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16 Jan 07 I wrote the response because we are sending the wrong message to other children. We are making heroes out of kids that did nothing right. I doubt that they were forced to get into Devlin's vehicle. Shawn made no attempt to escape. There are people in the world that always want to blame others, or blame something beyond their control, for every misfortune. In this case they will say that Shawn was psychologically controlled. That's simply not an excuse that should be used to condoned. What happened to courage, determination, the will to fight back, etc. Are we trying to teach kids that nothing is their fault and that nothing is required of them if they are dealing with someone "bigger" or "smarter" or says mean things to them? I think we should impress on every child that what Shawn did is not acceptable behavior, especially for a boy. They will try to say that Devlin threatened their parents if he escaped. Should it really be that easy for a pervert to control a kid? Why do we encourage it by even considering that excuse? It's time we stand up for the rest of the kids and tell them that they should try to get away, and give them some advice on what to do if something happens to them. Or do we want them to stay stupid and helpless? Did Ben get into the truck willingly? Didn't he know better? We know that Ben didn't try to get away after he was picked up. There was no mention of him being physically restrained. He wasn't tied up in a closet with a gag in his mouth, was he? Was he that afraid of Shawn? Surely he wasn't "programmed" in that short of time. If the right thing happens, Shawn will tell exactly what happened, and publicly point out what he did wrong. He should even use this opportunity to help educate other children. Unless what happened is so disgusting that it wouldn’t pertain to most other kids.
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