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- I recently heard the 911 calls and was horrified. The people trying to help the boy were clearly panicked. However, the dispatcher wasted time asking questions that I would assume should already be known, i.g. the address and etc.
I have read comments where some say the parents of these bullies should be blamed and prosecuted. I disagree. Parents ARE responsible for their children until they are of age, but children are not TOLD by parents to douse another kid with gasoline and set him on fire if you don't like him. What parent condones that behavior?
MOST parents raise their children as best as they can with morals and how to conduct themselves in society. They should not be persecuted when a child who KNOWS better do something as horrific as this. When a child leaves the home to attend school and interact with other children, the PARENTS are NOT there to guide him or her on the decisions he/her make around the clock.
Children fall prey to peer pressure every single day. Other children can influence them to do things that PARENTS do not condone; i.g. drugs, violence, etc. A parent has control over their child and/or children when they are in their presence. They control punishments and chores and doing homework. In their presence, they control how they behave in public.
OUT OF THEIR PRESENCE, it's another story all together, and they should NOT be held accountable when a child goes astray and make a stupid decision to do something as horrific as what was done to this boy. - Reply to this comment
- All five kids need to be charged as adults and all five need to be charged with attempted murder. We need to put a stop to the violence that these bullies are inflicting on the innocent children. Bent the ringleader was arrested the night before becasue he was stealing the Brewer's bike. Bent spent the night in jail and was released to the custody of his mother. Within a few hours he was walking the street recruiting his gang to commit the horrible crime. Where was Bent's mother? Why was he allowed out of the house? If Bent was not on the streets, this might not have happened. Bent's mother needs to be charged also for the crime.
Lets refer to these monster kids as the "Deerfield Five". There was a statement made by a student at Deerfield Beach Middle School that word at the school was Michael was a snitch because he called the police on Bent for stealing the bike. Broward County Public Schools has an anti-bully policy. If the rumor was all over school, the teachers and staff heard the rumor. The school has a resource officer. What does the resource officer do all day? That is their job to hear what the students are talking about and to prevent trouble. I know this didn't happen on school property or during school hours but one of the reports said Michael did not go to school on Monday because he was afraid of Bent and what he might do to him. No child should be afraid to attend school.
The parents of the "Deerfield Five" need to be investigated by county and state officals. If appears that they believe it is acceptable to set people on fire. I also belive that all the parents of the "Deerfield Five" need to be charged also in this case.
I live in South Florida and have an elementary age son. We all need to push for safer schools and having the problem kids removed from public schools. There should be a school for only problem kids and their parents need to pay to send them there. None of the parents that have these problem kids care if they get into trouble; they need to be held accountable for their actions. - Reply to this comment
- Burn the boys that did this to him! Let them see how it feels... THEN Throw them in JAIL for a really REALLY long time! This is soooo sad... I couldnt imagine this happening to my daughter or my son... it makes me crazy just thinking about it. On a side note, this makes me wonder what these kids parents are teaching them... or NOT teaching them. So terrible.
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- Of course, it's deeply unsettling to hear these screams of agony from a boy doused with fuel and set on fire, but what does any American think Napalm IS?
Half a million Iraqi's have died since our invasion of 2003. Most of those died because we did the equivalent of pouring fuel on them and lighting it on fire. Did any of their screams get heard by the American public? Did any of us get tried as adults for doing so?
The world we make, is the world we get. The children watch our behavior, and it becomes THEIR behavior. - Reply to this comment
- This is another heartbreaking story that makes abolutely no sense. What is the punishment going to be for these CRUEL, pathetic excuses of human beings. Why does our society have to be so politicaly correct in making excuses for this behavior. The 5 psychopaths who did this diserve JAIL- for attempted murder, tried as adults, no possibility of probation and NO SYMPATHY!!!!!!!!!! Too bad our society doesn't accept "eye for an eye" as punishment. A lot of these losers might think twice. My heart is aching for the victim. I personally think the perpetrators deserve NO REMORSE!!!
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- I just got done listening to the 911 call and heard that poor kid screaming in agony in the background, and I thought to myself, what if that had been my daughter? I think I would just die. I knew someone who got burned while working on a car that something in the engine blew up, on the hands, one arm and side of his face. The pain a burn patient experiences after the initial burn, while intense, gets even worse when the ambulance and hospital people have to take the clothes off and start cleaning and treating the burns, and in the case I knew of they couldn't give any pain meds til after that was done. Then the months of healing are agonizing as well. I think these kids should who did this should each be burned on say, a softball size part of their body, and be told while and after it was happening, just think if you were burned like this on over half your body. To have them experience even a portion of the kind of pain they dealt out could be the only way to get them to have any empathy for another human.
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- This is yet another horrendous story of cruelty and viciousness
beyond comprehension. Some people just live and breathe to terrify
and injure others, animals, or anything they can abuse or sabotage.
These are our future, a product having to quench, and fulfill any
urge no matter how demonic. We gave our kids every thing they wanted
for way too long, from unlimited entertainment, to cars, and instant
gratification. They are us, their parents, filled with violence and
anger, we may have a job or "respectablility" but we are "its",
over a third of our populace, or more are capable of this, on any
given day. A little bit of Manson and Pol Pot are in every mirror
we will ever look into.. - Reply to this comment
- by Luceebelle October 16, 2009 8:24 PM EDT
...I wondered how much more do we need to see with kids and violence, how many more emotionless and cruel children do we need to see inflict this kind of thing on other kids before we realise that they way the majority of kids are raised today is not working? Parents don't be your kids friends, they have enough friends...
I have sister-in-laws that are a "friends" to their kids. You are right, they don't need a friend. These kids were always in trouble. The girls in both families were pregnant at 16 and 17. My girls would probably have turned out the same way if left to my husband. He wanted to be more of a "friend" too.
I looked after one of my sister-in-law's kids for awhile because they were constantly running away from home. It was a real battle for awhile because they were so used to being able to go out and stay out for however long they wanted, and do whatever they wanted. How do you haul them back in once they have had TOO MUCH freedom?
Also I have a nephew that has a demon seed child. : ) His wife is a FREE SPIRIT and thinks that the kid should be raised the same way as herself. Soooo, there is no such thing as "NO". That's worked out really well. The kid does whatever he wants. He is now abusing his baby sister and the dog. At least they are getting him some counseling now. Who knows if that will help though. He's still living with the "FREE SPIRIT". - Reply to this comment
- by Luceebelle October 16, 2009 8:26 PM EDT
common sense isn't as common as it used to be.
You can say that again.
In fact I'm starting to think it's very UNCOMMON. : ) - Reply to this comment
- by stuart-johns2 October 16, 2009 7:52 PM EDT
erasmus, this has nothing to do, or LITTLE to do with the way they were raised. Many kids are raised in less than ideal circumstances and become great successes in life.
That is true.
"They are just evil. PERIOD!"
I do believe that there are some children born evil. Most times we think that it's something that the parents have done, and in most cases that is probably true. But there are the odd times where there doesn't seem to be any problems with the way they are raised. Or at least nothing that anyone has noticed. - Reply to this comment
