Who’s Responsible for Children’s "Pranks"?

Jim Kent’s column in the Rapid City Journal today is right on.

He examines the recent “pranks” at Central High School in Rapid City involving a false gunman report and the incindiary device that went off in a locker. And Kent examines the question of who’s responsible. (This actually sounds a lot like something I said in an earlier post this morning.)

“Back then,” we were coached on the meanings of “responsibility” and “consequences” by everyone around us: parents, neighbors, teachers, the cop on the beat and even complete strangers. It was a time when it was rightly presumed that children weren’t as worldly or wise as adults and needed to be offered guidance whenever they veered off the path of “doing the right thing.” Moreover, anyone who offered guidance was profusely thanked, not criticized, by the child’s parents.

It’s an excellent column. It’s worth reading the whole thing…and then resolving to do our part to fix things.

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