Dying to be grown ups

I guess that ever since there have been kids, there have been kids wanting to be grown ups - little cave boys wanted to have a club of their own and hunt stuff; little cave girls wanted to grind grain and plump up the sleeping furs. Rules were probably there to be broken then, just as they are now and non-adherence to them is still a matter of life and death.

In the 21st century, they want to race over-powered cars without the skills or experience to handle them or recognise the risks. Last Friday night, a local 20 year old was killed when hit by a car racing another car in front of a crowd of other young people buzzing at doing something illegal in an industrial area at one in the morning. The deceased was the race starter. The car drivers were 18 and 16. Their audience probably wasn't much different in age.

I wonder if any of their parents had a clue where their kids were? H is 16 and she sure as hell isn't allowed out to roam the streets on a Friday night, or any other night for that matter.

Is this death a tragedy? Yes, because our young people appear to be less and less able to make safe and responsible choices for themselves and our PC-legislate-for-the-lowest-common social and intellectual denominator state is creating it.

Is this death sad? Nope because, like anything in life, if you want to break the law, if you want to engage in dangerous and anti-social pursuits expect to get hurt, locked up or die from it. Darwin's theory once more removing the morons from the gene pool before they can procreate and inflict their offspring on normal people.

Last week the media reported the Police as saying that they were encountering more and more young people who had no fear of or respect for the Police and the law. The kids don't give a shit about authority.

Kids at school have no fear of punishment worse than being stood down or suspended, which is what most of their bad asses probably want anyway - a couple of days off to hang with their mates. Those caught by the police doing naughty things get at worst a slap on the wrist for bad behaviour, at best a pat and a stroke and let off because they had a bad childhood. All I can say to that is "diddums".

Not long ago I posted about when Tauranga Boys' College major violence erupt, spread over a couple of days and that there was not a skerrick of media attention. Unless your kid was there, knew someone who was there or heard it on the grapevine, it didn't happen. Same with the ensuing violence at Tauranga Girls College at the end of that same week. Media blackout.

Last post, I reported that Ad's got punched in the head at school. Two days later, 2 boys had a scrap with one ending up in hospital. This time, the violence made the local paper. I guess someone was asleep at the wheel and didn't manage get the media blacked out in time. Ads said the other boy was rumoured to have a broken jaw. The little lowlife bastard who punched Ads was suspended last week, duration unknown but it probably won't last long and certainly not long enough.

Every single person on the planet makes a choice, conscious or not, as to whether they do good or do evil. That's not even simplistic, just reality. If rapists, paedophiles and murderers didn't know it was wrong, they wouldn't bother hiding it, lying about it or running from it. The same goes for violence at school, illegal street racing and all other forms of dangerous, inconsiderate and socially detrimental activities.

I hope those boys scrapping at school remember the pain and it reminds them why bashing each other is forbidden by law anjd by school decree. I hope those 50 witnesses to a violent, unnecessary death last Saturday night see that image in their dreams every night for a very long time. Maybe it will put a "face" to consequence to actually get the message that rules are there for a reason and that the rules are there for everyone.

PS I hope the thieving shits who have stolen Ads school jersey and PE gear get their just desserts as well - I can't afford to be replacing $80 jerseys (or take the cheaper option of $50 silly polar fleece ones), $25 shirts and $20 shorts too often. Of course, if the schools stopped monogramming and screen printing every damn thing, demanded reasonable pricing from their suppliers and made generic clothing in appropriate colours kosher for school wear, most fixed and/or low-income parents could keep up with the play - me included.

I'll put my soapbox away, for now.