Have you ever heard of the DOOR KICK CHALLENGE?

[hamsterjill]

106. I don't think I've told others that they must abandon their parental methods.

Look, I don't know what it is that you are trying to drive at, but I'm not going to argue. If you want me to admit that *I* think the parents of this 11-year old bear some responsibility for him being out knocking on people's doors at 11:00 p.m., in violation of a curfew, then yes. I think they bear some responsibility for that. I'm sure that their own guilt over this is more than enough punishment. If you choose to have children, you are responsible for those children. Are parents perfect? None of us are. Kids don't always do as they are supposed to do. But the parents are always ultimately responsible for their children because children are minors and need to be protected from things they do not yet understand. But before you condemn me - read on.

I do not think that the penalty for this young man being precocious should be death. Especially not shot in the back while trying to run from an adult with a gun. There may be (I've not heard confirmation yet) some factors that shed more light on why the man reacted the way that he did. I've heard he's a combat veteran and he may have been mentally dealing with issues, etc. I don't know. But NOTHING makes it okay that he killed this kid.

Crazy idiots with guns may not be uncontrollable forces of nature, but they do exist and there are a helluva lot of them in Texas. I've lived here all of my life. There are parts of Houston that are heavy crime areas. There are many sane and rational Texans also who own guns for protection, and I think it is a naive concept to think that most people would limit the stand your ground laws. We are big on property rights around here and you don't go onto someone's property without their permission - out of respect, certainly, but also out of caution. Children need to be taught this by WHATEVER parental method each parent chooses. This needs to be done as a protection for those children.

Thanks for the discussion. I'm done now. I hope you have a great evening and a great Thursday.