West Aurora student faces 30 years for allegedly setting restro...

Grrrrrr wrote:

Your attitudes are why kids are like they are today. A smack on the hand and a visit to a shrink and you think this kid will have learned a lesson? This is only the tip of the iceberg with this punk. If he had been corrected at home, this would not have happened at school. Would you rather a slap on the hand and he moves on to deadly arson? He has to be held accountable for his actions.

YO GRRRRR... so true man... so TRUE.. It is the S#@@y attitude presented here that LETS ALL THOSE MINORS GET AWAY WITH IT! They need to be held accountable, PERIOD. Going to a shrink is an escape goat and vacation time for them, not punishment. Why do you think these kids continue to do what they do? DUH!

your talking about one of my best friends, whose intention was not to burn down the school or cause anybody any distress, he made a mistake. can you imagine what it feels like to have thousands of people talking about you in the media. if this was a person that you were related to would you want this harsh of a punishment on just a 17-year old kid? i mean come on, thats just way to harsh for a kid already going through school troubles or maybe relationship troubles or even family troubles. i know this kid he is my best friend i hang out with him every day and he is not a problem to soceity nor is he a danger to the schools i think throwing him away for 6 to 30 years is way way way to much for just a high school kid on his first offense. my family and i would be very proud of being character witnesses on his behalf. he obviously didnt intentionally want to burn down the school, i know him he would never want to hurt anyone in any kind of degree, when he left the bathroom the fire was out so it is very obvious that he wasnt intentionally trying to hurt anyone or the school it was a pure mistake and we as human beings learn from our mistakes, he is a kid that learns very quickly and i know very well and as well as the rest of my friends do that he is very sorry for his actions and that he will never do it again becasue he even tells us that his actions were dumb and he is sorry for causing all of this chaos.

P.S. give him a break!!
and what lesson will
he learn in jail.

30 years?!? I know him, and I can tell you that he isn't a bad kid. He's made some bad decisions...clearly... Also, if you think that setting a roll of toilet paper on fire should earn you 30 years in prison, perhaps you should also consider getting some therapy. Have you ever been in a car accident? Perhaps you should spend 30 years of your life reflecting on a bad mistake that you made. My main point, I guess, is that anything anywhere near 30 years for the crime that was committed is absolutely insane.

This is also one of my bestfriends too,he is a very nice kid and was not trying to hurt any innocent student or staff. I agree with Joe J. 125%,jail time isn't necessary, community service and consuling is necessary.you guys are crazy for thinking of jail time. I also agree with matt,its a mistake,so everyone that gets into a harsh accident should go to jail for their mistake. The only lesson he will learn in jail is not to drop the soap,you guys are going to completly ruin his life,he already couldnt go to prom,take ACTs, and relationship issues,thats harsh enough. Just give him some darn community service and consuling, thats all he needs to learn,trust me i know him better than any of u negative sh*ts.
P.S.-give him a break
dont ruin his life

Ron S wrote:

This is also one of my bestfriends too,he is a very nice kid and was not trying to hurt any innocent student or staff. I agree with Joe J. 125%,jail time isn't necessary, community service and consuling is necessary.you guys are crazy for thinking of jail time. I also agree with matt,its a mistake,so everyone that gets into a harsh accident should go to jail for their mistake. The only lesson he will learn in jail is not to drop the soap,you guys are going to completly ruin his life,he already couldnt go to prom,take ACTs, and relationship issues,thats harsh enough. Just give him some darn community service and consuling, thats all he needs to learn,trust me i know him better than any of u negative sh*ts.
P.S.-give him a break
dont ruin his life

He ruined his own life. He is the one that did the crime, he now will have to suffer the consequences. Kids his age are old enough to think before they act. Letting him off is not going to teach the rest of you that stand up for him anything either. It will just teach you that if you act like a dumb kid, you will get off. As far as prom, he should have thought about that before he tried to set his school on fire. A lot of school spirit that shows. If the schoold doesn't kick him out for good, they are going to have much larger problems on their hands. If he is old enough to have a drivers license and be behind the wheel of a car, he is old enough to know better than starting a fire in school. And kids want the drinking age reduced. Yeah right. They aren't even responsible sober.

Please keep in mind that most of you do not know the whole story. You weren't there. And yes, setting a building on fire while occupied with close to 4,000 people should be taken very seriously.

Grrrrrr wrote:

Your attitudes are why kids are like they are today. A smack on the hand and a visit to a shrink and you think this kid will have learned a lesson? This is only the tip of the iceberg with this punk. If he had been corrected at home, this would not have happened at school. Would you rather a slap on the hand and he moves on to deadly arson? He has to be held accountable for his actions.

YOUR ATTITUDE IS WHY THIS COUNTRY IS THE WAY IT IS TODAY ALSO!!!

The punishment should fit the crime that happened...not the one that could have happened...

And 30 years is off the chain...

But then, that's appropos...because so is this country....

The crime that happened is aggravated arson....He set an OCCUPIED building on fire!

"The punishment should fit the crime that happened...not the one that could have happened..."

So if a guy walks in with a gun and doesn't happen to kill anyone, what would you suggest convicting him of?

