Spring Day tragedy shows that undisciplined children need boundaries
· Citizen
When we ask parents to rein their children in, we are accused of interfering. When we raise concerns that ill-disciplined children contribute to the fear many experience in communities, we are told we cannot possibly understand the difficulties of raising a child.
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Yet, when the consequences of those children’s actions come knocking, society expects us all to mourn and rage in unison.
Parenting is difficult, undoubtedly so, but difficulty cannot become an excuse for abandoning discipline. At some point, every child will leave the protection of home and encounter a world far less patient with their behaviour.
The recent Spring Day celebrations descended into far more than innocent fun. A 21-year-old man lost his life following an altercation over water splashing, while other incidents reportedly included assaults, intimidation, damage to vehicles and the harassment of people who did not wish to participate.
Elsewhere, the young adults implicated in the Reiger Park shootings are defended by supporters who insist on referring to them as children, as though youth somehow erases accountability. And therein lies the problem.
At what point do communities stop being expected to tolerate, excuse and absorb the behaviour of poorly disciplined young people?
We understand they are children, but the rest of society deserves protection, too. Put simply: we need protection from these children.
Your child may consider it fun to splash a stranger with water, but that stranger is not obliged to play along. There is a difference between childhood play and public disorder and the moment your child becomes an unruly adult, society and the law are entitled to treat their conduct accordingly.
This is the painful lesson we seem determined to avoid: undisciplined children eventually encounter people who will not respond with parental patience.
That, however, does not make the Spring Day killing acceptable. The 53-year-old suspect’s alleged response was grossly disproportionate and he was arrested for murder. But accountability cannot begin only when tragedy strikes.
Children without boundaries eventually meet boundaries imposed by people and places far less forgiving than their parents.
The world will not always negotiate, explain or offer second chances. This is not a call for violence, cruelty or the abandonment of compassion, it is a call for parents to understand the responsibility that comes with raising human beings who must coexist with others.