Talk Bainbridge Georgia

June 16, 2009

28 Comments »

1. This problem is much larger than these 2 teenagers…here in Decatur County we have an abundance of teens who are jobless, out of school and just sitting like targets for illegal activities. we have to take much of the blame as citzens of Bainbridge because we see the growing need of some type of program to put into place for these children and we refuse to do anything!!

   Blaming the mom is easy, blaming DFCS is easy but what about blaming you and me! we have teens who are in gangs, we have children who are neglected, troubled, who have not been properly raised…..OKAY…so now what do we do??

   We implement programs that may have to be mandated in order for some to attend but it will teach them social skills, a trade, give them mentors, options, choices!! Maybe a boys and girls club? A treatment program that addresses kids with issues like these but is not juvenile justice? I don’t have the answer but maybe in looking into this case with these two kids we can see all of our children here in this area who are crying out for help!! I pray that we do!!

   Comment by tbyrd — June 16, 2009 @ 8:46 am

2. Make note that those 2 boys mentioned in the article are not the only ones involved. I would hate for people to read and say ah ok that is the problem the mother, she didn’t send them to school etc and think it ends there, that is only part of the problem. There are the others involved that went to school, from what I understand one of them even worked as a life guard and one or two of them just graduated.

   For CASA to be involved the judge would have to appoint them, but again it falls back on the lack of resources. Theoretically, the CASA advocate would make contact and work the case but what do you refer them to in this county? I was a Guardian Ad Litem in Florida’s 17th District and once you have gathered the information and report back to the Judge recommendations and findings…should you say they need to join tennis, Boy Scouts, the local Y, or baseball in the spring?

   BUT MORE than anything, proactive programs, clubs, organizations, civic groups, character building should be the response to all of this.

   What Decatur is doing now and has been doing is NOT working. I hear so many say, “When we were coming up” Agreed, but this is NOW, not then. This situation is not limited to race, religion, origin of birth… It is effecting everyone, at every level in one way or another.

   Comment by Jweiss — June 16, 2009 @ 9:27 am

3. You know what I find so SAD is that these kids get a write-up about whos to blame. Its just kinda odd and it burns me up that when BLACK kids get into some trouble they are called hoodlums and misfits and the blame is place on them. But these kids get the “blame it on the resources card” pulled in their favor to explain their wrongdoing.

   I will not even use the “oh I am not racist” line, because to a certain point all of us are if the truth is really being told. I work at a school here in bainbridge one that a lot of people would say is the best (Elementary) school in the county and although they do an excellent job in teaching the kids academics, they are just plain obvious in how they treat the little white kids for their behavior and how they treat the little black kids.

   These kids and their mother have been a thorn in the side of Decatur County for a while and nothing is being done about it. WHY? Had it been a black parent the kids would have been placed in a juvenile detetion center possibly until they were eighteen years old and the mother would have been personally escorted out of the state of Georgia and there would have been police to do regular checks to make sure she had done so. In this case the kids were released to their mother who is an offender herself with no actions taken and as far as the mother she didnt leave and nothing was done. But now that the Mess done hit the fan ansd they are repeated offenders, the city wants to place the blame on resources.

   Well my opinion is that this is a bunch of “Horse Wash”. Bainbridge is a RedNeck town and will throw a black person under the bus and talk down about the black community anytime they can, but for the white community they will uphold them in their wrong and make them look good no matter what white background they are from. It Just Burns Me Up!!

   But what I have come to realize is that ” I dont have to answer for how they treat me but I will have to answer for how I treat them”. Good Day All….

   Comment by Rain — June 16, 2009 @ 10:45 am

4. You can blame resources, the community … whoever you want to … BUT ultimately the responsibility is the parents.

   I brought my children into this world; therefore, I am responsible for them. My children have attended schools, participated in community activities, etc. but not one time have I ever thought they (school, community) should assume responsibility for my child. I made a choice to have those children … and with my choice came responsibility.

   Maybe we need some stiffer laws than when a juvenile gets in trouble, the parent is HELD responsible. Let them serve time, do community service TOGETHER!! Maybe it will equate into some bonding time for the parent and child.

