Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope it's a wake-up call to the Wootton parents who don't care their kids are drinking and drugging as long as the grades stay up.

EVERY parent of a teen needs a wake-up call. If your kid is lying, start to verify their stories. Stop believing the continuing lies. Just stop, so your kid can start to respect you again.

Okay, so you GPS your kid and catch them lying.

Then what? You take away the car and their phone and ground them.

And they sneak out, then what?

Do you chain them to their bed?

No but if you have an alarm system, they have no phone or means of communication to others - how and where are they getting out!?

I should gag them so they can't talk to neighborhood kids?

Again, with an alarm system, how are they getting out?

You suggest locking them in a house without the ability to get out!? And if there is a fire?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope it's a wake-up call to the Wootton parents who don't care their kids are drinking and drugging as long as the grades stay up.

EVERY parent of a teen needs a wake-up call. If your kid is lying, start to verify their stories. Stop believing the continuing lies. Just stop, so your kid can start to respect you again.

Okay, so you GPS your kid and catch them lying.

Then what? You take away the car and their phone and ground them.

And they sneak out, then what?

Do you chain them to their bed?

No but if you have an alarm system, they have no phone or means of communication to others - how and where are they getting out!?

I should gag them so they can't talk to neighborhood kids?

Again, with an alarm system, how are they getting out?

Anonymous wrote:Where there's a will, there's a way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope it's a wake-up call to the Wootton parents who don't care their kids are drinking and drugging as long as the grades stay up.

EVERY parent of a teen needs a wake-up call. If your kid is lying, start to verify their stories. Stop believing the continuing lies. Just stop, so your kid can start to respect you again.

Okay, so you GPS your kid and catch them lying.

Then what? You take away the car and their phone and ground them.

And they sneak out, then what?

Do you chain them to their bed?

No but if you have an alarm system, they have no phone or means of communication to others - how and where are they getting out!?

I should gag them so they can't talk to neighborhood kids?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And driving a car is safer than riding a bike 10 miles on a county road to a friends house on Saturday night.

B.S.

When's the last time you rode your bicycle late at night, in the dark, on a two-lane windy road with no shoulders?

PP here. I do it routinely. I light myself up like a Christmas tree, wear enough reflective gear to qualify as a second moon, and keep my ears and eyes cocked for approaching cars. I actually feel safer doing it late at night when there aren't as many cars on the road.

To be fair, I completely understand why someone would choose not to ride under those circumstances, especially a teenager who doesn't want to look like a complete dork. But honestly, the "danger" involved in riding in those conditions has a lot more to do with perception than reality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And driving a car is safer than riding a bike 10 miles on a county road to a friends house on Saturday night.

B.S.

When's the last time you rode your bicycle late at night, in the dark, on a two-lane windy road with no shoulders?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone think of something to do that will make this more "real" to the kids than a memorial by the side of the road? What can one possibly do to have this terrible accident serve as a deterrent to other kids? other parents who condone drinking? Is there anything?

Our DD is too young to understand yet (she's 2), but once she gets old enough to understand, I plan to take her to the site every time there is a crash like this (sadly, seems to happen at least once a year) so it will sink in with her. The fire department posted photos on twitter of the mangled car, and I'd pull that up and show it to her also. I think being at the location helps for it to sink in.

Now is the time to teach her to respect you and your requests, otherwise known as obedience to her parents. This is part of the very hard job of parenting, especially when we're tired.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone think of something to do that will make this more "real" to the kids than a memorial by the side of the road? What can one possibly do to have this terrible accident serve as a deterrent to other kids? other parents who condone drinking? Is there anything?

Jail time. What else do the rich care about?

But. Not. One. Single. Day.
For the death of two people.

Let the killings continue?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of the many many ways and places teens find to drink alcohol, drinking in a house with parents present is the least common. By far. And of those few times, the parents don't "serve" the kids alcohol. The kids sneak alcohol into the house or take it from the parents' garage fridge.

There was actually a news report saying the kids grab the cases of beer the suburbanites leave in and next to their garage fridges. And especially in the summer the garage doors are open a lot. To pp: I don't know of anyone who locks their fridges or cases of beer.

No, you're nuts. People aren't that stupid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not only parties, though; if kids want to drink, they will do it whenever there's an opportunity -- at someone's house while the parents are at work, for example. Are you going to tell your 18 year old that they can't go over to a friend's house?

I'm wondering how many of you have had a teen who has been that age -- between h.s. graduation and the start of college. It's a fine line you walk, between trying to protect them from harm and yet giving them freedom to make good decisions; after all, in a few months, they will be away on their own without you looking over their shoulder (and if you think that there's no drinking at college, it may not be on campus, but there is still a lot of drinking off-campus). It is very stressful as a parent, and although you preach and teach about the dangers of drinking and driving or riding with someone who's impaired...teens are going to do foolish things, because they can't imagine that anything bad will happen to THEM. I'm just saying, it's not as cut and dry as some of you think it is.

I do think that having a mangled car on the school lawn presents a powerful visual and gives teens something to think about. These terrible incidents need to be turned into messages for the younger students and not be quickly forgotten.

What is absolutely inexcusable is that adults would allow teens to drink at their home. I knew of a family who would let kids drink at their home, but would make them spend the night -- still very, very wrong in my eyes. I hope the adults who let this party occur are charged to the fullest extent of the law, and I hope their names are made public.

I used to spend the night at a friend's house as a teen and justified it to my parents that this was the preferable option to driving after drinking to meet a curfew. This is the reality of most teens - alcohol is very prevalent at parties. I was a good student, an athlete, somewhat responsible and wanted to maintain an honest relationship with my parents. Your kids will find a way to engage in these activities while either being honest with you or deceiving you to maintain their freedom. It was evident to me in college who had strict upbringings because those were the kids going nuts.

I have young kids now and am struggling with how to handle this when they reach this stage. I want them to be honest with me and I will focus on keeping them safe. An, but the details...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What type of stuff was deleted? (not specifics because I suppose that would be deleted, too?)

Unflattering posts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone think of something to do that will make this more "real" to the kids than a memorial by the side of the road? What can one possibly do to have this terrible accident serve as a deterrent to other kids? other parents who condone drinking? Is there anything?

Our DD is too young to understand yet (she's 2), but once she gets old enough to understand, I plan to take her to the site every time there is a crash like this (sadly, seems to happen at least once a year) so it will sink in with her. The fire department posted photos on twitter of the mangled car, and I'd pull that up and show it to her also. I think being at the location helps for it to sink in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And driving a car is safer than riding a bike 10 miles on a county road to a friends house on Saturday night.

B.S.