Teen's terror tweet to American Airlines goes viral

[Sal]

I do not disagree with your first point, but, unfortunately, it is SOOOO politically incorrect to let our little darlings know what true consequences mean!! I know from personal experience.


My sister was badly burned in a school fire when she was 12. The cause of the fire was that 2 girls decided it would be fun to set mattresses in the gym storage area on fire - for whatever reason. Well, the fire wasn't discovered for quite awhile - guess the fire inspection that was supposedly done not that long prior to, didn't include testing the fire bells or sprinkler system. Needless to say, since it was an older school, the gym had lots of hardwood and the fire really got going.


Eventually the fire was discovered but not before it was raging out of control. I'm told that as students were evacuating from the upper story of the school, the roof was already starting to come down but I honestly don't know the truth of that. I was living in Manitoba at the time and this all took place in B.C.


My sister's class was second to the last for evacuation and, they had to walk past the gym to exit. The doors exploded as her and a classmate were walking past and a burning door landed on top of her and the explosion threw her classmate out the exit. Long story short, she had 3rd degree burns over 70% of her body and is terribly scarred to this day. She was developmentally delayed but a real popinjay at the time - talkative, very active etc.. A real little cutie. But, she's never been the same since.


My mom wanted those girls to go to the Vancouver General to the burn unit so that they could see the result of their actions but that was kyboshed of course as that would have been too much of a hardship for those girls. I thought it would be the perfect "sentence" for them and a real eye-opener that actions have consequences. I never did hear what happened to those girls but I doubt if it was anything serious. (They were both 16ish at the time). I quite frankly didn't have a problem with the girls seeing my sister and, hopefully, having nightmares about it since my sister lives it everyday of her life.


Sound cruel? Maybe, but as my sisters legal guardian, I know what she has to go through day in and day out. Her hands are so malformed she can't even "wipe herself" properly. I am still angry at what has happened to her, mostly because there didn't seem to be any consequence for those girls. I hope their lives are happy and full. Would be nice to know if they even think about my sister or what they did.


JMO

No it does not sound cruel in any way. Rather it is realistic and I believe pragmatic too. When there is no perceivable consequence there is no forgiveness.

Dixie I am so incredibly sorry to hear about a school fire and what happened to your sister as a result. There are so many people that are responsible on that end including the inspectors but most of all, the stupidity of the girls. Young people really do not understand the impact that their actions can have upon another human being; the hurt, the anguish, mentally, emotionally, or physically and the lasting effects of such. They need to learn and the only way to do that would be to experience it through witnessing it at the very least.

I know there is a protection mentality with kids and some of it is justified or at least understandable. We don't want them to undergo the level of betrayal or hurt or anguish that we have. But really what they need to learn is how to cope with it, not avoid it. We all need the tools and skills to cope with these tragedies because life will offer everyone tragedies. Protecting kids is not the answer although it is maybe the first desire, it does them no favour.

Those young girls would be completely affected by what they did even if it is only to attempt to block out what happened every day of their life...it will have an impact on every thing they do whether they are aware of it or not in one way or another.

 

[Dixie Cup]

Thanks for your kinds words Sal.


She is 15 years younger, my baby sister, and whenever I see her I think about the little rascal she used to be - a little sweetie, but a rascal none-the-less. I miss that about her.... sigh.... but life goes on and its my duty to ensure that she's as comfortable and happy as she can be. Unfortunately, that's not easy as she hasn't communicated well since the episode happened so its hard to know what she's thinking, feeling, etc. She doesn't smile a lot so when she does we know we've done something right lol!

 

[spaminator]

I do not disagree with your first point, but, unfortunately, it is SOOOO politically incorrect to let our little darlings know what true consequences mean!! I know from personal experience.