   Comment by myopinion — June 16, 2009 @ 3:14 pm

5. Regarding the 2 older offenders, this is not their first encounter with the law. Parents - KNOW who your children are with!

   Comment by myopinion — June 16, 2009 @ 3:20 pm

6. Rain,

   With your comments coming, I am glad my children are no longer in the Decatur county school system.

   It’s funny how many people ALWAYS play on the race card. I remember a few months back reading how a 15 or 16 year old black kid had more felony charges than his age. Ironically he was still on the streets.

   It’s not about race people. It is about knowing WHO your kids are. Most parents these days think they know their children but in reality they know very little about who they are and what is going on in their minds. Instead of letting a computer, television, or game system raise your child….try spending more quality time with them and get to know who they are.

   Black, white, red, green, yellow: its all irrelevant. Stop blaming society and start looking at your own faults as a parent. I promise you a few extra hours a day spent with a troubled teen will make a world of difference.

   Comment by sbrogdon — June 16, 2009 @ 4:19 pm

7. myopinion- *Yawn, typical post*, dont’ forget to pick up your gold stars on the way out. I don’t think myself or anyone else that posted even referenced ANYTHING about the school or community being responsible for anyones children. IF you think for one second that the only children making mistakes, doing foolish things, not listening to their parents, acting like they are teenagers have parents that don’t parent then you have definitely lived a very sheltered life and a misinformed one. Shame on you and everyone that thinks like you. Definitely, there needs to be more effective parents, BUT there also needs to be support, activities,and opportunities that don’t cater to the few.

   Comment by Jweiss — June 16, 2009 @ 4:37 pm

8. Jweiss,
   I agree with you 100%.”"”"”There needs to be more effective parents, BUT there also needs to be support, activities,and opportunities that don’t cater to the few.”"”"
   In most cases the responsibility should lie with the parent, but when mom’s just as much of a criminal as the kids are then who’s responsible. How can you help someone when you need help your self? Hold these kids accountable for their own actions they are not 9 or ten years old anymore. Who is the blame going to be placed on when they become adults and are doing the same type of criminal activities?

   Comment by Rain — June 16, 2009 @ 5:29 pm

9. Well said Sbrogdon, Im sick and tired of hearing the “race” crutch.
   I myself, have a problem with a person admitting they are in any way racist, working at an elementary school, and quite proud of it. Scary but not suprising.
   Jweiss hit the hammer on the head….Same ole post blame it on everyone else and if that won’t work “RACISM” will do it every time. If my child or should I say “when my child gets in trouble” (if shes like me) I hope God gives me the strentgh to do the right thing in every way possible because if she gets out of control, that is the fault of “Me and my Wife” however it will effect everyone around her.
   I would end this post with we should all teach our children not to be racist nor have the mantality of a racist, but as we just learned “to a certain point all of us are if the truth is really being told.” Maybe there is a misconseption there, I sure hope so, but I doubt it after reading that Bainbridge is a RED NECK town where blacks are throwed under the bus. That makes me sick to my stomach, Im going to look into wich “best elementary school” your refering to, and keep my daughter the HECK away from it. I know that racism does still exist but we dont need LEADERS provoking racism and urging sides. Help STOP it, if indeed black kids are being mistreated
   dont support it, go to officials if that doesnt work call dfacs, get the law involved, don’t rest until the problem is solved. That brings me to a very important point, know who is working with your children at school also, if you feel he or she is racist then its not against the law to refuse your child to interact with these people. God help us all.

   Comment by ThePianoMan — June 16, 2009 @ 6:27 pm

10. When reading the original article and the consequences imposed; it looks like just about everyone dropped the ball. That is typical. The police do their job; but their job is enforcing the law. That is all. The adult judicial system (and my I say the local BOE) dropped the ball totally. I don’t blame them. This is not their only worry. The mother of the delinquents; look at her track record. What do you expect? The DJJ? A joke as we all know. Now look at these “children”. Were they forced into what they did? Did they think they were never going to be caught? I doubt they are mentally impaired. They knew the risks. They will pay now. They threw their dice and lost. When they graduate into the adult correctional system (and I think they will); let us remember that they ignored in their short lifetimes to date perhaps all things about them good; but chose to follow the other path instead. Their self-esteem must be really low; but they have the final choice in their destiny. It is not my problem; your problem; or society’s problem.

