We spent all morning at court - just finally got in. Our 8 am hearing didn't get heard until 10:45.
The boys were arrested on Wednesday afternoon - and were not released back to thier parents until this afternoon.
What they did was stupid - and dangerous - and humiliating.
What Josh did instead, was merciful. He could have copped an attitude, asked for revenge, or even embelished his story to make himself out to be a victim. But he isn't a victim.
He sat reading 1984 and Lord of the Flies in his white shirt and tie. He gave up time with his other friend to take care of this - his day off spent helping someone who hurt him.
We talked to the prosecutor before the hearing and told her we had wanted the boys to be accountable to the school, and we knew they had to do something about what happened. The judge asked if he wanted to drop the charges. Josh stood up, saying that he thought things had gotten blown out of proportion. That he was upset when it happened, but that he thought 2 days in jail was sufficient. She asked if they were friends, and he looked right at Lavonne and
said yes. If they hadn't been before, this would certainly cement their friendship.
The judge was great - she gave the boys something to think about, including that acting like "bozos" had taken up the valuable time of lots of adults. They will go in front of a disciplinary panel at school. Their debt to Josh is not over, but Lavonne asked to speak and publicly apologized.
What could have been a turning point, pitting families against one another, instead became a chance for us to heal some of this - Josh demonstrated very visably that is takes a bigger man to forgive someone than it does to exact revenge.
6 comments:
Congrats to you Mom!! You have done an awesome job helping your children learn that revenge is not always the answer and sometimes they do have to be the bigger person to make things right.
way to go earwax boy. and way to go mom.
he's who he is because of you.
I'm impressed. Thanks for keeping us up to date on this.
I'm so very impressed. Your boy's doin' you proud! And you're obviously setting a great example for him, not letting the shots fly in all directions. That's a great lesson in being a grown-up for me.
Phew! What a relief. I'm glad it worked out. I hope the boys realize how fortunate they are.
Oh yeah...GOOD FOR YOU, MOM!!! Because you showed love & strength for your boy...he felt protected and it was easier for him to make the decision he did.
I would like to think that each of the boys would have to write an essay on what they thought and felt about being in jail and then share it with their classmates.
Maybe nip some more trouble in the bud.
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