Minnesota has had a couple of miserable examples of appropriate teenaged behaviors. First, there is the case of Nicole Beecroft who was 17 years old in April 2007 when she gave birth to a live baby girl, on the floor of the laundry room, in the home that she shared with her parents. They did not know that she was pregnant. Not only did she hide her pregnancy; but, prosecutors alleged that she planned the death of her baby before it was born. She stabbed her newborn daughter 135 times in the abdomen, chest and neck. The baby bled to death; and that is when, Nicole Beecroft disposed of her child in the garbage can outside of her home.
A judge ruled on December 1, 2008 that Nicole Beecroft was guilty of 1st degree murder and will spend the rest of her life in prison without the possibility of parole. What would possess a woman to not only kill her child but to do so in such an extremely violent way? Why not give the child up for adoption? Why not let the father raise the child? Why not reach out to a parent, a teacher, clergy, counselor, neighbor or a friend? What was the reason behind stabbing an innocent, straight out of the womb infant?
Then today, there are reports that 8 Minnesota teenagers are facing charges of terrorizing and abusing nursing home patients. The nursing home patients suffer from dementia and alzheimers disease. The accused are minors, except for two young women, they all worked as part time aides at the nursing home. They are accused of crimes such as spitting on the patients, physical assault, poking at them, and sexual contact with vulnerable adults. These are serious charges and yet, they may only face 1 year in prison, and or, a fine of up to $300,000 if they are actually convicted. I am sure that those who had alleged sexual contact will also have to register as sexual offenders for the rest of their lives. Do you think those punishments are appropriate; if indeed, they are convicted of the crimes? Are the punishments severe enough for the alleged behaviors?
Where is the respect for children or for our elderly citizens? Where is the respect for life? In general, society has allowed our nation’s children to do what they want, with very little consequences. When things go awry; many people find others to blame…there is very little accountability for those who go the wrong way.
Minnesota does not have a monopoly on violent or abusive teens; every state has such horror stories; that doesn’t make it ok. Who is going to be the next vulnerable person? What kind of depraved behavior is going to surface next? We are raising a whole generation of human beings who have individuals who are either are unwilling, or incapable, of caring about other people in any normal kind of compassionate way!
The question is…what are we as a society going to do about it? We had better figure out a way to understand these type of situations and change the course of these behaviors…otherwise, those most vulnerable, the elderly and the children, will be at substantial risk. Those people at risk could be your loved ones; or possibly, even yourself!
Write where you are 