Parental Misguidance

As my parents aged, they would each periodically lament about how they felt that they would be leaving the world in worse shape than that in which they found it.  They were primarily referring to America, of course, and I’ve long known of what they were speaking.  As members of what is now referred to as our “greatest generation,” my folks embodied everything to which we point when we talk about what made this country terrific.  Sadly, there is no shortage of evidence that proves we are no longer the country we once were, in any way, shape, or form.  The most recent bit of proof to this effect came to light just a few days ago, and wouldn’t you know it was to be found in my own home state… Florida…home of everything, well, nuts.  Sadly, nothing that follows here will change that perception, to be sure.

You’ve no doubt heard about the beating administered by six high school girls on another in the relatively netherworld city of Lakeland, which sits between Orlando and Tampa.  The details of the entire story are not crystal clear, as yet, but one thing on which everyone seems to agree is that a 16-year-old girl named Victoria Lindsay was subject to a surprise attack and severe beating by six female classmates from Mulberry High School, while two associated males, ages 17 and 18, served as lookouts.  The beating, recorded with the alleged intention of posting the video on YouTube and other similar Internet outlets, lasted roughly 30 minutes, in sum total.  Ms. Lindsay reportedly suffered a concussion as a result of the attack, as well as numerous other injuries to her head and face.

While it’s easy to focus on the brutality of the assault, the aspect of this that remains the most concerning to me is that we see, once again, the apparent absence of any real parental authority or guidance in circumstances such as this.  Indeed, what we do seem to have in this case is some evidence that these parents are actually quite supportive of their daughters and sons – how nice.  To wit:

• Robert Schumaker, the father of lookout Stephen Schumaker, has accused Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd of showboating and generally blowing the whole thing out of proportion.
• Christina Garcia, the mother of suspect Mercades Nichols, has complained that the girls should not be charged as adults and that her daughter did not beat Lindsay (that said, she has, curiously, also offered some justification for the beating, citing some apparent negative/unflattering postings about the eventual suspects on MySpace by the victim – so which is it, Garcia? Is your daughter guilty of something, or isn’t she?).
• Charles Platt, a grandfather of suspect Brittni Hardcastle, has stated that his granddaughter has relayed a different version of events than that alleged by Lindsay.  

What stands out by their very absence are any statements from the parents that sound anything like, “My daughter (or son, in the case of the lookouts) did a horrible thing, and deserves whatever punishment the courts deem appropriate.  I can’t imagine what my child was thinking, but regardless, justice must be served.”  Have you heard or read anything like that?  I haven’t…nor do I expect to, sad to say.   

Look, these parents may actually have a point or two in their defensive pronouncements – perhaps Sheriff Judd is a bit of a showboat; perhaps the victim did do some “trash-talking” about these girls prior to the beating; and perhaps events did not play out exactly as Lindsay is alleging.  However, with all of that said, what overshadows each of those “objections” to the current story as we know it is that not one of these parents…or any others, to my knowledge…has publicly acknowledged anything even approximating remorse, regret, or shame for that which is plainly documented.  When any of these parents sees fit to open his or her mouth, it’s solely to make excuses, re-direct attention away from the suspects, or otherwise attempt to defend the indefensible. 

I’ll leave you with this: You can rest assured that had I done anything like this, it would have been my own parents who stuffed me in a car and drove me to the police station; and while they might have seen fit to bail me out after a few days of cooling my heels behind bars, you can be certain that life for me in my house from that point through the culmination of any trial (and beyond) would be far less pleasant than that endured in the local county lockup.  And therein lies the difference between our “greatest generation,” and that which is proving to be our sorriest.

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Robert G. Yetman, Jr.  Contributing Editor -  www.ChristianMoney.com