Wednesday, March 31, 2004

Stupid Dead Kids

I don't want to come across as cold and uncaring here (oops, too late maybe), but what the hell is wrong with kids? Are we breeding a generation of extremely slow learners? How much money has been wasted spent on programs designed to educate children about the dangers of drinking and driving? Stories like this are all too familiar, showing up in the pages of newspapers across the country.

"The profound anguish of three grieving families filled a Dedham courtroom yesterday as a 20-year-old Halifax man was led off to jail after pleading guilty to driving drunk and killing two of his best buddies."

"Police estimated Scanlon was driving 105 mph in a 1993 Grand Cherokee when he crashed on northbound Interstate 95 in Foxboro after he and friends spent several hours drinking in Rhode Island bars in celebration of Shaughnessy's 20th birthday."


Throw the book at this kid...literally, preferably a large book. Then lock him up for 10 years. If I recall correctly, the 20's were some pretty damn good years of my life. Not a decade in which I would have enjoyed being incarcerated.

Telling kids not to drink and drive is like telling Al Qaeda to be nice. It doesn't work. Here's what we do: First DUI offense (as long as there's no fatalities involved), the judge sentences the offender to 30 years. Then after the individual shits himself in the courtroom, the judge can inform him that all but 30 days are to be suspended, to be served the next time the guy gets so much as a speeding ticket.

You think anyone's gonna do 30 days and say, "You know what I want? I want to do that again, but this time, 365 times as long. That'd be pissah."?

Remember the MIT student who died after drinking a bottle of Captain Morgan's? His parents were shocked something like that could happen, because "he NEVER drank". There you go. Whether the "evil" you want to protect your children from is alcohol, firearms, or drugs, you aren't doing your kids any favors by denying their existence. Real education is the first step toward teaching personal responsibility. There isn't a politician anywhere who can teach your kids right from wrong. That job is the sole responsibility of the parents.