Every June the city I live in, Milwaukee, hosts its annual 11 day music festival, “Summerfest.” It takes place along the lakefront at Maier Festival Park.
With sometimes hundreds of thousands of people attending, there is always the chance of some kind of incident that involves the police. For the most part however, major problems are avoided.
Well, that was until this past week. The big news story didn’t involve a bunch of drunken adults. No, it was about a group of 22 teenagers who looted a gas station and assaulted a number of victims.
I should be fair and say that this didn’t happen right on the grounds of Summerfest. On July 3rd, Summerfest puts on its famous “Big Bang,” an hour long fireworks display show. These teens were watching the fireworks at Summerfest from a nearby location.
Surveillance of the teens looting the gas station was caught on camera. Police had no one in custody so for the past few days they have been replaying the tape, asking for people to come forward. In the mêlée of the situation victims were kicked in the face and head, and knocked to the concrete ground.
The injuries required stitches and one female victim had to undergo surgery for a fractured jaw. She was visiting here from New York…nice…welcome to Milwaukee.
To my surprise, a couple of days after the video was shown on the news, one of the mothers turned her 13 and 15-year-old children in. She even went on camera to encourage other parents to do the same. She expressed how difficult it was to do but she said that if parents didn’t turn in their teens, they would be telling them that what they did was okay.
I can’t imagine watching the news and seeing my teen looting a store. But I give this mom so much credit. Too many parents today care more about protecting their children rather than holding them accountable.
Since then, four more parents have come forward and turned their teens in. They now have the names of 7 of the 22 teens involved.
I really feel for this mom. She said, “What kind of kids are being raised? I’m thinking that, I’m watching it and then I see my son. I’m like something’s got to be done.”
Kudos to this mom for doing the very difficult but right thing…I just hope more parents come forward.
What would you do in this situation? Would you turn your child in?
Related Articles:
With Freedoms Come Responsibility
Is Teen Rudeness Really a Trend?
Photo by mconnors in morgueFile