    Comment by Adjudicator — June 16, 2009 @ 9:06 pm

11. Adj it is your problem, my problem and society’s problem. We are tax payers, where do you think law enforcements, judicial system, public school funding etc etc and majority of programs financial funding comes from? In addition, when we can not live safely, or feel secure who’s problem is that? When the crime and occurrences far exceed the norm for population, location and way of life/lifestyle…it is all of our problem.

    Comment by Jweiss — June 17, 2009 @ 4:33 am

12. Trash Breeds Trash.
    Welfare Breeds Welfare
    Criminals Breeds Criminals

    There are few excemptions but with the home teachings are where they pick up these behaviors 90% of the time. There are the other 10% but untill. The Government starts to relize that you can not keep letting people get away with criminal actions or using the system to be lazy (welfare - 70% that are to lazy to work) nothing will change, no program, no person, will be able to change the system. Say all you want these are only words and to change it is a fight we can’t win.

    UNLESS Government reform - more penaltys for criminals
    Drug test for Welfare, Limits on welfare.
    Holding Parents responsible untill certain age unless you ask government help to controll your child.

    At some point you have to stop helping others and help your self to survive
    Animal Kingdom wisdom, only the strong survive, work and you shall survive, don’t be a criminal and you will have rewards. Dont work and starve. Then and only then will our country become stronger.

    Comment by Insider — June 17, 2009 @ 8:54 am

13. Jweiss - I agree that there needs to be activities that don’t just cater to a few. That is all so common here and has been for years. I’ve seen kids that really want to participate in a particular activity but may not be the best, get cast to the side because a certain someone’s child must be upfront. Do the coaches and leaders realize what they are doing to the character and self-esteem of that child? The old saying, “What goes around comes around”, it is true. If you have read the paper lately, you can see that BOE emphasis is on sports. And I realize that sports builds character, etc. but it only impacts a few of the students in the school system not the majority. Guess it is an age old problem - priorities are out of order. Our communities and society are paying for it.

    Years ago, my child wanted to participate in a club-type activity here. I contacted the leader of this group of which there was were smaller sub-groups. He offered no help other than giving me a couple of names of sub-group leaders to contact to see if my child could join their group. No success so I contacted the leader again. His only response was you will just have to start your own group. I was like right … me and my child. I never had any further use for this organization nor that leader (who I might add was supposed to be a Christian??). BUT as a parent, I assumed MY responsibility and created other activities and interests for my kids to be involved in.
    If you don’t have connections, you can forget it in this community!

    Comment by myopinion — June 17, 2009 @ 11:53 am

14. I hate to see the importance of this topic get diluted and digress into a racial battle of words. That is a separate topic and has validity on both sides from what I have experienced and witnessed, but it is an OLD fight.

    Now is the time to start looking toward the future of Bainbridge/Decatur County or really this truly is the beginning of the demise. Honestly, if the crime goes up anymore I am not sure who would want to move here especially with children. My dream of living in a small southern town in a rural setting has extremely been altered. On a personal note: I moved from a Township with literally 10 police officers to work 3 shifts and have days off, so you can imagine there are 2-3 cars on patrol daily. It was a rural area that now is suburbs, and I wanted a smaller town in the south lol. Imagine my pickle…..

    Comment by Jweiss — June 18, 2009 @ 9:04 am

15. This may be part of the problem; unless your family has an abundance of money, in terms of recreation you are screwed. YMCA=Low budget country club. Please don’t pretend the Y is for young people. Swimming pool= Amusement park. Highest prices to swim that anyone has ever heard of. Why? Obviously to price it out of the range of anyone that is not middle class or higher. Albany just opened a pool and charges less than a dollar. Baseball or basketball facilities located near walking distance of anyone? Not here and will never be here. Unless it can be designed to limit who is admitted to the facility. Bainbridge is reaping the seeds sown years ago and not learning from it’s mistakes.

