Disrespect Starts At Home

Video courtesy of Komonews.com

I'm sure you have seen the video clip of the Seattle police officer punching a teenaged girl in the face. I know that's what people are calling it, and the punch is one aspect of the video, but in my opinion, it is not the major issue.

If you watch closely, or really, if you watch the video at all, you'll see the struggle that was taking place from the very beginning between the officer and the girl he was trying to arrest. Apparently, the girl in the black shirt was being arrested for jaywalking, and was trying her hardest to resist the arrest. Her friend in the pink clearly had an issue with it, so she started trying to pull the police officer off of her friend, and she ended up pushing the officer. To me, that is where everything went left. What gave the young lady in the pink the idea that she could strike a police officer? Even before that, what gave her the idea that she had the right to interfere with an arrest? I think it started at home - more specifically, with a lack of home training. Now, please understand that I think the police officer was wrong for punching the girl in the face - he could have done something else. But I get the idea that he'd be under similar scrutiny if he'd maced or tased the girl. The fact is that a police officer has the right to subdue a person who is interfering with an arrest. The girl should have respected his authority as a police officer, and let him do his job. In stead, she treated him the way she would have treated one of her peers, and got in his face and pushed him. Let me reiterate the fact that the cop did not have to punch her in the face, but he did need to do something to get the situation under control. After the girl in the pink was subdued, he went back to try to restrain her friend, who was STILL resisting arrest.

I know it sounds like a cliché to say that kids today have no respect, and I guess it some ways it is a cliché. However, it is also true. Today’s kids have a lot less respect for adults than they did when I was growing up. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought to put my hands on a police officer, teacher, or my parents (I would not be alive to tell the story if I had). That wasn’t something I had to be told – I just knew it was wrong. Somewhere along the way, though, this girl learned that it was ok to put her hands on somebody who wasn’t doing what she wanted them to do.

Should the police officer be punished? Maybe, simply because he could have exercised better judgment than to punch a teenaged girl in the face. In the long run, though, he should be allowed to keep his job, and any pay, benefits, etc. that he would normally receive.

This isn’t a racial issue (so please don’t try to make it one). That is precisely why I waited until this last paragraph to even speak on race. This is simply a situation where a girl thought she could disrespect authority was taught a very valuable lesson.