water cannon

[Timberwolf]

Originally Posted by unreasonable

Indeed: it is imperative that citizens stand up to prevent this kind of degeneracy, as per this fine piece of citizen action (from thesmokinggun.com):

"DECEMBER 5--A South Carolina boy, 12, was arrested Sunday morning after his mother called police to report that he had unwrapped a Christmas present without her permission. According to a Rock Hill Police Department report, the child opened a Nintendo Game Boy, though he had been directed not to by family members. When the boy's mother learned that the $85 gift had been opened, she called cops, who charged the juvenile with petty larceny. In an interview with The Herald newspaper, the boy's mother, a 27-year-old single parent, described her son as a disruptive child, noting that she hoped his arrest would serve as a corrective to disorderly behavior at school and home."

It's not the childs fault. I say the roots of the problem lay with the mother.
Yes she's a single parent and it's hard to correct a disorderly child. However Charging a 12 year old and having a juvenile record that could carry into adult-hood isn't going to correct him/her. Simply Taking the gift back and returning the item or holding it to a later date would of been my choice.
What the paper doesn't fill in are the 12 years of the childs life ..Where the father is or how many men have come and gone in his life How stable his background is or was. Therapy/counselling maybe in order.

Having Police as a man figure with authority is yet another draw back As the child only sees it and yet another man there to apply disciplined without any structure or value of reason
My 2 cents