SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - 6-year-old is probably dead after stealing parents' balloon

Posted: Oct 16 2009 04:37 pm

SoldierHawk wrote:

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

When you're five, you start kindergarten. So this kid is likely in first grade. And he was probably watching Sesame Street from the age of three on. Don't tell me he doesn't know what he did was wrong. Six-year-olds still know the difference between right and wrong.

Yes and no. Kids have a basic grasp on the difference between right and wrong. They know that things like lying and stealing are wrong. They also know disobeying your parents is wrong, and if your parents say "Hide in the attic and pretend you don't hear us so we can be on TV", you do as your told. The fact that he basically so much as said "You told me not to come out when you called" int he interview shows that, yes, he knows that lying is wrong, (Since he gave the honest answer to "Why didn't you come out if you heard us calling") but doesn't understand that what he did counts as lying.

Long story short, it's not the kid's fault his parents are such fucking moronic publicity whores. The parents need to be locked up for child endangerment, they need to pay for mobilizing a bunch of military and emergency person who risked their lives to chase what they knew was an empty balloon, and their kids need to be taken far, far away from them and placed somewhere that can hopefully undo all the damage these idiot parents have done.

There's very little difference between that and blaming a kid for the fact his parents physically abuse him. of COURSE the kid TECHNICALLY has the option to run away or tell someone or something

Technically, they don't have that options. Law enforcement is required to return the child to its parent or legal guardian. In fact, you can actually force law enforcement to return a "child" of 18-20 years old to you, even across state borders. I forget the exact term for it, which will make it much harder to site proof of this of course, but hopefully someone knwos waht I'm talking about.

Posted: Oct 16 2009 04:44 pm

Well, point taken then. (Although I still think if a kid with a bunch of bruises and scars shows up somewhere, no one in their right mind is just going to blithely return them to their parents no questions asked. There ARE laws protecting abused children after all.) Still, I think my point stands: its absurd to blame a child who is put in a rotten situation like the six year old boy was, even if he technically had the option to do something else. (I mean yeah the kid COULD have refused to participate, but no six year old I know would ever make that choice. Especially not with insane parents pressuring him.)

Posted: Oct 16 2009 05:24 pm

Wasn't disputing your point since we agree, just saying that the option of running away isn't technically an option since they must be returned.

Posted: Oct 16 2009 07:01 pm

Well, if a kid keeps running away, sooner or later DYS is going to investigate.

Posted: Oct 16 2009 07:02 pm

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

Wasn't disputing your point since we agree, just saying that the option of running away isn't technically an option since they must be returned.

But what if the parents were extremely abusive and the kid just needed to be seperated from them? Like his father constantly beats him up or rapes him and he runs away, it's not right to return him. You should seriously report to child services and have the parents in trouble for child abuse.

Posted: Oct 16 2009 07:10 pm

Yes, I understand DSS can step in and take children. But simply running away isn't an option for kids; they need to be removed from the home, otherwise they're required to be returned if they do run away.

Posted: Oct 16 2009 07:14 pm

Unfortunately kids routinely get returned to abusive and neglectful parents, and in most cases are never taken away from them in the first place. The abuse has to be extreme for that to happen. It is supposedly more psychologically damaging to a child to take them away from their (abusive) parents then it is to let them stay and continue getting abused. I don't personally agree with that idea, but that is the way the courts look at it in most cases I have seen. In most cases the situation will be monitored by social services, but they will not be separated.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 01:06 am

Well, it's official, they are being faced with charges! You can read the story here, pretty interesting though. Apparently police were called before for a possible domestic violence.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 09:43 am

What a surprise, I hope they get crucified.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 10:20 am

And apparently there are emails between the father and a friend months beforehand discussing the event to attract publicity in hopes of getting on another TV show

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091019/ap_en_ot/us_balloon_boy

These people are fucking crazy, he thinks his son being "trapped" in a homemade helium balloon is the biggest thing in UFO news since Roswell? Yeah, because hoax endangerment of your children has anything at all to do with UFOs.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 10:45 am

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Posted: Oct 19 2009 12:52 pm

I'm sure the book deal and TV-movie deal are already signed. They'll do their time in prison then reap the benefits of American stupidtiy.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 12:54 pm

I would like to reiterate my belief that this entire family needs to be sent to an Afghani soccer stadium.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 01:01 pm

Ice2SeeYou wrote:

I'm sure the book deal and TV-movie deal are already signed. They'll do their time in prison then reap the benefits of American stupidtiy.

