Teens Who Harm Others

When I was a teen I did the teen things. I wasn’t a terrible brat but still, I was a teen. I…

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Teens Who Harm Others

When I was a teen I did the teen things. I wasn’t a terrible brat but still, I was a teen. I remember drinking my first taste of wine standing in an alley with my best friend while trick-or treating. Yes, I still did the get the treat things in my teens. I really didn’t go to the door, instead I was a teen stepping out of my guide lines set by my parents.

When I was old enough to drive I would put on a Halloween mask and drive  up and down the streets in our city. I thought it was so much fun getting the looks from older drivers.

I once went to Fort Wayne with some friends. I wasn’t ever to go out-of-town and I was also to tell my parents where I was going. When we do something we know is wrong it always comes back to bite us in the ass, and it did.

I was at the busy intersection at a stop light and it was dark. The laughter from inside the car immediately stopped when all of a sudden steam came barging out from under the hood of the car. I had broken a hose.

I immediately froze and became serious as I was trying to figure out a kind way to call my parents and tell them what happened and where I was. Luck was on my side as one of the guys knew enough about cars to temporarily fix it until I got back home.

So I did the teen thing but never anything bad. So you can imagine how angry I was at the local news on TV tonight when a family who loved to over-decorate outdoors for Christmas. When they woke up this morning they were so sad when they discovered that teens had ripped apart so many of those expensive decorations.

Stomping on lights, smashing Santa and Frosty the Snowman. Tearing lights out of the trees and busting them. What a very expensive teen episode that was. I felt so bad for that family.

They enjoyed having people drive by and being entertained by their hundreds of lights only to have them blown out by teen pranks. I don’t get it. What was the ending goal that was on the positive side?

Why weren’t those teens home going to bed so they could get up and go to work? I was an ornery teen but I also knew if I did something this horrendous, my parents would punish me so badly it would be weeks before I was let out of the house.

I won’t try to place blame here on anyone. I will just say that the word respect for other people has been tossed out the window in the past few years. What a sad situation this was.

Here is a similar video of what that house looked like that got torn apart.

Is This Your Child?

god exists... (Photo credit: loungerie)

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He was only a child. Lying spread out on the street where he lay in a pool of blood. His home life had been less than perfect. No church foundation, no guidance at home. He looked for self-worth in his friends. He grew up in the streets, learning the way to fit in was to act tough. He went out  through the night and went  into the streets where  his friends were waiting. This is one of the toughest gangs known to the city. People crossed to the other side when they saw them. More and more guns were carried by the good and the bad. Drugs were forcing long time home owners to sell their homes and move elsewhere. Women were standing on street corners trying earn a living. Men in expensive clothes were strolling the streets. Tonight, the streets were full of noise. People whispering, sirens sounding. Police directing traffic. In the distance you can hear the EMS coming.  A sadness comes over me as I realize this is a reality in life. This is no longer a murder mystery book that we are reading. This is happening in our own back yard now, today. You can no longer say that this happens only in the bigger cities. As I look at this young man lying there lifeless, and realize that this life is over. One of God’s children was called home early. It unwillingly causes tears to form on my cheeks. We have to go back. We have to check our list of priorities in our lives. The only way is God’s way. This is our purpose here on earth. To love, and honor our glorious God. By doing this, we will place God as our number one in our lives, with family in second place. As a story writer, this has been the most difficult story for me to write. I ask God, now at this moment, to help me to be a better person. To help me to have more understanding, and to carry a compassionate heart. I pray that we protect our children, that we listen to them, and help nurture them in our lives. I don’t want to see another young man lying in the street surrounded by a pool of blood.