[Marilyn]

I heard about this on the radio this morning and discussed it at work with some of the guys I work with. They said that when they were 12, their mothers were no longer able to physically discipline them. They were big enough to talk back and there was nothing that she could do to enforce punishment. Dad had to do much of the enforced discipline at that age. Doesn't mean he punched them or anything, but he was capable of it and they knew it. These two ladies don't have a man around to fill this responsible position. This sounds bad, but they may have done what they thought was best try to get this boy's attention. Like his mother said, better for him to have a wakeup call now than be dead later.

This situation is so sad. I'm so glad I have a husband around. Though we had girls, and they never gave us trouble like this.