I recently wrote about millennials who have been raised to not take responsibility for their own actions. A good example was in the news this week. A young man from Texas had been placed on probation for a vehicle accident in which he was the driver, was intoxicated, and hit a vehicle of a disabled person on the side of the road. Four people from the disabled vehicle died in that accident. At his trial, the defense put on an expert who said that because he had been raised as a coddled affluent millennial, he was unable to understand the gravity of his actions or know right and wrong. Dubbed “Affluenza,” this defense strategy was ridiculed in newspapers and opinion pieces. But the kid got probation that banned him from alcohol. This week, this teen and his mom wound up in Mexico and an arrest warrant was issued for their repatriation back to the U.S. It turns out that the probation officials saw a video that showed the teen drinking (gotta love that social media …). So the mom threw one more big party for the misguided boy and snuck
him off to Mexico.
him off to Mexico.
She was sent back to the U.S. and arrested. Good. The teen is still in Mexico fighting extradition. Here’s the point: this teen isn’t the victim of “Affluenza” but the Mom is guilty of truly bad parenting. When we raise our children to have no regard for others and even worse, refuse to make them accountable for their actions, why would we be surprised if they turn out as worthless jerks or perhaps worthless felons?
Can we get some Grounded parents to start making changes right now to ensure that we have a future of Grounded millennials?