ATV Florida Forum

Today, here in Coral Springs, a 15 year-old stabbed his 14 year-old brother to death over the use of a home computer.  I don't know the parents or the kids but I do know it is a very nice area of town.  It is so sad because here is a young man who will live the rest of his life knowing he killed his brother over something so trivial.  It can't do anything but destroy his life and the lives of everyone around the two of them.  So incredibly tragic.  Kids, please, think before you act.  I know it's so hard to control your emotions at that age but if you can just stop for two seconds, it can do more than save a life.  I grew up in a similar situation; I was only 17 months younger than my next older brother and the competition was intense.  Despite many a fist fight, nobody ever drew a weapon, although at times I wonder what would have happened if we were raised in this time rather than the one we grew up in.  I feel for this family immensely.  What in God's name has happened to our youth?

Thank you for this comment.  I myself have 3 sons, two of them are this close in age and could not even imagine how I would feel if anything like this ever happened in our family.  My deep and sincere sympathy goes out to this family!

Last week in Dade County a 19-year-old boy got sentenced to life in prison for raping and killing his younger sister.  This happened four and a half years ago when he was fourteen and the sister was eleven.  The State finally tried him as an adult and got a conviction.  The boy was mad and resentful at his parents for leaving him in Central America with his grandmother when he was two years old.  The parents came to the U.S. to make a better life for all of them, but couldn't bring him immediately until they established themselves here (jobs, home, etc.)  A few years after receiving permanent residency in the U.S. they were able to bring him over to join them and his new baby sister.  He claims that personal resentment and rage towards his parents for leaving him when he was two years old caused him to do what he did to his sister years later.
One day he waited for his parents to leave to work and entered his sister's room and raped her.  After he raped her, he slit her throat from ear to ear.  He the made a B.S. story about a group of men who broke into their house while they were sleeping.  That same day he confessed to the cops and stated that he wanted to get back to his parents "where it would hurt the most."
As a Corrections Officer for fifteen years I have seen some of the worst scum you could imagine, but this was something that hit me hard for I'm a father of three.  I can't even begin to imagine the personal hell those parents are going through and continue to do.  To lose your own flesh and blood because of your own flesh and blood.  Truly unbelievable.  May God give them all the faith and strength to continue in life.   

I'd be more interested to know what's happened to parents these days! Sure, there's no guarantees, but, I'm convinced that it's far, far less likely to occur in a family where BOTH parents are actively-involved almost every day in their child's school and after=school lives(sports, extra-curricular school activities, etc.). Parents today give up on each other much sooner and easier. They focus on what they don't get from each other, instead of what they can do for each other! The kids merely learn to ignore and be ignored.

Obviously, the first part that's different from when I was a kid is that the majority of families have both parents working.  In this particular case, the parents were divorced and the father had custody but at the same time, these kids were home alone with nobody to stop the argument before it escalated to the point it did.  But I also agree with keeping your kids involved and be involved with your kids.  The kids that are involved in extra-curricular activities are far less likely to get in trouble.  It's so sad knowing the hell these people are going to go through.  I could not even fathom the pain having your own children do this to each other.

well said. parents these days see their kids as a nuisance rather than a blessing. i always hear them say things like "god i cant wait for school to start again" to ship them off. man i miss not being able to spend more time with my kids.