Posted on 07/27/2004 5:57:06 AM PDT by Born Conservative
Given that Mr. TelephoneMan has only been with us for a few days, I cannot discount the possibility that he is something other than an honest FReeper.
Dunno. I hate the thought of it. I can't think of a way that isn't horrifying. All I can do is ask one question: do you want this kid in the same day-care, classroom, playground, park, neighborhood, etc. as your children? My girlfriend has two toddlers: my answer is H311 N0!
Unforutnately, the way things seem to work these days, not only can you not keep him away from these places, you can't even find out about him.
As things stand, no one will be able to do anything about him until he strikes again. Even then, response will be limited 'cause he is a juvenile offender. Until he reaches majority, no matter what he does, he is not going to suffer the consequences of his deeds for very long. Then, at eighteen, when he commits his next atrocity, we lock him up forever (hopefully). Does that make sense?
One more thing. If such a monster moved into my neighborhood, and attacked one of my girlfriend's children, I wouldn't just take steps against the monster; his parents, knowing what he is, are even more liable than the kid.
Why, I hadn't noticed that. Perhaps I'll bring that up next time he strings along a flock of strawmen.
Look to Brazil, Colombia etc to see our future. Look to how police in Brazil deal with feral children, it may be our future. Look at the 16 year old in LA who recently shot a random CHP cop in the head, killing him, merely as a gang initiation.
This problem is just rearing its head, it will haunt us the rest of our lives. The "Brazilian solution" will make us feel like Nazis, and allowing them to roam our streets will make us prisoners in our homes. Paying to fix them ain't going to happen (if it could even be shown to work). And the ACLU etc say we may not fix the society which is mass-producing feral children.
Of course not. Nobody here is saying that this child is normal, nor that his behavior is benign. He really does need to be kept away from others, as he does pose a serious and real danger to others.
I prefer to reject the morally unacceptable alternatives of sending a mentally ill 7-yo kid to prison for life, or torturing him into submission, or killing him outright.
The question becomes, what do you do with him? The goal would be to make it so he does not pose a danger and can operate somewhat normally. I don't know how to do that; and although I'm very good with kids, I don't believe I'd be capable of taking him into my own home (even if I didn't already have kids).
You can't treat a problem with pedophilial predation like a problem of a continually untidy bedroom.
Are you talking about the kid or the Children and Youth Services employees?
He almost sounds like a troll-- coming here from DU to get FReepers to agree to Nazi tactics on 7 year-olds.
You just wonder if he ever had any love at all. If he didn't there is probably not much hope at his age and now there is another child who needs help. It is just a sad situation.
Such children are creatures of the psychotic cultures into which they're born. They have no fathers, and neither did their mothers, nor did their mothers' mothers. Their social environment has been stripped of nearly all moral underpinnings except power and spectacle.
The "solution" for the problem is to (somehow) stop the flow of new "feral children" into the pipeline, and to deal with the existing ones as best we can.
It requires moral clarity, and a recognition that there are indeed community interests that can and sometimes do trump individual rights. For example, a woman's "individual right" to have children is trumped by the community interest in not having to support her children, and be subject to their criminal tendencies. Her womb (and its fertility) is public property for as long as we're paying for what comes out of it.
FWIW, I think the necessary moral clarity no longer exists in any politically viable sense in the U.S. This may change once folks get fed up with things -- and it would still require moral leadership.
Were it possible, I think the best antidote for "feral children" is physical labor and religious education -- hard work to use their energies (and to teach them something useful); and religious (Christian, IMHO) education to get their heads straight.
Doesn't sound like it. Poor kid.
Off-topic: I've been thinking about little Jacqueline lately -- how's she doing?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.