Last night, a young man who had just graduated from our local college, who had overcome the odds growing up in one of the worst neighborhoods in Houston, was shot multiple times in an attempted robbery at one of our favorite restaurants. He died.
The one who did it? One of my former students from two years ago. This is a kid who got under my skin. There is usually about one a year that does. He would always disrupt my groups in a really infuriating, mean passive-aggressive way, and although quite intelligent, talked about how he would live off the system and never get any job doing anything legal, that is. He was quite adamant about that. He had a chance to go to college for free, and he turned it down flat.
So this kid is 20 now, and he is going up on capital murder. With this kid’s mindset, I’m sure he’ll find a way to blame what he did on someone else.
Now, I live in Texas. You know what we do to capital murderers here. This was my student. I should perhaps be sad for what will most likely happen to him. But I’m not. I hope they absolutely throw the book at him. I’m so angry at him, so sad for the many people in my community who are grieving for this other young man who was killed for the money in his pocket.
I feel pretty heartless too.
What a sickening situation! I would just feel numb. I don’t think you’re heartless; you’re just making choices about who to feel sad about–and I agree with your choices.
Margaret’s last blog post..Passages
Oh Michelle, that must suck. I think I remember you writing about this guy before (or someone like him).
Some people just can’t empathise with others, can’t think outside their own heads. They can be really sensitive, but only really to their own feelings. I think it’s better if we don’t just reflect their violence back at them, but at the same time, I don’t think it’s a bad thing not to feel sorry for them. He knew what state he was in when he chose to commit cold-blooded murder.
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Absolutely.. I don’t think capital punishment deserves any mercy.. After all, no matter what they say or blame someone else for their crime, no one is forced to do anything.. there’s always a choice, and quite simply, they took a conscious decision to choose the wrong path!
The Dark Lord’s last blog post..The Stranger
Like I’ve always said to other teachers, you can’t save them all. There are so many factors to growing up that teachers are only a small part of the equation. It means you have to harden your heart somewhat about it and just do the best you can for those you can help.
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