Both the Morning Call (read it here) and Express-Times (read it here) report that two Nazareth teens created a homemade bomb and lobbed it at a road crew working along route 248 near route 33.
Mark Hewitt, recently graduated from Nazareth and residing in the borough, is now in Northampton County Prison for committing the above noted act.
Since Hewitt's license was already suspended his classmate Zachary Bajan drove Hewitt's car during the bombing. Bajan faces lesser charges.
The site supervisor, who chased the car after the explosion, didn't immediately find them, but did spot their car about an hour later and notified police. The two admitted they had done it.
The Morning Call article concluded: "''I don't believe there was any intent to injure,'' [Sgt. John] Harmon said. ''They just had no clue to the consequences of their actions.''"
Why is it everytime a teen does something stupid, reckless, and likely harmful, it gets chalked up to they didn't know?
We failed miserably if kids can get to the age of 18, graduate high school, and not know that throwing an explosive device at a group of people is wrong.
We continue to fail them when we chalk it up to they didn't understand the consequences. How couldn't they?
10 comments:
Enough with the enabling behavior! I assure you, a teenager knows it's wrong to lob an explosive at a group of people. And if they DON'T know, then there's something far more dangerous about them.
I am sure we will get to hear that these were such good boys that were just playing a prank.
Simple fact, they are 18 years old, that makes them legal adults. They threw an explosive device at a group of people that were simply just trying to do the job they are paid for.
Yes, the chances of this bomb and its explosion actually hurting someone were small, but the chemicals inside the bomb could have done quite a bit of damage had them landing in one of the workers eyes.
I don't care how "good" these kids were before. They knowingly threw an explosive device all in the name of fun.
They should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and sent directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Only when a good solid example is made will others finally take notice and think twice before they do something so completely stupid.
The Sergeant was stating his belief that there was no intention to physically harm the road crew, rather it was done to scare the fecal matter out of them. He was merely stating the opinion that they had no clue as to how wrong things can go when you do stupid things like this.
Your comments cast the officer's comments as excusing the action. I did not read that into them at all. I don't think he was making light of the situation at all, but rather reporting the intent of the actions.
As far as the two idiots are concerned, I too agree they should be punished for their deeds. My dearest wish is not that "the book be thrown at them', rather I'd like to see the forced to work with that crew for the next 60 days.
I was intending to make a more general statement.
I don't want to read into the officers thoughts or intentions. It does seem that each time something like this happens the "they didn't know the consequences" excuse comes up, and they never will if we never hold them accountable from the beginning.
Thorcha
Let's see. Take prayer out of school.Don't take them to church. Get rid of dress codes so that our boys can dress like little thugs just released from prison and our girls can look like prostitues. No longer educate our children just turn them into worker bees. No discipline anywhere in sight. Let them talk back to parents and all adults in a disrespectful manner. Allow the schools to give them condoms and abortions. Provide our daughters with the pill just in case they decide to have sex at age 12. Let them roam the streets at all hours of the night and have no idea where they are. Don't check on what they are doing on their computer or worry about who they are talking to on their cell phone. When they throw a bomb at a group of workers say aw shucks and give them 60 days of work on the road crew. That'll teach them the meaning of the word consequences.
With all due respect put them on trial and when found guilty give them the maximum sentence and maybe have the irresponsible adults in their lives join them. Our culture is going to hell in a hand basket and we have folks who wonder why.
Mr. Miller,
I see that you're of the opinion that if only we forced your beliefs upon everyone, society would just be peachy. You briefly touched upon the real problem: Uninvolved parents.
(As an aside, I'm not saying that the 2 young men's parents were uninvolved with, as I don't know. We can infer all we like, but I don't recall seeing their names in the paper more than this time. I will however grant the point that this is not a good indication as to the parental skills.)
Your opinion about working with that road crew for 60 days being a slap on the wrist is quite frankly laughable. I suppose you've never worked on a road crew or any crew that routinely stands out in the sun for 12 hour days. Add to that the fact that you've royally pissed off your co-workers, and I doubt 60 days with them would be more enjoyable than 60 days in jail. I can see 60 days of blood, sweat, and tears teaching them to man-up and become respectable citizens.