    Comment by onpoint — June 18, 2009 @ 12:47 pm

16. Actually, since Jweiss obviously doesnt know what they are talking about. yeah those two juveniles were arrested but those 2 kids that just graduated have no affiliaton with those kids. i was a witness to that. our law system is crooked. they will do anything to look good. those 2 boys had a future. too bad we had people that we are supposed to count on let that go to waste. I helped both of them with their college plans. they never stole anything in their lives.

    and for your information they didnt live in rich neighborhoods. one had a parent abondon him his junior year cause she was too bad on drugs. og yeah and she sold his truck that he paid for and stole all the money. so get your information together. the other one was only doing a favor for a child of our law enforcement. he has never been in trouble neither one of them have EVER. the other has also had a hard life seeing as their were people sitting their laughing at his face about his mother’s death a few years ago. yes those people were leaders in our community.

    Comment by schoolgirl160 — June 21, 2009 @ 10:21 pm

17. Isn’t it funny that everyone likes to place blame, but is not willing to help solve the problem?

    tbyrd started this thread probably hoping to brainstorm with others about getting some help with our community problems…instead we are playing the blame game once again…

    If you see something wrong, before tearing it down, find the way to rebuild it. If you tear it down without first making a plan then you are still left with a gaping hole that is worse than the original delapidated wall.

    Comment by Country Lady — June 22, 2009 @ 2:54 pm

18. Wow! Looks like some great opinions and ideas here. Hope to see you folks that are serious about your comments at the next Youth Development Meeting on July 29th at the Friendship House Workforce Investment Building at 12:00.

    Comment by Josh Paske — June 23, 2009 @ 10:02 am

19. Josh Paske~ possibly if meetings where held in the evenings, there would be more people who could participate. But when you have to work and your job doesn’t pay you to participate in these Community Meetings or lunch time doesn’t give you 1 hr plus travel time. Just saying I think that if you and others truly wanted the Community to become engaged these types of meetings would scheduled differently.

    Comment by Jweiss — June 24, 2009 @ 4:24 pm

20. schoolgirl, where do you get off saying that the law is crooked? Whats crooked is your friends who are basically thieves, drug dealers and stolen gun traders. Don’t make out like they are some innocent school boys with dreams of Harvard or Yale. You need to get your info straight, all of these hoodlums are tied together somehow. It may not be an organized crime ring like the mob but they all know each other. They all have their own little illegal activity they each specialize in. The only thing you are correct in saying is that they haven’t been in trouble ever, but there is always the FIRST time, isn’t there?

    Comment by Sheep Dog — June 24, 2009 @ 4:42 pm

21. J Weiss - Great feed back! I will schedule next Youth Development meeting at an evening time and have location and date posted on BainbridgeGA. Hope to see you there!

    Comment by Josh Paske — June 24, 2009 @ 4:58 pm

22. You know what else is crooked? people like you that think they know what they are talking about. NO THEY WERE IN NO WAY TIED TOGETHER THANK YOU and the law knows that actually. they just dont care and yes those two boys did have plans of going to college and do not participate in illegal activity. im sorry i witnessed them being set up because god forbid our law enforcement look bad as well as their children who are the ones that should be locked up since we are talking about illegal activity. so thank you for knowing what your talking about. and i dont associate with those juveniles dont even know them only ever seen them once and i was with those 2 boys who dont know who they are either

    Comment by schoolgirl160 — June 25, 2009 @ 11:19 am

23. jweiss i read your other comments. these boys have never lived in a rich neighborhood. they have had hard lives. one has no parents actually and the parent he used to have ran off with his money and probably bought some drugs and got plastic surgery. these boys DID have a future and still will as soon as this ignorant stuff gets dropped off their record. please understand that these boys are loved by anyone they meet. this scheming that some people did will come back and bite them. i can sleep good at night knowing that you actually know the details before you run to the internet and gossip like a teenager!