Grrrrrr wrote:

<quoted text>
He ruined his own life. He is the one that did the crime, he now will have to suffer the consequences. Kids his age are old enough to think before they act. Letting him off is not going to teach the rest of you that stand up for him anything either. It will just teach you that if you act like a dumb kid, you will get off. As far as prom, he should have thought about that before he tried to set his school on fire. A lot of school spirit that shows. If the schoold doesn't kick him out for good, they are going to have much larger problems on their hands. If he is old enough to have a drivers license and be behind the wheel of a car, he is old enough to know better than starting a fire in school. And kids want the drinking age reduced. Yeah right. They aren't even responsible sober.

Alright GRRRR,
you oviously dont have kids or even relize what this actually doing to the da** kid. HES 17 ALREADY GOT EXSPELLED,DIDNT GET TO GO TO PROM AND ALMOST LOST HIS JOB,yeah he has a license but he doesnt have a car,so get ur facts straight GRRRR. u have to relize hes 17 and this is going to ruin his life,your prob some 50 year old that is taking this WAY to seriously. and CONCERNED,he didnt light the whole dang school on fire,no one was hurt so stop ur complaining, it was a simple 250 dollars in damage,not thousands,its a dumb mistake to be thrown in for 30 years,like i said before,when u get into a car accident, why dont we throw you in jail for 30 years because you made a mistake,SH** happens,deal with it

P.S. give him a break
these SH**TALKERS dont know the kid

RON S wrote:

<quoted text>
Alright GRRRR,
you oviously dont have kids or even relize what this actually doing to the da** kid. HES 17 ALREADY GOT EXSPELLED,DIDNT GET TO GO TO PROM AND ALMOST LOST HIS JOB,yeah he has a license but he doesnt have a car,so get ur facts straight GRRRR. u have to relize hes 17 and this is going to ruin his life,your prob some 50 year old that is taking this WAY to seriously. and CONCERNED,he didnt light the whole dang school on fire,no one was hurt so stop ur complaining, it was a simple 250 dollars in damage,not thousands,its a dumb mistake to be thrown in for 30 years,like i said before,when u get into a car accident, why dont we throw you in jail for 30 years because you made a mistake,SH** happens,deal with it
P.S. give him a break
these SH**TALKERS dont know the kid

I don't know this kid, but I DO know kids. I have 2 of my own. They are both now in their 20's and I promise you neither of them started a fire in school. Neither was kicked out of school. One went to prom, the other didn't want to. But this isn't about me, it's about him and taking responsibility for his stupid actions. And yes, his actions were very stupid. He was stupid for doing something that could had killed hundreds of kids. When you have gotten thru this liberal thinking phase of your life, you will understand why hard working, forward thinking parents think the way they do. I never said he should do 30 years in prison, but he does need to do jail time, pay for the damages and do community service. If he gets away with this without a harsh punishment, he will think that he can get away with anything. Young kids think they are invensible anyway, adults don't need to agree with them.

Grrrrrr wrote:

<quoted text>
I don't know this kid, but I DO know kids. I have 2 of my own. They are both now in their 20's and I promise you neither of them started a fire in school. Neither was kicked out of school. One went to prom, the other didn't want to. But this isn't about me, it's about him and taking responsibility for his stupid actions. And yes, his actions were very stupid. He was stupid for doing something that could had killed hundreds of kids. When you have gotten thru this liberal thinking phase of your life, you will understand why hard working, forward thinking parents think the way they do. I never said he should do 30 years in prison, but he does need to do jail time, pay for the damages and do community service. If he gets away with this without a harsh punishment, he will think that he can get away with anything. Young kids think they are invensible anyway, adults don't need to agree with them.

GRRRRR all ur saying is "COULD OF""WOULD OF" AND A WHOLE LOT OF "IF'S"
and yes you dont know this kid, u have to relize its a kiddish act,he wasnt intending to hurt anyone in this act of stupidity, and no one was even harmed from this act,you have to relize everyone makes mistakes and everyone should get a 2nd chance,as ive said like 3 times,you get in a accident,whydont u go to jail for 30 years,its the same concept,besides in a accident someone always tends to get hurt,no one was hurt by this crime,you do have to also relize hes goin to be doing a whole lot of community service and consuling.
so please agree with me

The kid is not going to get 30 years. The article was explicit in stating that "he could get 30 years"!

I do not believe that jail time for this kid is the appropriate punishment, providng he does not have a criminal record prior to this incident. He should do 30 days in the pokey, 1 year community service and be ordered to undergo psychological treatment.

I recall a day, many years ago, when a kid 17 or 18 years of age got into trouble with the law, the judge would give the kid two options. He either did jail time or joined the U.S. Army and served a minimum of 3 years in service to our country.

Let us bring those options back into the courtroom!

Seriously? 30 years in prison for an act of minor vandalism by a 17-year old?
I recognize that there's the question of risk to other students, and there need to be consequences, but who didn't do something reckless and stupid when they were 17?
And for all the throw-the-book-at-'em types - do you really believe that Illinois taxpayers should taxpayers have to pay up to $30,000 a year for 30 years to incarcerate this kid?
"Damage was estimated at $250 for the dispenser and an adjacent stall wall."
Seriously. You want us to pay over a million dollars to punish this kid for the rest of his life?
Make the kid do two months of community service and move on.