Punishment

Chick-fil-A restaurant founder S. Truett Cathy has decided two girls accused of causing $30,000 in damage to his home should be punished with a writing assignment instead of charges.

In a deal Cathy worked out with their parents, the girls must write "I will not vandalize other people's property" 1,000 times. They're also banned from watching TV and playing video games and must read a good book.

New Smyrna Beach police told the Daytona Beach News-Journal the preteens broke into Cathy's home two weeks ago and sprayed fire extinguishers, threw eggs and left water running in the kitchen.

The 87-year-old Cathy -- who founded the fast food chain known for its cow billboards -- said he didn't want to prosecute the girls and leave them with a criminal record.

These girls got off EASY. If I were their parents I would be adding a lot more to this. I get that people make mistakes when they are young. I also get that sometimes it is just the one time and it 'scares them straight'. My issue here is that the crime, although it didn't physically hurt anyone, is in some ways far more disturbing to me.

Let me explain. If the girls held up a 7-11 I'd say they were clearly stupid and deserve what they get. But at the core of that crime, is the idea that they would get money. Not that I in anyway think one crime is better than the other but I worry about the mentality of person when their crime is not based on getting anything but rather just destroying. Just being destructive to be destructive.

I'll guess that they would say they felt a rush or some kind of high while destroying this guys home. That is what bothers/scares me. All they did was to tear shit up. They didn't steal anything of value to keep or sell but they ruined his things so that the owner could not have them anymore. Pure waste if you ask me.

In an eye for an eye gut reaction I want the girls rooms to be ransacked and I don't want their video games or TV to be banned for a short period of time I want them broken so the girls can't use them at all. Then I want them to work for Chick-fil-A to replace all of the guys stuff they ruined, which at $30,000 will be a lot of hours making chicken sandwiches. Oh, and they can't buy stuff for themselves until they pay the guy first. However, I don't think that would actually work. They would probably just rebel and burn down a mall.