ded

Not sure if that was for me or zero, but as I mentioned earlier I have a 12yo and a 4 month old. And if this had happened to my 12yo, I'd say the same thing. I'd expect the other boy's family to pay for everything, and I'd want him to face consequences, but I wouldn't want to ruin the rest of his life.

And like I said, the real blame lies with the parents, imo. I talked to my son about this and he couldn't even imagine himself or any of his friends doing something like this. He knows better than to even bring a knife to school (he has several), or any other kind of weapon. I think that many of the problems we're seeing in our society today fall squarely on the shoulders of the parents. Granted there will always be circumstances where no amount of good parenting could help (mental illness, etc.), but if more parents raised their kids right and taught them to take responsibility for their actions, I think we'd see a lot less of this sort of thing. But instead parents blame the school system, or the gov't, and that's bullshit, it's not the teachers or govt's job to raise our kids, it's OUR job.

Marie

He almost took another kids life! But we can go over "what ifs and almosts" all day.
You cant always blame the parents though. Granted there are ALOT of POS one out there. by the way this is going its hard to tell what side of the fence everyone is on. Point is that dude fuck up royally and now he should have to pay. There should be no "3 strikes your our BS" not for stuff like this. Im sure you wouldnt be too happy if this were to happen to you son and all the boy got was a smack on the hand and a post-it note on his file.

So please do tell what would you do.

VanillaThrilla

Are you talking to me or him?

I didn't say he should get a slap on the hand. When I'm referencing the three strikes, I mean three strikes and he's DONE for GOOD. Life sentence, or capital punishment. A lot of people are against that, but I have mixed feelings.

I'm not saying he should pay a fine and move on with his life. He needs to go somewhere and have his freedom taken away for a while. They should put him to work--hard work. I guess the point is that he didn't kill the kid (thank God). You generally don't get the same punishment for doing something as you would for almost doing something... Locked up until 21 for almost doing something is pretty extremely IMO. Yes, it was a violent crime--but he's 12 years old! What do we expect him to be when he comes out at 21? Worse than he was before probably.

ded

It's not about what ifs and almosts, it's about what actually happened. I'm not making light of what he did, but he didn't kill the other boy, so he shouldn't be punished as if he did.

And yes you can blame the parents, who else are you going to blame? Movies? Video games? Music? That's all bullshit. My son plays violent video games, while we're on the subject of stabbing, he is currently playing Assassin's Creed, where you go around stabbing people. That's pretty much the whole point of the game, but he knows that you don't do that in real life!!! Guess how he knows that, cause I told him you don't do that. It starts when they're little, telling them that it's not ok to hit people, or steal, or lie, and then of course leading by example. And then when they're older, you tell them that it's not ok to take a knife to school, under any circumstances, and that even if by some chance you did have a knife at school, you don't use it against someone!

You make rules and you stick to them, you teach them discipline and that their actions have consequences, every action, no matter how small. You teach them to be responsible, and to treat others with respect. Yes, it really is that simple. Like I said, barring some sort of mental illness I would venture to guess that the majority of people who are raised in this manner won't end up stabbing someone at school (or committing some other crime).

My wife and I have discussed this, and we both agree that while the boy does need to be punished to a certain level, it shouldn't ruin his life. He made a mistake, and a big one, but I don't think he should be locked up with the key thrown away. And one more time, yes this is exactly how I would feel if it had happened to my son. Sure, I'd be extremely pissed when it happened, and might say throw the book at him, but then after I calmed down I would realize that his punishment shouldn't be quite that harsh. Now again, that's assuming that this is the first time he's done something like this. Every situation is different, if he has a history of stuff like this, then obviously it's time for some more serious punishment.

litlespicisgay

Please continue to update this as new info becomes available. This is terrible but I guess that's where things are headed. I can't imagine what schools with be like by the time I have children.

notsogoodfeline

i say stab the little shit in the chest and see how he likes the way it feels.

People will continue doing horrid things to others because all they get is a slap on the hand and a pat on the butt to "not do it again". fuck that. 12 years old? you know right from wrong. WTF are you doing with a knife at school? GTFO. i send that child away. Just like that fucking 15 year old boy who raped 2 girls on their way to the bus stop out here. stop pussy-footing around with punishment.. this kid needs to get in SERIOUS trouble or seriously beat.. like i said.. I'm all up for a stabbing. eye for an eye.

and sorry to hear of your friend's son.. I know if that were my child I'd be in a lot of trouble about now for my reaction.

Marie

FINALLY some who thinks like i do.

UPDATE-He came home today, hospital bed is set up and all is good. Jeri told me that the reason i haent seen it in the news yet is out of respect for her son. They go to court Jan 28th for the boys preliminary hearing. THEN IT WILL BE PLASTERED ALL OVER TV. Not only will the boys family be on there the school and both Radford Hospital and Montgomery Regional. (pm me your number if you wanna know about the hospitals) its way too much to type.

Heiss M3

To add to the idea of strict justice....

I heard in Singapore, if you're caught with drugs, you are put to death, period. Chewing gum is illegal, the country is extremely clean and organized.

The drug/violence issues in that country are next to nothing I believe. So if you throw the hammer down, people get scurrrrrd.

This doesn't necessarily mean this is what I think, just sharing a bit of information.

drunkard

The parents probably dropped him off at school, unless he rode the bus. More than likely, they are at work. Why do everyone automatically blame the parents? Fuck the KID decided to bring the knife to school. I highly doubt mom and dad packed his lunch and switch blade (or whatever knife he used) and sent him on his merry way.

Honestly at that age, friends/peers are usually the greater influence. There are good parents and there are terrible ones. I agree with punishing the kid, but solely blaming the parents is a little extreme.

Jay

+1

Deal the punishment, then take him to the hospital, and have his parents pay for that as well.