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Sunday, February 12, 2017

A Fitting Punishment

I just read this in the New York Times.

A sentence was handed down to 5 teenagers in VA who spent
a lot of energy writing  racist graffiti on a historic black school-
house. 

They are ordered to read one book each month for the next
12 months and write a book report on it.  Not just any book 
but the Judge gave them a list of 35 works from history's 
most divisive and tragic periods, from which they can choose.

Their sentence also includes a mandatory visit to the Holocaust
Museum in Washington and the Smithsonian's Museum of
American History exhibit on Japanese-American internment
camps in the US. 

I hope more judges follow suit in that kind of punishment  of
Judge Avelina Jacob.  Do you think people would 
continue to riot if they actually knew and understood history?



15 comments:

  1. People are blind and just whine about the here and now or act stupid. It was a good sentence indeed as it will hopefully at least wise one of them up. But that hard part is, a lot of that stuff is learned at home. If you can't change the parents, it can be hard to get the kids out of such crap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pat
      You always amaze me by going right to the crux. The parents, the home, that's where it all starts. It's a huge responsibility to be a parent but so many have fallen short.

      Delete
    2. Yep, so many should be fixed and then such crap is nixed

      Delete
    3. Pat
      LOL You mean as in smip-snip
      And the cat give's "no lip."

      Delete
  2. Give that Judge a medal for commonsense. I wonder if those teens had ever seen a photo of the camps and piles of bodies which still makes me shiver when watching a documentary. Pat Hatt is right, it is taught at home, babies don't come into this world with a handbag of hate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JahTeh
      You're so right. Hate is like a school subject in the beginning, it has to be
      taught. It appears that so very many parents have been good teachers. Think of what the child would be if the subject had been "love."

      Delete
  3. A few might, but they'd be the type to riot no matter what, just for kicks.
    It seems like a great punishment, to have the kids learn more about the history and hopefully change their mindset.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. River
      Yeah, the majority of kids may be too far gone but it may open the eyes of a few.

      Delete
  4. Hey, if we turn around just a few with this form sentencing, it would be worth it. Just putting them in juvenile detention would only strengthen thier warped beliefs.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Patti
    Right you are........being locked up with like-minded kids would just
    give them new ideas of destruction and instill more hate. That is why I feel
    it is so important for parents to monitor their kids friends. (But probably
    also, one of the most difficult jobs, ever. I remember...LOL)

    ReplyDelete
  6. It is a progressive sort of punishment meant to correct but not punitive meant to punish. Good! Would help them to turn over a new leaf in a better frame of mind!

    Hank

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kaykuala
      In my most humble and often meaningless opinion, reading history is never a waste of time. The only thing wasted on the young is youth, itself.

      Delete
  7. Lots of potential for change, and even if they are surrounded by family, friends, etc. who scoff at their reading and visits, a seed could be sown. We can only hope.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Rosie
    I've stored baskets of apples and one apple begins to turn rotton and before I knew it, they all had turned bad. I hope people are not like that but for the most part it's easier for a person to leave the family group than it is for an apple to walk away. Hahahaha

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete