I think there are several issues here. And yep the title is a link to the article.
1) The kid "REALLY" wants out of the current living situation he is in. Whether it is fear of the sex offender or he just doesn't like the state of Washington or some other reason. I was reading the forum attached with this story and people seem outraged. Taking shots at the kids discipline at home and that he should go to military school. I say quit criticizing him and his parent for just a minute and think about what he went through to accomplish what he did. This kid may be a story teller, and a brat you might say. However I also see a natural born leader.
2) Did his driving really endanger anyone if he did not draw enough attention to get pulled over? Think of how easy it is to get pulled over at your age, I am 32 and was pulled over last summer. It happens to many adults who know the rules of the road and so on. From what I have read in other post here, he drove 4 stolen cars without being pulled over. And if the police were trying to pull him over, how does a 9 year old evade capture from a police chase? We see this on COPS every night.
3) He convinced officials at an airport, that screen for terrorism among other things. And got his way on a plane.
4) He may have broken the law, been deceptive and even lied, the qualities of a future politician. On a positive note, this kid has a amazing ability to plan, organize and execute. These are things that many adults can't do.
5) I say this kid has a real future in anything that he wants and somebody needs to start grooming him for it. Maybe his parents and grandparents should get together and discuss living conditions for him, maybe living in Texas is the answer, we all know he is willing to try very hard to be there. Maybe that could be his incentive to do well.
6) I have done my share of traveling. I was probably 30 years old the first time I drove into O'Hare and put myself on a plane. I had been on a plane probably 12 times before that and I at 30 years old was nervous and unsure about going to an airport and going thru the routine without someone to go thru it with. And here is a 9 year old, that not only did it alone, but got a free ride out of it. Don't get me wrong I was more than capable, but still nervous. I was also not trying to get by without a ticket, he not only tried but succeeded twice. Like Meat Loaf said 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
7) I am not saying that I agree with what the little kid did, but I am saying that he is going to require some creative guidance & molding to keep his attention. I feel he will be quickly bored with traditional disciplinary actions and would only rebel against those who try to tone or change his thinking rather than molding his natural born abilities of adventure, leadership, forwardness, fearlessness. HE IS 9 YEARS OLD. I am intrigued enough, that I would like to know, how he planned to contact grandpa, once he got to Dallas. Also why not car, cab or bus from San Antonio to Dallas, I mean at this point he was 90% thru his travel itinerary.
You tell me!
TDK
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
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3 comments:
I so agree with you on this 9 year old.
The stuff that was said on the originating weblog for this news article was so out there - abusive rather than helpful to what discipline is all about.
Lets beat the kid is the theme they had rather then finding the WHY of it all - Sex offender, a mom who seemingly didnt give a hoot about him - really! Since instead of finding ways of helping him she told the police not to bring him home the next time he did something wrong, he was concerned enough about his community/surroundings that he was willing to do ALL that to get away.
Just blows me away.
Anyway - I just think the whole thing is way out there and more investigation needs to happen on behalf of the child.
Well it struck me as odd, I left home at 15 with a spare pair of underwear, it was set up for me. pretty crazy, scary time. I can't imagine going thru that and trying to get on a plane too. Of course I had to decide in one hour.
Also I have been to Washington, it seems to be a nice state. I know the state has nothing to do with living conditions and that is my point. Something drove this kid pretty hard to do all of that...
Thanks again Dana for the comments, and even better we agree!
I just can't believe that in the world we live in now that he got as far as he did. I would be taking notes from him. OMG, I was on my own as a young teen and it was hard but I had a friend. He did it all on his own. Something was really wrong in his current life to drive him to do what he did.
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