My word BF, are 14 year old kids actually incarcerated? Or was that then and they don't do it any more? But still, mercy, so sad that you and other kids that age are so far out of control to end up like that. Still though, I guess if it can turn them around at that age, all the better. I've wondered about the people in prison and ones who have gone straight for a long time and then done something so stupid and end up in jail. Then I wonder about the ones who just never seem to get "it" through their heads that they need to follow rules and laws. I guess it's so hard for me to imagine because of my upbringing and "influence" that was always around me. Grandpa and Grandma lived across the street with my dad's 4 much younger brothers. My parents were always there, maybe my dad was out on the back 40 and mother in the garden, but there. Also, I suppose my personality was such as you could shake your finger at me and I'd behave. Yet I grew up to be strong minded and not afraid to speak my mind. But I also knew when not to push the envelope and learned where I stopped and the other guy started.
Last winter I had a long talk with my 14 year old grandson who was pushing Grandpa and Grandma's buttons a little while we were taking care of them while Braeden was being hospitalized. We talked a lot about rules and how to make the decision about following them and who is the boss in what situations and where and when he makes the rules. I told him flat out, "If you and Grandma get into a real scuffle, Ian, I will just warn you. You will not win." I had learned that he seemed to have a problem with females in authority and gave his mother a rough time. Unfortunately, she had taught him that she wouldn't follow through with her threats when he got older. She would just "tell daddy" when he came home. And that didn't seem to work out very well. But any way, one of the hardest things we have to learn in life is where we (our authority, whether we have any and how much) stop and the other begins. Yah, in our estimation, we may think we are right but we can be right until the cows come home but if the other guy has more authority and thinks you are wrong---you better start paddling. We use these dance steps all our lives.