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matthew, do you know anyone who has been sent to a wilderness program? I do, and though he makes light of what happened, ten years later the experience still profoundly effects who he is. It made him a violent sleeper, for one. It robbed him of his senior year of high school, for two, and he wasn't able to participate in all of the things his other friends were.
Mocking an assistant principal on a MySpace page shouldn't be punished this way, even if it's libelous. It's too heavyhanded.
As it was said in the article, and as it has already been said elsewhere, adolescents and teens cannot conceive of the consequences within a grander context. In simple terms, they don't see the big picture. I'm not arguing that there shouldn't be consequences, but the consequences should be reasonable. Community service is a very reasonable, positive consequence.
I'm not sure what we can do about such corruption, or if it's widespread. I certainly hope it isn't. That would be very disheartening. Admittedly, our juvenile justice system is already all sorts of fucked.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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