swissarmy_wife

A year ago a child in my county murdered his father. I believe he was
16 at the time. I had this child at the Boys and Girls Club I used to
work at before I had my second son. I don't remember him much as I
didn't work in the Teen Room. However, he was obviously troubled, as
were many of the children that came to hang out with us after school.
This boy got 22 to life and he's just a child.

This particular statement he made in court yesterday REALLY stuck out
to me and I wanted to share it.

"I couldn't stand having someone controlling me like that," he told
police. "It didn't seem worth it to wait until I was 18 to have
control of myself."

There's SO MUCH MORE to this case than that statement. But sheesh, I
remember saying things like that when I was teenager. Hating the
control everyone tried to place on me. Not being trusted until I was
18 and then "POOF" I was set free and made a mess of my life a few
years while I sorted everything out. So many times my 9 year old has
said "Mom, I know my body better than you do." and so many times have
I looked at him and said "You're right!".

Obviously, this is an extreme example but I think its a really good
example of how dangerous control can be.