what kind of kids would do this

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Kids aren't very good at being human quite yet, that's why we don't let 'em make huge decisions.

Lord of the Flies, that episode of Star Trek or Twilight Zone, The Veldt....
 
In Middle Eastern, 3rd World Countries violators would have a hand cut off.
It makes for a very efficient deterrent.
In this perticular instance, I would suggest the children be committed community service.
The proceeds to go replace the damages. Then they should reconstruct everything.
Not only will they learn how much work went into the displays, but they actually might learn something and eventually contribute to the hobby.
It's hard to put blame on ALL parents. Good kids often get messed up with one or two bad kids.
Usually, the bad one's come from broken homes, single parents, druggies and the like that could never afford any fines or retribution.
 
It's sickening, those guys probably put every free moment for years and years into it.
 
In Middle Eastern, 3rd World Countries violators would have a hand cut off.
It makes for a very efficient deterrent.

https://nij.gov/five-things/pages/deterrence.aspx

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/...ent/201804/why-punishment-doesnt-reduce-crime

Evidence suggests that corporal punishment is not an effective deterrent to crime. It is also cost-prohibitive to preserve the severed hands, so that they can be reattached in case it turns out that an innocent person has been tortured and mutilated.
 
https://nij.gov/five-things/pages/deterrence.aspx

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/...ent/201804/why-punishment-doesnt-reduce-crime

Evidence suggests that corporal punishment is not an effective deterrent to crime. It is also cost-prohibitive to preserve the severed hands, so that they can be reattached in case it turns out that an innocent person has been tortured and mutilated.

SUGGESTS seems to be a key word in what you've wrote there. Just saying,,,,,
 
I just read that Rod Stewart (the famous singer) donated 10,000 Pounds to the club. Mr. Stewart is a big model train enthusiast himself and was devastated at the news of this horrific vandalism. So far the JustGiving page shows donations of almost 67,000 Pounds. Money can't replace what has been destroyed, but hopefully the club can build a new layout and continue to educate kids.
 
I just read that Rod Stewart (the famous singer) donated 10,000 Pounds to the club. Mr. Stewart is a big model train enthusiast himself and was devastated at the news of this horrific vandalism. So far the JustGiving page shows donations of almost 67,000 Pounds. Money can't replace what has been destroyed, but hopefully the club can build a new layout and continue to educate kids.
I've never been a big fan of Rod Stewart, but he really stood up and got involved there. That's got to improve some pretty serious depression.

Jim
 
This is just horrible. I say the kids parents should also be responsible. Send the kids to jail and community service and if none of that work just shoot each kid in the head and call it a day.
 
This is just horrible. I say the kids parents should also be responsible. Send the kids to jail and community service and if none of that work just shoot each kid in the head and call it a day.
Make them rebuild 20 hour days on bread and water. Fix what you broke...

I have no idea how an idea like that could even enter a head...must be empty heads...
 
Sadly, if the kids are like this, chances are, the parents are no better. SO, having the parent pay the price won't do anything..
 
Sadly, if the kids are like this, chances are, the parents are no better. SO, having the parent pay the price won't do anything..
I disagree. For the most part, young boys don't have the ability to fully reason these types of actions. They don't process the love, dedication and sacrifice that went into something on this scale.

This is a physiological brain development issue as much as, or even more than a society behavioural issue. Not that I am giving them a convenient excuse but their ability to cognitively reason is inhibited by their underdeveloped frontal lobe.

My parents were wonderful and very caring upstanding members of their community and I have grown up to be the same. However I shudder to think of the things I did as a young boy.
 
Michael,
I'll beg to differ. the boys were 15 & 16. they [should] have a pretty good idea of what time & effort goes into these types of things, as well as the cost. They may not be able to put exact context to the time or dollar amount, but realize that it does take time, effort and $$. they should at this point in life have a bit of an understanding as to right & wrong, despite pushing boundaries..

(I remember when I was growing up, I knew some kids that knowingly did stuff like this. I remember one group trashing a house at the house party.)

I also remember later in life, working at an outdoor event; evening shift, about 9pm-ish (Fringe Fest, Vancouver BC) where 2 12yr olds were harassing eh event: crashing one or two shows, stealing, breaking things, just being a general nuisance.. We called the cops on them, and "Yeah, we know them" was the cops response. "We'll take them home, but they'll probably be back. Their parents are alcoholics and don't really seem to care where their boys are at night. Call us when they do come back."

sad.
 
Yeah, parents can do only so much. "So much" is a lot and ought to be enough to prevent this, in most kids, but it won't always be.

And it's widely shown to be true that corporal (or capital) punishment is a poor deterrent. People don't think to themselves "It'd be fun to wreck those train models, but I guess it's not worth the risk." What they think is "Hey, look at the nerd stuff. Let's wreck it!" Whether they can't or just don't consider the consequence for the victims, they won't consider the consequences for themselves either; they just act.

