it's the system

 Where do we draw the line between constitutional rights and parental rights? Do parents have a right to enforce justice as both judge and jury? Historically that is the way we view that. Government should only intervene when abuse takes place. Conversely parents were held accountable for the actions of their children. But I'm seeing a shift in this social construct, at least in the cities I am. I watch the news, hearing about all the crime, the juveniles running wild, and how there is little that can be done. Granted I'm hearing about the city of Baltimore more often than not, but my feeling is this is happening in all the major cities of America. 

 Now in Baltimore they are currently talking about enforcing curfew laws. This in response to a spike in juvenile homicides. Juveniles shooting each other! Children of all ages are being caught in the crossfire and some children are engaging in that fire. The big hesitation in enforcing these laws however is the concern for the children's constitutional rights. There are attorneys informing the Mayor, the Police Commissioner and the parents that children have a constitutional right to be on the street at any time of the day or night. Any infringement on that, without the declaration of martial law, would be a violation of their constitutional rights. My question is, do children, juveniles, those under the age to vote have such a right? Where do we draw that line? 

 Are parents responsible for the actions of their children? Our legal system certainly says they are. Well, the system addresses criminal activities anyway, you are responsible for any financial losses caused by your children. Juveniles can be incarcerated as well but that is always a last resort. Today's thinking is that doing so just encourages them to become career criminals and isn't an effective deterrent to further criminal misbehavior. All it does is give them street cred. Today we are thinking we can simply reform them by talking to them. The wisdom of spare the rod and spoil the children being relegated to folklore. Tolerance being the watchword today, tolerance and forgiveness without punishment. It's a lack of accountability. 

 I don't understand why the parents aren't being held to account for those juveniles being on the streets. Why isn't that child neglect? I've heard of parents being prosecuted for having what has been called, "latch key" children. Children left at home, instructed to not unlock the door, allow anyone in or leave the premises until that parent returned. The intent, no matter how misguided, is an attempt to keep those children safe. Yet, parents that allow juveniles out on city streets after ten o'clock or even later are being told they cannot restrict their children without violating the children's constitutional rights? Law enforcement is being told the same thing. Last weekend in Baltimore a very large crowd of juveniles assembled at the inner harbor, causing a great disturbance, disrupting traffic and creating a general feeling of unrest, of apprehension and fear. The response from law enforcement? They have a constitutional right to assemble. You can't just disperse a large group of juveniles for being juveniles. No one detained, no one held accountable for anything. Oh, the Mayor did ask the parents to please ask their children not to do that.

 I don't have any answer to this problem. For me it falls under the category of trying to close the barn door after the horse is out. It's too late to do much about it beside round up the horse. These juveniles have to be taken into some form of custody, detained until their parents/guardians or some responsible adult comes for them. There has to be accountability! It's not an easy fix, maybe it can't be fixed, but something has to be done. You can't really place blame on the kids, it is the parents' responsibility. Kids will generally do whatever is allowed, that's the nature of kids. Kids will generally try to see just how much they can get away with. Kids want to be cool, to fit in, to be noticed. It's called growing up. A great deal of this problem stems from that fact alone, too many kids having kids. And a system of entitlement and dependence that supports that.

 The absence of accountability coupled with a system of reward and support. No need to grow up, to become a responsible adult, I can just keep on partying, doing whatever I want to do, it's not my fault. I have a constitutional right to all of this. Government has no right to tell me how to raise my children, I'm not responsible for what my children do because they have a constitutional right to do that. It's freedom! And don't forget, they're just kids, they don't know any better. Not their fault, not my fault, it's the fault of the system. The system that enables all of this.