Wednesday, July 16, 2008

MIP

Personal responsibility.

I guess the lack of it isn't limited to Aspen but here's where I is and here's what I'm shaking my head at.

Five kids, one eighteen and 4 under eighteen, Rachel's peers, were busted for drinking at one of our local outdoor free concerts. Minor in possession.

Their parents' reactions?

Parents of some of the minors were worried that police interviewed their children and administered a breathalyzer test before the kids had a chance to call their parents.

A father of one of the kids charac­terized the series of arrests as a “witch hunt” that was inappropriate­ly handled by police.

And, another defendant, who blew a low reading on the breathalyzer, reportedly was insulting and argu­mentative during the arrest, telling police that she was from a good Aspen family and deserved special treatment because she wasn’t doing drugs “like everyone else does.”

Deputy District Attorney Richard Nedlin said the girl’s statement indicated she believed she was somehow “above the law.”

The girl, however, said that while she was sorry for what she did, Pitkin County deputies had ill-treated her and made “off-whack remarks.”

Judge Ely reminded the girl that police and sheriff’s deputies are the ultimate authority in such matters and that “ Yes, sir” goes a long way.


Wow.

Now, my daughter isn't one of these kids. She thinks this sort of behavior is asinine. (Yay!)

But, I'm here to tell you (and she already knows it), if you catch her engaging in this sort of stupidity, give her hell. If you're a cop and you catch her, so long as you don't violate her civil liberties (no police brutality, please), have at it.

Oh, and I don't think that calling her parents before she's breathalyzed and questioned is a civil liberty . . .

There will be no messages from me that, when you're caught, you don't have to face the music. No messages that you're above the rules.

Heck, I'm the one who ratted her out to the school for calling herself in sick . . .

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is with these overentitled parents? It's scary that they're showing their children how to flout the law.

We need more parents like you.

These kids were asinine. So were the parents.

Unknown said...

Susan mentioned overentitled parents....I've long said that this generation has a feeling of entitlement. I guess overentitled parents breed the same type of kids.

Good for you for calling the school. I'm with you all the way on this sentiment. And having a problem teenager, I've thought of this type of scenario quite a bit. Eventually I'll get around to blogging about it.