Last Sunday, Schoharie County residents were inconvenienced by a house fire on the corner of Main and North streets in the Village of Cobleskill. Traffic was redirected and a thick choking cloud of smoke hung over the business district and other parts of Downtown. But the truly disturbing issue was not the inconvenience, but the fact that the fire was apparently deliberately started by an 11-year old girl. So young.. and already a depraved arsonist! The young girl, in a display of maniacal abandon is alleged to have caused the hellish conflagration by setting fire to a couch with a cigarette lighter. Fortunately for the other residents of Cobleskill, this pre-teen menace was arrested and charged. Hopefully, the demon child will remain in custody long enough to prevent her from doing any more damage.If this wasn’t bad enough, a quick glance in this week’s police blotter reveals that a 12 year old male was arrested for “forcible touching”. Now the police blotter entry did not go into any more specific details, but it seems to me like we’ve got a pre-teen boy with a penchant for rape on our hands and I want to know what we’re going to do about it? According to the blotter entry, the individual was released on an appearance ticket. This means that this sexual deviant is on the loose, free to wreak havoc and mayhem on decent people everywhere.
The local law enforcement authorities may need to recalibrate their strategies to account for this new criminal element. They may need to change the way they look at pre-teen children around the ages of 10-12. When these children assemble to loiter in the Downtown business districts of our communities, we can no longer turn a blind eye. We must be on guard against potential arsonists, sexual predators, and any number of other dastardly criminals.
My sincere hope is that the system tries these children as adults. I say, no special circumstances for juvenile offenders! I see no reason why this 11-year old girl shouldn't do hard time for this. Let the little arsonist have a go at general population. And as for the "forcible toucher", how about electroshock therapy? At the very least, he should be thrown in a dark room in some prison basement somewhere until he learns some manners.
Otherwise, what kind of message are we sending to all those potential pre-teen lawbreakers out there?
29 comments:
You don't have an e-mail contact , so this is the only way to communicate with you.
Your anonymity begs the question: What or who are you afraid of?
You're running a blog that occasionally questions the integrity of local politicians.
Your questions may be valid, but sniping at people from hiding calls into question your own courage and conviction.
Simply stated,if you don't have "the balls" to stand by your words, your words are worthless.
Who the hell made you arbiter of what is and isn't valid?
You may be used to dealing with impressionable 15 year olds, but I assure you, it's been a long time since somebody called my "balls" into question and I did something because of it.
Though to be honest with you, I used a different name in the beginning because it was more fun than using my real name (believe me, my real name's not that exciting). I was probably just going to start using it. But thanks to your little post here, its not gonna happen.
This is the second time you've insulted my blog with a very pompous sense of authority. If you don't like my blog, all I can tell you is don't read it.
If you think you can tell me what to do...then you should just stick to influencing the young and impressionable, cuz I just don't give a shit.
Sincerely,
K-Fed
...my we are a little over sensitive today, aren't we....LOL
I'm not afraid to use my real name.
Tom Vincent
Central-Bridge
AKA:
--The Mayor--
Well, aside from this pissing contest - is it any wonder why these children are committing these crimes? All one has to do is to look at the adult role models they have to follow. Have you checked out some of the cretins that loiter on Main Street lately? Upstanding citizens, probably not.
Maybe it's only me, but I never considered "cretins that loiter on Main Street" (a situation that exists in any city that I have ever seen) to be role models, even when I was a young impressionable child. This is where involvement and direction from one's parents comes into play.
--The Mayor--
What you call cretins, I call colorful characters of the street. Every city does have them and in my mind, their fresh and whimsical philosophy of life makes them more than worthy role models.
Sorry if my comment above was a little unpleasant, as you can see it was early in the morning and I must have been cranky.
As for using my real name, why does anyone care? Walter F. Wouk obviously takes himself a little too seriously and obviously hasn't been reading this blog often if he expects me to do the same.
Colorful characters of a town are one thing. Every place has those. Those who appear to have just been paroled are another. How about those wonderful mothers who have their infants 'hanging out' on Main at 10pm? Sitting on your stoop all day every day cannot convey a positive message to your children. Work, what's that? Oh yeah. This is the county with the highest rate of unemployment. Who do you think are the parents of these pre-teen criminals?
I didn't insult your blog. I pointed out the fact that when you snipe at people while hiding behind a pseudonym, you forfeit your credibility.
Mr. Wouk:
I think the author of Slums Along the Mohawk is a member of a public body who might not comfortably continue to serve in his current capacity if he revealed his identity.
Sniping from a position of anonymity is, as you know, a specialty of youthful malcontents who view the world not as it is but as it, in their view, should be. Having never soiled their dainty fingers with filthy lucre, they earnestly propound philosophical ideals that are suited to ivory towers, rather than to the business that is a municipality.
Ann Animus
What “Ann Animus” has said is a valid point, however there is a place for youthful idealism; it is certainly not a bad thing. Some never lose that perspective, and that also is not a bad thing. There will always be enough of us who have become jaded and somewhat cynical as a result of a lifetime of observing and participating in the struggle that is life, that can add the realism factor.
