Regardless, they got special treatment. I’m laughing at the idea of a regular college student, trying to use the developing brain defense in a Chinese court.
“… successfully defend us in the d-day invasion, marry, support a family, and hold a responsible job… but at some point we as a society to say it is developed enough-currently we set that at 18.”
All true, except when it comes to drinking alcohol, for some strange reason. I’ve never understood this inconsistency: 18 for basically everything (voting should be added to the list), but 21 for drinking.
While 18 is the threshold for being an “adult” in many contexts in the US and US states (e.g. sign contracts, vote), some aspects of being an “adult” are reached at other ages:
- Ability to get a driver's license (varies by state, 14.5-16.5, may be restricted).
- Age of consent regarding sexual activity (varies by state, 16-18).
- Allowed to marry (varies by state, may be as low as 14 with parental consent, may be as high as 21 otherwise).
- Allowed to join US military (17 with parental consent).
- No longer "dependent" on parents for federal financial aid for college purposes (24; married or military veteran can be younger).
Can you imagine the outcry here if another country, say Saudi Arabia, intervened to get one of its own students out of a US jail for an action we consider serious but they punish very lightly? Maybe a racial hate crime, for example? The uproar would be enormous. When in Rome, expect to follow Rome’s laws or live with the consequences.
First rule of international travel…know the dos and don’ts of the place you will be visiting.
Also…
Yes, you are American…and you are JUST NOT THAT SPECIAL
Actions have consequences…even if you have been burdened with the brain of a two year old in the body of an 18 year old.
Life’s unfair…it sucks.
And as a matter of common courtesy…if someone does you a favor, say thank you…even if you disagree with who they are, what they stand for and how they look. Being a putz is not a good look on for anyone.
And frankly - being ‘gifted’ with inability to throw an air filled, round leather object into an opening above your head really doesn’t amount to much in the big scheme of things.
Get over yourselves.
Sure, they got special treatment…however, they got special humiliation. If this happened to one of my kids, maybe they wouldn’t have gotten out of it, or maybe they’d have to buy themselves out of it. I don’t know what the norm is, they may not be anxious to imprison Americans in China.
But nobody would have known their names. These young adults got a ton of bad publicity and humiliation. I think they did learn their lesson. This could easily affect their careers in a public way that our kids wouldn’t have to deal with.
Um…an ability…oops…typo…
We love us those sports stars and as a society we have an attention deficit disorder. If they are allowed to continue their careers (which consist of installing air filled round objects into openings only slightly above their heads) - ‘we’ will forget and cheer them on.
Yes, I concur with that. And conversely, once again I quote Tony Stark, in the hope that one day our president might remember this…
Definitely not those destined to the NBA. Heck, it might even given them some street cred.
Yeah, but street cred won’t give you a position in the NBA. And it’s tough to get on, no guarantee. This kind of thing follows you forever, in a way that it wouldn’t follow our kids.
Very good points, busdriver.
It baffles me how much disdain this CC community has for athletic prowess. It comes out time and time again.
I’m happy they have athletic prowess. It got them a free ride to one of the best universities in the country, one to which they would not otherwise merit admission. While attending they have special tutors, support, accommodations, travel and a chance to possibly prepare for a professional sports career. In exchange for all that, they get some publicity, which they enjoyed when positive. They accepted the risks of negative publicity as part of the package.
“if someone does you a favor, say thank you”
I agree with this, but we presently don’t know: (1) whether they said thank you privately (we have heard from only one side on this topic); and (2) whether anyone actually did them a favor. I take looking after our citizens abroad to be a governmental duty, not an individual favor. If someone went beyond that and used governmental power to help a select handful of high-profile citizens, while abandoning others in the same position, that sounds like misconduct – though the beneficiaries should still say thank you.
They did thank the president in their press conference. Probably they did not grovel sufficiently to satisfy some people.
Why do you have to be 25 to rent a car? Yes, these ages are just numbers and everyone is different. But there is science to back up the developing brain. I hold what a 13 or 14 year old does wrong different than an 18 or 19 year old. I hold that late teen up differently than a 25 year old. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be consequences and every case is different. But I’m just saying I think there is a real biological reason that I would give a pass on severely harsh punishments to this age group…mostly first time offenders of course.
Roycroftmom-I rest my case. Your hostility to athletes comes across loud and clear.
They made a very bad decision and fortunately for them they escaped what could’ve been a harsh jail term. They apologized and thanked the president, that part of the story should be over. The fact that he feels the need to get in a twitter feud with Lavar Ball is beyond immature. Ball is probably one of the few people who has an ego bigger than his. Now there are thousands of folks who know lavar ball whereas before they had never heard of him. Trump fell right into his trap. The president may have been responsible for their release or may have had nothing to do with it. We will never know. When you constantly stretch the truth you won’t be given the benefit of the doubt.
Regarding their punishment, they should be kicked out of school. The average student wouldn’t be kicked out for that offense but they were representing the school on an international trip. They can sit out a year and go play somewhere else. I don’t feel sorry for them as they will have a bevy if schools lined up to recruit them.
Actually @momofwildchild, I’m the mother of a student who likely will be a recruited athlete. And the aunt of a very successful division 1 athlete. I just have a clear idea of the benefits and expectations, which include following the law, and the rules of the NCAA. If they didn’t want to follow the rules, don’t take the benefits.
Actually, conmamma, the accident rates, not necessarily maturity, are the rationale for limiting car rentals. The same limit applies to the other end of the spectrum-most won’t rent to drivers over age 70 or 75 due to the increased risk, though maturity isn’t an issue.
I don’t know about that. I could point out a few immature 70+ year-olds.