The father of two of the three Christchurch boys, who were aged 16 and 13, blames the police for the deaths of both his sons who died last weekend speeding away from the police in a stolen car. The Otago Daily Times reported the father’s accusation and defence. Quote.
He said his sons were good boys but conceded they had been involved in police pursuits and had stolen cars in the past.” End of quote.
Newsflash: habitual stealing is not a characteristic of good boys. By all means give a kid a break for his first offence, but ignoring multiple car thefts? Absolutely not. Quote.
“They were just kids,” he said.
“They were just boys doing what boys do.”
End of quote.
Actually, no! Not one of my dozen nephews reached adulthood with a penchant for stealing other people’s stuff. Their parents did a good job of teaching them to respect other people and their stuff.
Given this father thinks stealing cars is acceptable, he deserves some of the blame for the strife his boys got themselves into. No person has more influence in a child’s life than their parents.
These boys should have been sorted out much earlier – an education that excludes the biff or any other violence. Kids learn more from what they see than what they are told, and this father has no concept of good parenting. As we now know, he might appears to have missed out in decent parenting too. Quote.
“I knew as soon as this happened what was going to happen with me, with my name – that my brother was going to get brought into it.
“It’s not relevant. The police killed my kids.”
End of quote.
Technically, his kids killed themselves because the police pulled out of the chase before the crash.
And as it happens, there is a history of family violence. The father’s brother, Glen Mcallister, died after a murder suicide rampage in Cathedral Square in 1989. The father of the dead boys is very quick to absolve himself and his deceased violent brother of blame for the boys deaths, but is he correct to do that?
I think violence in the family affects all members. History repeating itself points to parental neglect and lessons not learned, if taught at all. ‘It’s not my fault’ from the father is a man simply denying his part in his children’s outcome. Quote.
“It’s not about me.” End of quote.
Actually, it is about you. Your children learned from you and their behaviour is a reflection of your parenting.
This family history of bad behaviour is not unlike what we witnessed this week from the Liverpudlian family who displayed inter-generational insouciance. They thumbed their noses at the environment, restaurants and the general public. Some families really shouldn’t be breeding.
The police get a bad rap each time the media comes out with “police pursuit” and the families of the deceased take the media opportunity to point the finger, blaming the police for the deaths of their loved ones. Not a bad kid, they say. I guess it’s all a matter of degrees, maybe these errant kids are just not bad enough in their parents eyes.
The police are there to keep us safe from idiot minors, and the courts need to come down heavily on youth who persistently flaunt the law.
If these boys had survived the accident would they have learned anything from it? One would hope so, but probably not.