Last time I checked, you can't profit from crime. Since their actions have indeed been deemed criminal, they should not be able to make any money from a book deal or anything.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 01:06 pm

Um, that's not entirely true, and the laws vary from state to state. Most states have Son Of Sam laws, named after the Son of Sam killer, which prohibit you from profiting off murder and other serious crimes.

Also, a reality show wouldn't be directly profiting off the crime anyway. If they get one, it may be BECAUSE of the hoax, but unless the show is actually about the hoax, they can get away with it regardless of any laws.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 01:09 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Also, a reality show wouldn't be directly profiting off the crime anyway. If they get one, it may be BECAUSE of the hoax, but unless the show is actually about the hoax, they can get away with it regardless of any laws.

The comment I was replying to was regarding a book deal/TV movie (which would obviously be about the hoax) and not about a reality show. Reading FTW!

Posted: Oct 19 2009 01:15 pm

Yeah, well:

1) No one reads nonfiction books anymore. You can just get the bullet points off Wikipedia or Yahoo News.
2) When the last time you saw a TV movie that wasn't produced by Syfy or Lifetime? 1997? And since this story doesn't involve aliens or date rape, neither one of them will touch.

I decided to ignore the movie/book silliness and address scenario that might actually happen.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 01:44 pm

Actually, the story does involve aliens.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 02:06 pm

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

Ice2SeeYou wrote:

I'm sure the book deal and TV-movie deal are already signed. They'll do their time in prison then reap the benefits of American stupidtiy.

Last time I checked, you can't profit from crime. Since their actions have indeed been deemed criminal, they should not be able to make any money from a book deal or anything.

I'm sure there's gray areas on that issue......it didn't stop Jose Canseco and his steroids book, or the real Henry Hill on whom the movie Goodfellas is based.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 02:08 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

Yeah, well:

1) No one reads nonfiction books anymore. You can just get the bullet points off Wikipedia or Yahoo News.
2) When the last time you saw a TV movie that wasn't produced by Syfy or Lifetime? 1997? And since this story doesn't involve aliens or date rape, neither one of them will touch.

I decided to ignore the movie/book silliness and address scenario that might actually happen.

It DOES involve spousal abuse, though......Lifetime could be all over that shit.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 02:23 pm

Ice2SeeYou wrote:

I'm sure there's gray areas on that issue......it didn't stop Jose Canseco and his steroids book, or the real Henry Hill on whom the movie Goodfellas is based.

Hill had an immunity deal. Which meant he couldn't be prosecuted for anything that he confessed to as part of the immunity deal. And since he was never tried for his crimes or convicted of them, any such laws would not apply.

Conseco may have had an immunity deal as well. He was certainly never tried for anything. Also, the drugs he was using weren't illegal. But they do pose health concerns and generally require a prescription, which led to a congressional investigation of baseball.

Posted: Oct 19 2009 03:32 pm

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

Actually, the story does involve aliens.

Bad, CGI aliens that menace one of the lesser Baldwins from just off screen for most of the movie until their lense flare effect spaceship comes at the end and returns the boy unharmed by teleporting him directly into a box in his attic!

Posted: Oct 19 2009 03:33 pm

Ice2SeeYou wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

Yeah, well:

1) No one reads nonfiction books anymore. You can just get the bullet points off Wikipedia or Yahoo News.
2) When the last time you saw a TV movie that wasn't produced by Syfy or Lifetime? 1997? And since this story doesn't involve aliens or date rape, neither one of them will touch.

I decided to ignore the movie/book silliness and address scenario that might actually happen.

It DOES involve spousal abuse, though......Lifetime could be all over that shit.

So between spousal abuse and aliens, it could be on both! Up yours, Syd!

Posted: Oct 19 2009 03:35 pm

Black Zarak wrote:

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

Actually, the story does involve aliens.

Bad, CGI aliens that menace one of the lesser Baldwins from just off screen for most of the movie until their lense flare effect spaceship comes at the end and returns the boy unharmed by teleporting him directly into a box in his attic!

Well what I was getting at is that the parents believe they are the direct descendants of aliens, and at least the father, possibly both, claims to have been abducted.

Posted: Oct 20 2009 09:13 pm

I say we actually put the kid in a balloon and send it off. If the parents can retrieve the kid themselves, they can have him. If not, well I'm sure they won't be cooking up any more crazy hoaxs in the future.