kids & justice

http://www.racialicious.com/2010/07/28/framing-children%E2%80%99s-deviance/#more-9390

when i see the two videos juxtaposed, i think of how both children are equally terrifying and equally capable of wrongdoing. neither child is of course an adult, but a child, an adult0in-training. the message here from the parents should be clear, what was done was wrong, unacceptable, for the many laws broken, and hazards dared, albeit without a scratch. the risks they took should be understood, as well as the potential pain caused, and the damage that could've and already was done.

they need to understand how society works, and why its beneficial to follow laws rather than to break them; they need to get a feel for the fact that law is there to protect members of a society from rogue elements that would impinge on their freedom to live happily.

whether a child be taken to a facility, or a child be taught by their parent, something certainly should be done. but i think these videos say less about the children than they do about the assumed capability of the parents. obviously the police feel its a good idea to get involved with the African-american kid, but with the white kid, there isn't any police force on the show (why would there be?) but also the seeming assumed outcome for the white kid is that he wont be getting any slap on the wrist from the cops. (nor did the cop that pulled him over make an appearance on the show, strangely).

the point is in case #1 with the black kid the cops assume the parents dont have the cajones or skill to make do with the situation and make right with the wrong, pass the knowledge down of societies rule and the potential for harm, why the kid literally CANNOT act as he did, given the rules of society enforced by the punishments of it. they would rather he face those punishments in a gritty in your face realism that "the system" can bring; over the ability of those parents of this kid, their ability to make him understand right from wrong; police assume they aren't capable of the job, and take matters into their own hands, essentially using "the system" as a surrogate parent, given the grandma's seemingly assumed incompetence.

the white child on the other hand is seen in the arms of his family, with the camera panning to them regularly; these are "good" people who you can laugh with and even adore in a strange way- as the host seems to try to paint the picture. but juxtaposing the two videos, you see two identical children handled in two very different ways, not by their families necessarily, but by the police force, and the media seems to be lapdogs for the authority's position, readily embracing the assumed ... scolding-being-enough for the white child, yet not quite being enough for the black child. its not the child, again, thats being evaluated, but the ability of the parents to cope with this curve ball in their tenure as guardians of this child. the parents are either assumed incapable, or capable, by the law enforcement. the child is getting treatment based on this assumption, and therefore the law isn't really working the way it should; that is, unbiased, and fair & equal, but more-so very biased, unequal, and just plain ugly.