Thorcha,
You make a good point with the road work on the crew. i think it would be great, 60 days and no pay. Call it community service. Unfortunately in todays day and age, that would be considered cruelty to the kids and unacceptable. Look i was a teenager once too (just like all of you on here were!), and ill admit i did some stupid stuff in my time (refer to the last quote), but i never did anything to harm anyone else or destroy someone elses property. That seems to be the biggest problem today, kids dont seem to know the limits. remember like 5 years or so ago, when the idiot kid threw the chunk of ice off the overpass near the mall and killed the lady. what did he get -- a slap on the wrist, tried as a juvenile, sentenced as a minor..joke. I will say at some point a certain teen or group needs to be made an example of. I would recommend that when they find out who the trash is that is spray painting, that they PAY to have it fixed and if they dont have the money than they can go to jail .
Thorcha
So which of the items in my list do you think I want to force on people? The religious ones or the part about the dress codes? Maybe it was the taking the kids to church and let me point out that I think the churh is in trouble today because they tell everybody that we are all good thus I can say the the priest or minister or rabbi has told me I am good so I do not have to go to church or adhere to the church's traditions. I do not force my beliefs on anyone. I do believe that there are consequences and repercussions for our actions. I believe people need to exam their options recognizing that. These young men did not do that.
As to my co-workers in education, I pissed them off a long time ago but my colleagues in education who are able to sit down and reason join me and others on a regular basis as a retired group at breakfast
I also want you to be aware of the fact that I spent many a day out in the sun working. As a youngster in high school I and others lifted bales of hay for the local farmer for free in order to get in shape for football season. When I was older and teaching I had a summer job as a painter that paid $5 dollars an hour. I even ran my own painting business for a couple of years but because I was a teacher and making those big bucks. I had to lower my price because, as I was told, it was only a summer job the implication being that somehow that made me less qualified and less professional. I loved the job but left it for real estate and spend a lot of time outdoors in all types of weather.
As to 60 days with the road crew, exactly what do you and others think will go on there. Some comments I have read here imply that some how those men on the road crew will take these little brats out behind the paving machine and beat them to within an inch of their lives. Others believe that they will stand in the hot sun all day and dehhydrate. Hate to disappoint you but in a society that sues at the drop of a hat, kids on a road crew will not be mistreated. Let's face it at 18 they are still kids.They are going to be given all the water they need as well as all of the shade breaks required during the day and that is as it should be. No big punishment here and certanly no blood or tears. I doubt that the crew would even be allowed to take them on under the existing circumstances. Heck we can't even get a prison road crew to clean up the litter on our highways.
I would point out that those who do work on road crews usually work 8 hour days and in many places across the nation, including Route 22 at the moment, work at night.
Chris,
I must ask this.. in this situation what is the right thing to do? How should these MEN be punished for there actions? Whats your solution to this problem ? I think putting them to work, not killing them or torturing them, is a good example setter. To be perfectly honest though, if i went up to the high school i could probably find maybe 20-30 people who could actually turn the SLOW/STOP signs. Do yourself a favor and trust me on that one.. Someone said that all we do is train these kids to be "worker bees", that my friend is the farthest thing from the truth. As long as Mommy and Daddy keep shelling out for the cell phones, car payments and skate boards, they will never get the concept of WORK. Why should they?
Chris, you obviously like myself can see that society today is a total mess. I mean look at our nice little town here. We cant even get people who know how to do basic math to run our school district. What makes you think that they can mold there kids into anything better?
Ryan
I believe these men should be tried and if found guilty, punishhed to the fullest extent of the law. With that said, I have always believed that it was wrong to designate 18 year olds as adults. Mark Twain stated that when he was 16 his father was as dumb as a stump but he, Twain, was surprised how smart dad had become when he, Twain, was 25. Keep in mind that we made 18 year old children adults during the Vietnam War on the contention that if they were old enough to fight they were old enough to drink a beer.
I am not sure what you mean by turning the slow/stop signs. I have been to the high school to pick up my step granddaughter and that area is a real mess.
As to the parents, I am in complete agreement with you on that one. I taught for 32 years and it was the parents of the honor students and top college prep kids who came to conferences. Those on the bottom rungs rarely if ever showed up.
But it is not the parents alone. The teachers are lax. Unlike the old guys they are there for the bucks and benefits and many are out of the building before the kids are. I saw a lot of that in my last years among the young teachers we were picking up. Most of them education majors.
The administration is worse then the teachers. I saw administrators give alibis to kids to excuse their lack of performance.
Mom and dad do spoil the kids. They do so out of guilt because both parents are working. They buy the kids affection, so they think, with things. Your are on the money with the culture is a mess.
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