Do you know where your children are?
When is bed time too late?
The news release yesterday out of Pittsburgh advised that a 17 year old is dead. The person of interest is 15 years old. The weapon was a gun. The shooting happened well past bedtime in a household with rules and in a city with a curfew of sorts.
Where these kids students in any of the high schools in the Pittsburgh area?
In Texas, a mother is grieving ( some say grifting) because her son is now in prison. He stabbed a high school student to death in broad daylight at a track meet. He will be in his cell, I bet, sleeping at 10:00 pm. This mother will know where her child is now. Did she know where he was before and what he packed in his book bag on any given day? Information on this man, is that, he had trouble before. Mom wanted freedom for her son. The jury gave him 35 years of routine and curfew. It will be a different vibe in this gated community compared to the one he lived in while a high school student.
Here is another young man's story. Listen to the link. This criminal act was as an adult but his priors as a juvenile are extensive. Not sure what high school this one attended.
The judge's take is true. Why do people plead for less time? It seems this criminal was never given time out. I wonder if his parents knew or cared where he was at 10:00 pm. Now they will know, but will they care?
https://youtu.be/elMylc1g9vk?is=G2jX2gJR_S3vxMz0
One question after you listen to the lawyer's bs and then to the judge. The judge starts off with chastisement, then he seems to ease up. Will he give in after a few months or is he advising hopium? Replacement parents, lawyers, judges and prison staff give in too. I worked with at risk youth. It is not easy to try to encourage adult youth when their parents didn't know or care about their well being at 10:00 pm.
When the bars are set low for a child, iron bars can become a norm.
In what kind of gated community do you want your children to live? Gated communities, of any sort, identifies a criminal culture.
Life is about choices. All of these criminals could have made other choices. Would a 10:00 pm enforced bedtime have helped?
I like 10:00 for bedtime, even now.
Marian R. Carlino
June 15, 2026