If her conjecture here is indeed true, then is it not the duty of “… a member of a public body…” to let his true viewpoint be known to the public for whom he serves? It is, in fact, those who are just private citizens, and particularly those engaged in business and simply trying to put food on the table and their kids through school, who must sometimes keep their opinions to themselves if they wish to avoid the wrath of a vocal but oftentimes not terribly informed populace.
--The Mayor--
"youthful malcontents",
"never soiled their dainty fingers",
"earnestly propound philosophical ideals",
"ivory towers"...
Any other cliches and stereotypes you'd like to throw in there so you can easily dismiss the views of those you disagree with? The ironic thing is that as a supposed "youthful malcontent" I got bored with those kinds of tactics a long time ago.
But hey, if it makes you feel better...
Yes there are some children with problems in our area, but they are children with problems, problems that are better off solved now when they are still young enough to learn and change.
Locking up children for long periods of time, and trying them as adults for these offenses is a short sighted approach to dealing with the problem.
They need to be held accountable, and they need our help.
The Capt
"I was probably just going to start using it. But thanks to your little post here, its not gonna happen."
Why's that, Sean/Kevin?
I do NOT dismiss the views of those with whom I disagree. I simply would like some substance along with the idealism....some instances where your idealistic views have been successfully tested in an area similar to this area. You seem a little short on real life proof.
Ann Animus
Let's recognize that there are four types of bloggers: (1) Those willing to speak in public. They use their real names and stand behind their comments. If we know the speaker, we can better evaluate the comment. (2) Those willing to speak, who for whatever reason choose to remain anonymous. We can take them with a grain of salt. (3) Those who use a false name. They conceal and mislead. (4) Those who use a false name, change it when confronted and arrogantly accuse the Class 1 blogger of pomposity.
So Walter offended Mr/s Non-de-Jour, who no doubt thinks that s/he is the true arbiter of what is valid? Oh, my, what a shame. Keep up the good work, Walter.
Let’s face it; the primary reason for failing adolescent is failed parenting. Most parents rely strictly on a school system for the overall education of their children rather than taking an active role themselves. Upon the end of the school day they activate their television set to take over where school left off, and shortly there after, the video games come on as closers to well roundedness. Effortless parenting. And if their kid got arrested or in trouble, they will be surprised and wonder how a good kid like theirs could do such a thing.
"How about those wonderful mothers who have their infants 'hanging out' on Main at 10 PM?"...not here to doubt the veracity of your statement...have not personally witnessed this myself. But was wondering...what have you actually done about it? Have you called NYS Child Protective Services? And if not, why? Call 911 ASAP...don't want to leave your own name and #? Hey, you can report a case of child abuse/neglect anonymously. Or are you only possesed of animus-ity?
"I do NOT dismiss the views of those with whom I disagree. I simply would like some substance along with the idealism"
No, actually you would like to paint me as some kind of straw man for naive idealism because you're unable to debate anyone or anything but a grossly over-simplified caricature.
"How about those wonderful mothers who have their infants 'hanging out' on Main at 10 PM?"
Do you know what an infant is? What would an infant be doing hanging out at 10 PM? That's crazy man!
DEBATE?? Usually what you (and most)do here do is respond where you believe you have a valid argument and ignore any points where you have no valid reply. That is not really a debate. That's OK, this is a BLOG, not a debate. No-one's feet are held to the fire in public here, it's all just BS. Doesn't mean it's bad, but it's not really a debate, is it?
--The Mayor--
You can call it whatever you like, but I usually make an effort to address the toughest points made by those I disagree with, otherwise, whats the point?
After reading your post a second time, it seems like you are defining the word "debate" in an extremely narrow fashion.
Clearly, this is not a formal debate in the sense that you seem to mean, i.e. moderator, time limits, etc. However, much of the dialogue/discussion/commenting is of a sufficiently adversarial nature as to constitute "debate" in my opinion.
There's no need to draw a distinction between what takes place here and a more formal debate setting. After all, if you think its impossible to BS in a formal, live, and public debate I would say that you haven't actually seen or taken part in many.
I would not want my girls to be in the school that lets this sort-of thing happen and does nothing to stop it. Stop them now before it gets worse. The teachers dont care about the kids, just there checks. THAT makes me want to put my kids in a private school, where they would be taken better care of.
A good post, however, I don't believe chidren should be tried as adults under any circumstances. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't get tough sentences when the crimes warrant it. Children are children, regardless of their age. They are not adults. That is why we don't live them drink, vote or go to war until they are adults.
Thank-you for being upfront about this situation. I assure you that I am the mother of the girl that was touched by that 12 year old boy. I have been fighting a battle with the school on the seriousness of his conduct and have gotten nowhere. He is still allowed to play on the school's baseball team and go on the class trip to the Bronx Zoo. My daughter is uncomfortable with both situations. This boy had his "friends" turn on her and call her such filthy names and are saying things to her such as, "Bitch, you liked it" His family is telling everyone that my daughter is a liar and that they feel badly because he is being punished. My daughter was handed a life sentence for what he did, and she told me that after the treatment she got from "trusted" adults, she doesn't know that if it ever happened to her again if she would tell me or not. BUT we all need to feel sorry for his punishment...like still playing ball and still allowed on the same trips that other students have earned????? Doesn't that sound like justice all the way around? (LOL)
hey now we have a sex ofender right in the school!!! Great, now i realy want my kids there.BUT i'm sure its the parents falt on this one too.
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