    Comment by schoolgirl160 — June 25, 2009 @ 11:30 am

24. Schoolgirl there is no contest if I should engage in matching wits with you, it wouldn’t be fair really. I am very delighted that you have informed me of your perception and position on the topic. I have enjoyed the reading. I shall take everything you said into consideration.

    Like someone prior said recently…in the words of Forest Gump “That’s All I have to say ’bout that”

    Comment by Jweiss — June 25, 2009 @ 8:56 pm

25. schoolgirl Lets hear the facts instead of your biased opinion since they are your friends. You’re no different than anyone else whose friends or family winds up behind bars, “They were set up! The law is crooked! Wha Wha Wha!” If you are so sure of yourself that your friends were set up then go to the D.A. or the GBI. Why don’t you just be in court, take the stand. Incident reports are public record, go get a few and have a read….

    Comment by Sheep Dog — June 25, 2009 @ 10:28 pm

26. Its amazing how people on this page are talking about two boys who they no nothing about well guess what i do know these boys.Everyone is talking about how there mother didnt send them to school so heres they facts…(One) is a 15 year old boy who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 4 years old and suffers with major issues because of it and (the second) is a 16 year old boy who has extremely bad asthma and when Hope Cruz went to court she presented all there doctors excuses but guess what our “WONDERFUL” decatur county school system didnt want to here that why? cause they dont care about that.Im not writing this to defend these boys bacause yes they were wrong but who can say they dont deserve an education just like the boys and girls in this world who have commited crimes.but thats different right?…These boys havent sold drugs,done drugs,raped,killed or even attempted to kill anyone so yes they made some mistakes dont treat them like they killed ur dog and its none of anyone elses buisness where they lived and how much money they have and why is the focus on them anyway wasnt the oldest boy with like 24 huh… but it was ok for him right?This website does nothing but bad mouth people so im using my rights, freedom of speech just like he does this web site needs to be shut down think about…what if it was YOUR kids i bet the tables would turn

    Comment by baparker2009 — June 30, 2009 @ 4:46 pm

27. baparker2009~ If in fact these 2 boys have medical illnesses that prohibit them from going to school. There mother Hope Cruz could have signed up thru the Decatur County Schools, in the guidence office, Homeschooling. Even if she worked, she could still dedicate 2 hrs a day to overseeing her childrens progress and give direction on school work. What is a shame is that either she had no knowledge of how to do this, was not interested in doing this or was never counseled on this with school administration. That could have alleviated the requirement of them being present in school on a daily basis. I have known many a children thus far in my life and have not met too many that can not attend school because of Diabetes or Asthema BUT I am sure there are cases as such. At any rate, an illness, handicap etc is not an excuse to break the law, violate others property, or personal belongings. They are not the only ones involved. There are red flags that I see and sense have been waving for a few of these boys, young men for sometime. It is time for Decatur et al, to Raise the Bar, and for those that are too complacent or set in their ways, now is the time to either step up their game or step down. As far as you saying if this was one of our children how would we feel? I have expressed in my original post that I would be heartbroken. It is equally heartbreaking to see these youth troubled. Their lives are not over, they are only just beginning and I hope they have learned from this. Life is complicated enough without trying to overcome this types of issues. Make note my thoughts on this are not exclusively on this family. It encompasses all of the recent youth troubles and actors of such crimes.

    Comment by Jweiss — July 2, 2009 @ 9:21 am

28. baparker2009: The “asthma” or the “diabetes” didn’t stop them from running around breaking into cars, so how did it prevent them from going to school? Aren’t you talking about the same ones that were caught in the previous two weeks committing crimes? I don’t think their medical history is their problem. Their problem is someone like you defending them when they were completely, undeniably wrong. Face it; for them to get sent off and stay locked up in our current juvenile system says volumes about their record. The only bad thing is they are going to be juveniles for a few more years and continue to practice being career criminals.

    Comment by onpoint — July 3, 2009 @ 7:39 am

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