Tragic Story in Broadlands Last Night

I did not do those things either. It was inconceivable to me to disrespect my parents and the community by acting in such an irresponsible (and illegal) manner.

Responsible caretakers don't allow their kids to be in the position to get into the kind of trouble that has been happening here in Ashburn. Where were the relatives of the kid who got shot and his "friends"? If the kid who was shot was running with a "bad crowd" as has been acknowledged, why didn't his family step in? Why didn't the shooter's grandparents know what was going on in their own house? Why was a kid allowed to be out at 11 at night in the first place let alone driving without a license on a closed road?

It's past time for PARENTS to be PARENTS.

 

Call me insensitive but I'd have to agree with Smythla. Just can't believe the fact the kids were out that late and the driver got on hold of the truck and actually DROVE without a license,,, makes me wonder if the parent(s) of the driver even knew what was going on....

 

Well, the news reports state that the kids were at school preparing for a play. So, my guess is that the parents did know about it and deemed a school-related activity as an acceptable reason to be out.

(see http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0304/135702.html )


As far as the parents knowing that the 15 year old was driving, do you know for sure that the car belonged to the 15 year old's family? Couldn't it just as likely have belonged to the family of the 17 year old? It's not a stretch to think that the 15 year old convinced his friend to let him practice driving.

The upshot of all this is: No one on this board knows with certainty what happened, nor do they know how involved the parents were or what the parents knew about their son's activity.

Let's not make it worse for all the people involved with unfounded, hurtful accusations. Let the police investigate first. If the parents were negligent, let the state's attorney file charges. We, as Broadlands residents, are neither judge nor jury.

How about we all give the families a break?

 

Here is a lesson to teach your teenagers:
"If you feel like your friends are doing something wrong don't go along. Get out of the car, call us and we'll get you a cab, etc. You can always call us no matter what time it is. Its more important to us that you return home safe than wether or not you make curfew"

Teach them to trust their own gut. A lady here at work said her son did that once, got out of a car because he thought his friend was driving too fast and walked home. His friend hit a tree later that nite. He just called her from his walk and said he'd miss curfew because he was walking. He made it home OK.

I feel really bad for the families and friends of this tragedy. Loosing a child has to be the worst thing that can happen to a parent. My first post was a frustrated vent and was not considerate of the victims. For that I apologize.

Its true we dont know all of the circumstances however we do know this trio of good kids broke several laws before tragedy struck. I hope the facts and details are published so that some teens can learn from this costly lesson of life.

 

Well said.

It never ceases to amaze me how non-parents on these boards can be so judgmental about my/our parenting styles. I want to see the type of maladjusted children that smythla, kassiabi, brim, and others raise after they have been chained to their rooms for 18 years...

(I'm assuming, of course, by the tone of their posts that these posters don't have children - I know for a fact at least one of them does not.)

 

No one's perfect (maybe a couple of you think so). I'm pretty distressed over the self-righteous and judgemental attitudes that are coming across on this board especially.

I have morals, I have high standards, I know right from wrong BUT I did silly stuff as a teenager. I guess that's because I have bad parents (let me call my lawyer). Maybe I'm destined to be a bad parent as well then (let me call my therapist). Perhaps us bad parents should install homing devices our children.

Oh and I was witness wreckless driving on the part of an adult...not teenager. Passing myself & another car on the left side of a residential street. Going at least 40-50. Glad experience helps make us better drivers.

 

I am just amazed at the absolutely PERFECT people that we have living here in the Broadlands! Wow....you have never done ANYTHING that your parents didn't know EVERYTHING about? That is truly spectacular. Can you please share with us exactly what your parents did to raise such outstanding human beings. Maybe you should be writing books......you can finally solve the mystery that has plagued parents for hundreds of years...how to control your children and make sure they NEVER do anything remotely stupid and that you will be aware of their EVERY move. Do tell, please.

 

Most of us have never done something that caused loss of life, there is a difference and a very big one.

 

And thank GOD for that but the potential was always there wasn't it??

 

Perhaps the key element is that these boys did not INTEND to harm or kill anyone. It was an ACCIDENT.

