So I just read this AP article about a 13 year old in Rockford who died of alcohol poisoning. This happened in the company of his 19 year old cousin. The kid was on a baseball team, and said team will now be wearing black armbands in tribute to the boy.
So, all this is tragic, but here's the question: We tell kids all the time not to do stuff like this, but it's okay for all of these other kids to pay tribute? I'm trying to figure out what's positive about that. Wear the armband so you remember the kid, or wear it so you'll be reminded all the time - don't do what he did?
Meanwhile, they have charged the cousin and his buddies with misdemeanor alcohol charges. So where are the parents of the kid who died? And why not charge the 19 year old - adult, by legal standards - with involuntary manslaughter?
Maybe I'm just seeing this all in a very cruel light. I don't know. Maybe it's just symptomatic of the complete loss of personal responsibility for one's actions. Nobody is held accountable anymore.
Sigh. Stupid, stupid, pointless death.