It'd be very satisfying to see them convicted and sentenced to flogging, but it would also be both ineffective and immoral. Helping with the rebuilding of the train display and also cleaning up or repairing other vandalism around the town. Getting paid minimum wage, all of which is paid as reparation to the club, until a predetermined amount of money is reached. Three lessons are taught, and one hopes learned:
  1. A moment of "fun" actually breaks real things.
  2. Money is not so easy to earn and shouldn't be wasted. (Which is why it's work until the dept is paid rather than fora set number of hours. It amounts to the same thing arithmetically, but I hope it sends a different message.)
  3. Hard work is hard.
Sadly, "Actions have consequences" is a lesson that won't be learned if it hasn't been already. Not until they grow up.
 
Michael,
I'll beg to differ. the boys were 15 & 16. they [should] have a pretty good idea of what time & effort goes into these types of things, as well as the cost. They may not be able to put exact context to the time or dollar amount, but realize that it does take time, effort and $$. they should at this point in life have a bit of an understanding as to right & wrong, despite pushing boundaries..

(I remember when I was growing up, I knew some kids that knowingly did stuff like this. I remember one group trashing a house at the house party.)

I also remember later in life, working at an outdoor event; evening shift, about 9pm-ish (Fringe Fest, Vancouver BC) where 2 12yr olds were harassing eh event: crashing one or two shows, stealing, breaking things, just being a general nuisance.. We called the cops on them, and "Yeah, we know them" was the cops response. "We'll take them home, but they'll probably be back. Their parents are alcoholics and don't really seem to care where their boys are at night. Call us when they do come back."

sad.

Perhaps you were more developed at a young age then I was, it certainly sounds like you had more sense, based on your post. Although at 15 going on 16, I do recall having a conversation with myself saying that if I got caught from now on that, it would be on my permanent record. So I made an effort to curb my activities. A lot also had to do with where I grew up. I grew up in Mississauga, and there wasn't much to do back then without getting into trouble, and we also found ourselves coming into Toronto often, which just made things worse at that age.

Maybe we were at the same house party. I knew a guy who put on a motorcycle helmet and ran through all of the walls on the second floor of a house party. You could close all the doors and walk from room to room; they also threw the couch out the front bay window on the main floor. I was at the party but not part of the group that did this. However, I knew the two main players that did this and both of them came from fatherless homes.

No doubt there are a lot of crappy parents or just bad environments to grow up in. However, two things can be true at once; this is more complex than just a poor upbringing and poor choices. Do a Google on the impact that the frontal lobe has on developing youths, focussing on males up to their mid-20s. It explains a lot of things we see in today's narcissistic and digital society. Think of Lord of the Flies, albeit it was fiction, but the seed came from somewhere. Also, it helps to explain the plethora of YouTube videos with young men doing stupid things, some of which have dire consequences, I know I have friends who didn't make it.

My best friend's father had a friend who was a police detective, and he said to my best friends father that he shouldn't let his son associate with me as I was trouble and "a leopard never loses its spots." I will never forget his narrow-minded words. My best friend is one of those who didn't make it past 21. He was killed after drinking too much then hopping on his motorcycle. I was more an acquaintance at that time as I did change quite a lot, and so we had grown apart.
 
"Punishment should always fit the crime"

Turn them over to Snidely Whiplash school of pain!
They want to play with the trains.....they must pay with trains.

nell_fenwick_4_by_mleighs_d4jf4w1-fullview.jpg
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The Board of Education is where I learned right from wrong. I shudder to think of how I would have turned out if I knew I could get away with pretty much anything I wanted to.

And like Jim says, I was always busy working towards a goal... be it money, women or my future.

Board of Education.jpg
 
I'd bet there is video of them doing this. Just they got caught before they could post it somewhere.
Teenagers today just want to live out video game distruction.
 
As opposed to all those previous generations who wanted to play Cowboys & Indians, Cops & Robbers, Armyman, Knights?

Let's face it, kids are savage. That's why you're supposed to domesticate them before they get very large.

It's not vidya games or rock and roll, it's just a failure to install humanity.
 
Nope, humanity is installed ant or before birth. It's design flaw in humanity, and a failure to overcome said flaw (e.g. by employing good workarounds).
 
The older I get the more I think kids are almost pre-programmed to be honest and do the right things, or liars and hooligans.

My sister has two boys that are about 11 months apart. They grew up doing pretty much the same things all their lives. Same friends, same experiences, same punishments, same mother that pretty much rarely disciplined them. One of them graduated high school with honors, got a full scholarship to engineering school, graduated with honors, and has decided to go into the Army to be an officer and fly helicopters. The other has failed out of college a couple of times and had several small jobs, and unless something changes he won't amount to too much.

A friend in high school was a church going, eagle scout, stand up dude. You could trust him with anything, until you got to know him. One night he was with some friends and gave into the urge and decided to throw all the furniture in a nearby neighborhood pool area into the pool. All the chairs, tables, umbrellas, etc. He thought it was funny. Another time he grabbed a stray cat and killed it in a very disturbing way. This kid's parents did everything "right" as far as raising him with good values and he still did these things. He failed out of college and I'm not sure whatever became of him.

In my opinion you're either born with a higher level of impulse control that keeps you on the right path, or a lower level that allows you to stray before you stop to consider the consequences of your actions. It may be impossible to teach that out of someone.
 
Compassion, sympathy, generous behavior, civilized disposition. That absolutely does not come for free with purchase of belly button.
 
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