or even worse had the idea to do it on their own. I wish a belt across the ass could solve a problem like that... but it is either a failing on the parents part or something inherently wrong with these kids...

Now maybe because I was practically raised by a Pa Game Warden I have a different view on how we treat animals and our enviroment... But honestly I would never kill any animal I wasn't going to either eat or have to defend myself against or euthanize... I learned that from a very early age. The part that really disturbs me is the I think I'll kill something harmless today mindset. I may be totally off base... I don't have any kids but I was one and it never occured to me to kill anything just because I could. Now I did live across from a cattle farm when I was a kid so I have seen animals slaugthered and even worked for them slopping some pretty disgusting stuff... I'm not some liberal don't kill anything nutjob. I'm just a don't beat them with a stick and a rock because you can type of guy.
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