YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, IF YOU CAN SPEAK LATER!

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT, IF YOU CAN SPEAK LATER! 

(Frazer Chronicles)

Kids really got it easy, they should thank their lucky stars for everything that is handed to them on a silver platter, "I sure did." I mean, the house, the love, the guidance, the food and an allowance to boot, could anything be better. It's almost like kids show up, and for the next 18 or so years, everything is supposed to revolve around that kid. "I wanna go back, I miss those days."

We now fast forward to 2011, the summertime of the year, and take a look at some of these kids lives, these kids born into such affluent surroundings, in a time of enlightenment, in a time where justice "rings" true for all. The skate parks, the roller board runs, ball diamonds, and all the kids summer activity programs that children can be amerced in.

During the just complete 2010-2011 school year, after  graduations, the graduation parties and all the fan-fare that goes along with the most important event in those young people's lives, "to date." They are left to ponder their recently gained Independence, what to do with it, and what first steps to take in the long struggle that for some, will continue their entire lives.

What happens to these bright, shining, eager young folks is a story in and of itself, the life's wins, losses, and the finding of one's self, realizing why, "to a degree" they are here. That story is  happy and sad at the same time. This story however, is for a different time and a different place.

What we are concerned with today, on July 18th. 2011 is some of the things that go into molding young people, their morals and their perception of power and who welds that power. Kids are impressionable, of that I have no doubt, kids fall into love and out of love at least three times a week, hell, I used to fall into and then out of love once or twice a day, sometimes in just an hour.

However when a kid is lead, oft times by the scruff of the neck into some windowless room where a battery of school officials and a couple of cops, the hair on the back of my neck, "the hair I have left there," raises, and I start a twitching nervousness and a sense of fear mixed with a twinge of anger, my heart starts pumping just a bit faster, and I ask the question, "what in hell is going on here, who did this kid molest, or kill?

Kids however, it turns out, have little or no rights when it comes to the Gestapo type actions that are arbitrarily taken by school authority's and the police. Kids are not Mirandized, given and listing of any of their rights, and are usually "bully-boyed" by school officials,  the cops, or both. Parents are called, usually after interrogation type questioning and whatever verdict the officials want has been gained.

I remember talking with a cop many years ago about a neighborhood tough, a 12 or 13 year old who was a royal pain in the ass, not only for me, but for the rest of the neighborhood as well. The cop told me to "just put up with the little punks activity, after he turned 16, they would (rain) on him." And you know, they did, he was arrested for murder and is spending most of the rest of his life in jail.

For some of these kids who act out, for whatever reason, the attitude is "wait, you'll get yours." With little exception, the help that many of these kids get is "lip service." As one cop put it, "the juvenile system is screwed up and social workers who administer services are a basic joke.

The above commentary brings us to the meat of today's subject, careful justice for kids, delivered with a firm, fair and honest hand. Just because a kid says something to another kid, or tells them that "he has a gun at home," or brings a pornographic magazine, book and some sexual adult toy to school does not mean that the kid intends to do wrong, or to do somebody harm.

What that should tell school administrators is that, that kid is acting out and needs some sort of professional help. The family should immediately be brought into the equation, and probably also is in need of clinical help. For God sake, get the kid as well as the parents into a help program and monitor the kid.

Police are absolutely no help in these types of matters, what with their cynical attitude, and assumption that everybody is guilty until they prove themselves innocent. The "in your face" behavior that cops bring to the table in many cases is unwarranted, and causes more harm then help. Believe it or not, most kids want guidance and welcome advice, the "know it all attitude" comes after a kid reaches about 15 or 16, and I am talking about kids under that age.

Give the kid and whatever system has been instituted a chance to work, give the kid an even break, and you'll be surprised at how easily a kid will respond to love and understanding as apposed to a backhand by some hairy knuckled Gestapo type cop.