Our brilliant kids are bored
By Christopher Dawson | April 15, 2009, 1:09pm PDT
Summary: A 17-year-old name Michael ‘Mikeyy’ Mooney made headlines this week by creating a Javascript-based worm that infected 100 user accounts and fired out 10,000 Twitter users before engineers shut it down. According to Techtree,
In an interview with CNET, Mooney said, “I thought about it later, and basically did it because I was bored.” [...]
A 17-year-old name Michael ‘Mikeyy’ Mooney made headlines this week by creating a Javascript-based worm that infected 100 user accounts and fired out 10,000 Twitter users before engineers shut it down. According to Techtree,
In an interview with CNET, Mooney said, “I thought about it later, and basically did it because I was bored.” The Mikeyy worm typically spread the infection when the user name or image of the infected account holder is being clicked on; then the worm infects the followers of the infected account holder.
While 100 users isn’t much in the multitudes of Tweeple, the problem is that kids are smart enough to write these sorts of exploits and bored enough to do it rather than channel their talents into really useful projects. How many open source projects are sitting about, waiting for solid programmers to advance them? How many bits of software could be written to make our lives better or improve the way we work? How many really cool and functional Web 2.0 applications could a good Javascript programmer tackle?
All we need are mentors, teachers, business partnerships, and academic tracks in schools that focus kids on exciting projects and engage them in the same ways that creating Twitter exploits can.
No kid this smart should be bored. I have trouble imagining his Indian, Ukranian, or Chinese counterparts causing mischief out of boredom. Anyone out there identifying our most brilliant minds and then pushing them to achieve greatness?
Apparently not. They’d rather write worms for Twitter.
More from “ZDNet Education”
Chris Dawson is a freelance writer and consultant with years of experience in educational technology and web-based systems. In 2011, he became the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., a virtual classroom and learning network SaaS provider.
Disclosure
Christopher Dawson
Christopher Dawson is the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., by day and a freelance writer and educational technology consultant by night. Well, most of his colleagues at WizIQ are based in India, so really he's working with them whenever he can stay awake. He has worked for his local school district as a teacher and technology director, for the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and for Biogen, Inc. (now Biogen-IDEC, Inc.).
He has also consulted with STATNet and Cytyc Corporation and retains close ties with X2 Development Corporation (now owned by Follett Software, the supplier of the student information system he administered for several years). Follett is paying him a monthly honorarium to act as a presenter for their "SIS Voices for Student Achievement" community (he produces occasional blog posts and hosts a monthly webinar on the use of student information systems to inform data-driven instruction and school-wide change.
He regularly purchases and/or recommends Dell hardware. This is because Dell makes good hardware and has truly committed itself to education in innovative ways, particularly with their "Connected Classroom" initiative. It isn't because he has dealings with the company through his role at WizIQ (which he does) or because they have provided him with long-term loans of a variety of equipment for in-depth testing (which they have).
Intel (reference designer for the Classmate PCs he has implemented in his local schools) has provided him with long-term loans of Classmate PCs for testing, as have Dell and Lenovo with their educational offerings. He may report on any of these companies as his experiences with them have direct bearing on educational technology; positive reports are not necessarily an endorsement and he receives no direct financial compensation from these companies or any others.
Intel paid all expenses for his attendance at the 2009 Intel Classmate PC Ecosystem Summit which he attended as the sole representative of the technology press. He was invited to attend in 2010 but his wife would have killed him if he spent 3 days in Vegas geeking out and left her home alone with a new baby. Acer provided him with a 50% discount on an Aspire One netbook in early 2009 after he tested it for 30 days through their educational seed program. He liked the netbook at the time but it has since broken and sits unused in his office. Canonical sent him Ubuntu lanyards, t-shirts, and mousepads for his kids. He stole one of the lanyards and proudly hangs his keys from it and occasionally features his 8-year old wearing an oversized Ubuntu t-shirt on his Facebook profile. Gunnar Optiks sent him a pair of computer glasses to evaluate for a holiday gift guide. He is wearing them now as he types this because they never asked for them back and they rock out loud. Seriously - they work brilliantly and make it much easier to spend 20 hours a day staring at an LCD. If they ever asked for them back, he would fork over the $99 and buy a pair.
Microsoft gave him 2 free copies of Office 2010 professional, a desktop clock, and a useless book on Office 2010 when he attended the launch of Office/Sharepoint 2010. He occasionally uses the SharePoint lanyard they gave him instead of the Ubuntu lanyard for his keys, but feels dirty afterwards.
Adobe provided him with a pre-release version of the CS5 Master Collection for evaluation and ultimately provided a full, licensed copy for ongoing testing of educational applications of this admittedly expensive software. Like the Gunnars, if the license expires or they come out with CS6, he'd actually go out and buy it himself. Which is saying something, because he's actually pretty cheap.
Any other companies wishing to send him cool things to evaluate, wear, or otherwise adorn his kids are more than welcome to; he promises to disclose it here if he keeps any of the stuff.
