The seventeenth youngster to be killed in London this year was sixteen years old and drinking with friends in a pub at 2 oclock in the morning. What were his parents thinking? There is no excuse for this tragedy but it could have been prevented with old fashioned common sense.
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technomist
- 2008-06-30 @ 19:01:25
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SeasideMan
Pro - 2008-06-30 @ 19:11:36
Perhaps the parents didn't know where their child was and were worried sick about them...
Once your 16-year-old is out of the house and alone or with friends, the parents can't do anything until they come back.
Tom.-
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Chyna_Doll
- 2008-07-01 @ 20:27:57
I totally agree with this point compared to the others. I was a teenager not too long ago and my parents would of probably agreed as well. Otherwise, they'd just keep on rebelling and may not want to know the parents! (Well I thought so at the time!)
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SeasideMan
Pro
- 2008-07-01 @ 21:53:34
I think we all rebel at some point. But good parents will carry on loving their kids and worry about their misadventures...
Tom. -
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grumpus
Pro - http://bobmblack.blog.co.uk
- 2008-06-30 @ 19:29:54
It's not just a tragedy. Freak accidents are tragedies. This was the despicable, brutal murder of an innocent young partygoer. What are the parents of the useless scumbag who committed this mindless crime thinking, allowing him to roam the streets at 2.00am, carrying a knife, with a gang of trouble makers? I can just imagine the sort of obnoxious low-lifes they are. They should be locked up with him.
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safriz
- http://www.conspiror.blog.co.uk
- 2008-06-30 @ 20:55:01
Can you smack your kids now? Guess not...was the violence any lesser in the days when parents could smack their kids? I think it was.
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DominicGee
- 2008-07-01 @ 10:34:34
You're still allowed to smack kids, but they'll make it illegal soon, usually because of pressure from a bunch of people who don't actually have any kids themselves. Apparently none of us were bought up by our parents, only physically abused.
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SarahWB
- 2008-07-02 @ 10:27:05
Hey, that 16yr old boy was my friends little brother, and his parents are a decent, hard working couple who worship thier children. Ben was celebrating getting his GCSE results that night, he wasn't the type to be out late, trust me on that. The pub was meant to be a treat after working hard all summer. You should be asking 'where were the parents' of the scum who stabbed him, not commenting on the Kinsella families parenting skills.
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technomist
- 2008-07-04 @ 13:32:46
On a blog sites people can comment on whatever strikes them, provided they are polite about it. Ben's parents and many others may disagree, but pubs are no places for children. That does not excuse his death, but it is a fact. Everyone should be looking at the way that our children are being brought up.
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SarahWB
- 2008-07-04 @ 13:38:05
Yes, I agree, pubs are no place for children. However, what were you doing when you were 16? Playing with dolls? Seriously, lots of teenagers go to the pub it's nothing unusual, and by the way, Shillibeers is a restaurant , Ben was having a meal. And seeing as you don't actually know the Kinsellas I think you should refrain from passing judgement on thier parenting skills. Just a thought.
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spiritbird
Pro - 2008-07-04 @ 20:00:13
The fact that it is usual for teenagers to frequent pubs is my point. At sixteen I was employed in the engineering office of a major company in Birmingham. My parents asked that I be home by 10 pm as a courtesy to them, 11pm on Saturday or for a special event. This I did out of rspect as did my friends. We were not allowed into licenced premises. Our idea of a good night out did not entail drinking. As far as my not knowing the Kinsella family, I have no personal quarrel with them and they have my deepest sympathy for their loss. The whole incident is just an illustration of how far down this whole society has fallen. No one wants to take responsibility for their actions anymore. People who stab other peole should feel the full weight of the law but they know this won't happen and everyone seems to accept this sort of lifestyle as the usual way of life. I imagine that you are much younger than me and I can only hope that you hve a bright future in this crime ridden, no concience country that you have inherited.
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MonkeyPie
- 2008-07-03 @ 08:24:38
It doesn't matter abotu the age so much- what worries me is the fact that he was stabbed in the first place. Being 16 and out at 2am doesn't immediately make him a target. Were he two years older, would it be any less of a tragedy?
I wouldn't rest the blame at his parents' door. No one expects an innocent night in a pub with friends to result in murder. Besides, if you start offering out responsibilities and duties to 16 year olds, you also have to allow them some freedom in exchange. I suspect his parents are already blaming themselves, which they shouldn't, it was just a very unfortunate incident and one which should offer sympathy from others as opposed to further blame. -
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sula36
- 2008-07-03 @ 17:23:45
yep, my 16 year old is now out celebrating the end of school, and all we can do is hope she will be okay. Something seems to have gone wrong in the Uk that it is not safe for young people or older to be out at night.
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spiritbird
Pro
- 2008-07-03 @ 20:40:55
Thanks for your comments but unfortunately we seem to have missed the point here. At sixteen years old any self respecting youth (male or female) should be home at 2 am. The legal age for the purchase and consumption of alcohol is 18. The pub owner should not have encouraged underaged drinking. The parents should not allow underage drinking and society at large is to blame for the downward spiral of teenage behaviour. I have every sympathy with the family and every abhorance for the perpetrators of the crime. Until we all take responsibility for our own actions this sort of thing will continue to happen.
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I'm with you on this one hon, at 16 (well as long as I was under my mothers roof!) I was expected home by 11pm, and if not I was expected to be inside a friends house after it being previously agreed with my mum and the mum of whichever friend I was staying with.
If we were drinking alcohol it was indoors, with a meal or early evening and by 2am we were fast asleep! I'm only 29 so this wasn't that long ago.
It seems like respect for other people and parents has gone right out the window, although I say that knowing of loads of kids who do have decency.
I used to walk home from the pub drunk out my skull at 18 but there was no fear of guns/knives being used on anyone, and I don't know anyone that carried either. Thank god.
Kids should be allowed to be just that for as long as possible. And a pub is no place to be hanging out at 2am when you are 16 anyway!
I hope this society finds a way to take a step back from the way it is now. The other thing is that there seems to be a rise in parents encouraging kids to be 'tough' - my mother in law works in a school and they get parents coming in spoiling for an actual fight with teachers for 'dissing' their kids!
What!!!!!!
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Where do they get the money for it?