 

My prayers go out to the parents, friends and neighbors who have lost a loved one.

To all of you self serving "perfect parents" STOP being evil and raise your children however you choose.

 

STOP STOP STOP!!!!! IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE TO CONTINUE THIS DIALOG. TAKE IT ELSEWHERE. PLEASE HAVE SOME COMPASSION, AND LET THINGS SETTLE BEFORE CONTINUING.

THE MODERATOR MAY WANT TO SUSPEND THIS DIALOG UNTIL A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME HAS PASSED.

 

No one appointed the Ashburn Farm General Manager the boss of this forum. I appreciate your sensitivity but obviously everyone else who posted on this thread ignored your previous postings. I for one don't think the Admins should do anything. Nothing said on here is offensive or indecent.

 

Maybe you ought to banned from the forum. You don't live here.

[removed by moderator]

 

Two lives were senselessly loss in our community. People posting on this topic are mad, dissolutioned, saddened, accusational, sympathetic, shocked, defensive, curious, etc. All are normal reactions to tragic incidents. The reactions are strong in part because some of us are parents and this incident occured in our neighborhood. People grieve in different ways. Ineveitably, people ask "why or how could this happen?" and or "how could this have been prevented?". However we may feel about the content of other replies, keep in mind that its healthier to vent our opinions in this forum than to keep them bottled inside.

No I'm not a psychologist, just some facts I have learned from my work with Fairfax County Police. I also researched teenage driving incidents to support traffic calming measures in my previous neighborhood (which was next to a high school).

 

That's the most sensible post I've seen on this thread yet.

 

I started to reply to some of the comments in this discussion earlier today, but I was so disgusted and angry that I thought it was wise to wait until I had a chance to cool down. Then I log on and see that apparently not only are some of my neighbors insensitive, but some are quite cruel and heartless ....... (fill in the blank).

Tonight there are two families grieving the loss of a child, a 15 year old who will live the rest of his life with the guilt that his actions caused the deaths of two of his friends, and a community that has been touched by the tragic deaths of 3 young people in less then a week. Common decency would require that even if privately you had questions about the parenting or behavior of the kids, those thoughts should have been kept just that PRIVATE. No one should have to find out their teenage son has died in a horrible accident and less than 48 hours later find their neighbors questioning their parenting, insinuating their child was a bad kid, or that they somehow deserved it because it was a consequence of their actions.

We all did irresponsible things when we were teenagers (except for apparently the only sinless people since Christ who all happen to live in Broadlands) and probably but for the grace of god, could all have been hurt or killed because of them. Stop judging these kids. Stop judging these parents. What they deserve from us our prayers, our tears, and our support. If you can't give that then have the decency to keep your comments and thoughts to yourself.

 

Im a student at Stone Bridge High School and this tragedy has struck everyone whether they were friends with the boys or not. I think that everyone has learned from the accident, that when you make bad decisions this is something that can happen. I also feel that many of you, who are hopefully parents who are saying these comments, need to think about the teenagers in this case, not the parents. It was the boys who made the decision to drive, not the parents. I don't know if you have learned by now, but most teens are going to rebel against their parents. Whether they are straight A students, or party animals. Blocking off roads and locking chains around your teen's door isn't going to make them want to stay home. Lets be honest, there's no way to control every move of your teen. Unfortunately, it's their part to take responsibility for their actions. And sometimes it takes a death to prove a point.
Im going to be honest from a teens perspective, and there is nothing to do around here in Ashburn, so what do teens resort to? Driving around,getting into trouble, doing drugs and drinking. If there were more activities for teens, I'm sure we wouldn't need to spend our time on the crazy roads of Ashburn.
I just moved to Ashburn recently and I noticed people are somewhat bad drivers. Everyone around here seems like they are in such a hurry in life. Slow down, we don't need anymore obituaries in our school yearbook. Most of those awful, and rude drivers look like adults to me! Where do you think your teenagers learn to drive? So before you start judging teenagers on how fast they drive and how they don't pay attention, get off your cell phones and start leading by example. If you want things to change start acting like it,you're the parents!

 

Amen!