My sister was badly burned in a school fire when she was 12. The cause of the fire was that 2 girls decided it would be fun to set mattresses in the gym storage area on fire - for whatever reason. Well, the fire wasn't discovered for quite awhile - guess the fire inspection that was supposedly done not that long prior to, didn't include testing the fire bells or sprinkler system. Needless to say, since it was an older school, the gym had lots of hardwood and the fire really got going.


Eventually the fire was discovered but not before it was raging out of control. I'm told that as students were evacuating from the upper story of the school, the roof was already starting to come down but I honestly don't know the truth of that. I was living in Manitoba at the time and this all took place in B.C.


My sister's class was second to the last for evacuation and, they had to walk past the gym to exit. The doors exploded as her and a classmate were walking past and a burning door landed on top of her and the explosion threw her classmate out the exit. Long story short, she had 3rd degree burns over 70% of her body and is terribly scarred to this day. She was developmentally delayed but a real popinjay at the time - talkative, very active etc.. A real little cutie. But, she's never been the same since.


My mom wanted those girls to go to the Vancouver General to the burn unit so that they could see the result of their actions but that was kyboshed of course as that would have been too much of a hardship for those girls. I thought it would be the perfect "sentence" for them and a real eye-opener that actions have consequences. I never did hear what happened to those girls but I doubt if it was anything serious. (They were both 16ish at the time). I quite frankly didn't have a problem with the girls seeing my sister and, hopefully, having nightmares about it since my sister lives it everyday of her life.


Sound cruel? Maybe, but as my sisters legal guardian, I know what she has to go through day in and day out. Her hands are so malformed she can't even "wipe herself" properly. I am still angry at what has happened to her, mostly because there didn't seem to be any consequence for those girls. I hope their lives are happy and full. Would be nice to know if they even think about my sister or what they did.


JMO

 

[shadowshiv]

I do not disagree with your first point, but, unfortunately, it is SOOOO politically incorrect to let our little darlings know what true consequences mean!! I know from personal experience.


My sister was badly burned in a school fire when she was 12. The cause of the fire was that 2 girls decided it would be fun to set mattresses in the gym storage area on fire - for whatever reason. Well, the fire wasn't discovered for quite awhile - guess the fire inspection that was supposedly done not that long prior to, didn't include testing the fire bells or sprinkler system. Needless to say, since it was an older school, the gym had lots of hardwood and the fire really got going.


Eventually the fire was discovered but not before it was raging out of control. I'm told that as students were evacuating from the upper story of the school, the roof was already starting to come down but I honestly don't know the truth of that. I was living in Manitoba at the time and this all took place in B.C.


My sister's class was second to the last for evacuation and, they had to walk past the gym to exit. The doors exploded as her and a classmate were walking past and a burning door landed on top of her and the explosion threw her classmate out the exit. Long story short, she had 3rd degree burns over 70% of her body and is terribly scarred to this day. She was developmentally delayed but a real popinjay at the time - talkative, very active etc.. A real little cutie. But, she's never been the same since.


My mom wanted those girls to go to the Vancouver General to the burn unit so that they could see the result of their actions but that was kyboshed of course as that would have been too much of a hardship for those girls. I thought it would be the perfect "sentence" for them and a real eye-opener that actions have consequences. I never did hear what happened to those girls but I doubt if it was anything serious. (They were both 16ish at the time). I quite frankly didn't have a problem with the girls seeing my sister and, hopefully, having nightmares about it since my sister lives it everyday of her life.


Sound cruel? Maybe, but as my sisters legal guardian, I know what she has to go through day in and day out. Her hands are so malformed she can't even "wipe herself" properly. I am still angry at what has happened to her, mostly because there didn't seem to be any consequence for those girls. I hope their lives are happy and full. Would be nice to know if they even think about my sister or what they did.


JMO

I don't think that it would have been cruel at all. They deserved to see the pain and anguish their "fun" caused, not just to your sister but to you as well. Perhaps it would have opened their eyes and caused them to become better people.

I'm sorry that your sister had gone through that horrible pain, and I wish that she could be a popinjay again.