Finally, because WizIQ is a virtual classroom and learning network provider, Chris, as VP of Marketing, frequently interacts with, seeks out deals with, and directly or indirectly competes with a whole lot of LMS, SIS, and other Education 2.0 companies. In general, he'll limit his reporting about these companies to news that does not impact his relationship with them or with WizIQ. If he reports on them, it's because what they are doing is newsworthy or worth the attention of his readers and not because he's trying to broker some deal, damage competition, or otherwise advance his position in his day job. LMS and SIS companies, along with other online learning communities, are a pretty important part of Ed Tech. If he stops reporting on them completely, there won't be a whole lot left. He'll be sure to call out any overt conflicts of interest if they are unavoidable.
Finally, Follett Software Company pays him a little tiny honorarium every month to present on their SIS Voices webinars and to write the occasional blog or discussion thread for them. Since Follett recently bought X2 (maker of an awesome web-based SIS that Chris just happened to have used, served in advisory groups for, and frequently reported on), this is probably also worth disclosing.
Biography
Christopher Dawson
Christopher Dawson grew up in Seattle, back in the days of pre-antitrust Microsoft, coffeeshops owned by something other than Starbucks, and really loud, inarticulate music. He escaped to the right coast in the early 90's and received a degree in Information Systems from Johns Hopkins University. While there, he began a career in health and educational information systems, with a focus on clinical trials and related statistical programming and database modeling. This focus led him to several positions at Johns Hopkins, a couple-year stint in private industry, teaching high school math and technology, and 2 years as the technology director for his local school district. Most recently, he started his own consulting business and is now the Vice President of Marketing for WizIQ, Inc., a virtual classroom and learning network provider.
He lives with his wife, five kids (yes, 5), 2 dogs, and a hateful cat in a small town in north-central Massachusetts. Although he is no longer teaching, his roles with WizIQ and ZDNet allow him to continue helping students and teachers add value to education with technology rather than merely adding to the bottom line.
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You've got some of them clinging to you. That's what you get for running wild outside.
;-b
You didn't just say "Tweeple" did you? I like Twitts better.
Smart kids have always been bored because American schools do not recognize the difference in the learning paces of children. Fast learners are not challenged by a school curriculum designed for the lowest common denominator. They have no choice but to be bored.
- "Teacher I'm already done with my math test can I go out and play?"
- "No!"
Regardless, to say that explains criminal activity is a bit of a leap.
I get variations on this all the time from my three middle-schoolers:
- "Teacher, I'm already done with my math worksheet. Can I read a book or something?"
- "No, I want you to help [polite reference to the half-wit sitting next to my kid] with his math worksheet."
And, by the way, the school system around here isn't designed for the "lowest common denominator," it's designed to get even the moderately-dumber-than-average kids through the NCLB tests and, other than turning them into unpaid teaching assistants, ignores the bright kids.
I also get lots of variations of:
- "Alison, you can't possibly have read a two-hundred page book in an afternoon! Read it again, and this time don't just skim!" (This to a kid who can read an 800-page Harry Potter in a day, who read all three of the Twilight books in a couple of days.)
- "Robby, I don't care that your father taught you an algebraic technique to solve the problem, you're going to use the keep-guessing-until-you-get-an-answer technique I showed the class!"
- "Evan, quit texting Savannah and put your phone away!" (Evan's bright enough, but would much rather hang out with Savannah than study something.)
It's not just indifference to bright kids, it's active antipathy. The bright kids embarrass the other kids--sometimes they embarrass the teachers. They do in five minutes a test the teachers have planned an hour for, and then sit around fidgeting, making noise, and otherwise being disruptive because they're not allowed to make better use of their time.
Yeah, the smart kids are bored.
Some end up feeling bad because they know the answers that the other's don't. In America there isn't much for these kids. They have to go through a system that hinders and discourages their talents rather than nurture them.
Although, I will say that the making them into teacher assistants is a wonderful thing. I wish I did that instead of just sleeping through math class in high school waiting for the next test so I could get my A and go home.
Anyway, tutoring in college was one of the most rewarding jobs I ever had.
Regardless, none of that could drive someone to crime. When children do bad things it is usually because they learn it from adults. Not that an adult taught the kid in this blog post to hack, but the idea to cause harm most likely did not come from independent thinking.
You and my husband may like teaching, but I don't have the patience for it. I wonder if being forced to help the slow kids in elementary school soured my attitude for that.
Locking our kids into grades by age, not ability, is the problem. It would be nice if there were some way to change the system to let kids progress in different subjects at different rates.
I disagree with your statement "Locking our kids into grades by age, not ability, is the problem". The reason I disagree, is due to social development. Some kids definitely have the ability, but social development is just as important to complete development of the kids. Skipping grades makes this harder for the average smart kid.
I do agree with your second statement though.
Best reply I've read here in quite a while. Thanks for making sense.
Tweeple? I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
The only thing worse than an annoying g@@@@mn pop culture trend is the cutesy, cloying neologisms that sprout like weeds around it.
F@#$ing chatspeak (OMG, LOL, BRB, etc.)? Vomit.
Brangelina, TomKat, LiLo, etc.? Puke.
I haven't even totally overcome my queasiness for the term "websurfing."
and you used what gamers use to get around language filters?
I like the idea of directing smart kids towards open source software development. That can be very interesting and challenging for them. Plus they get immediate respect, when they do a good job. Good for their self esteem.
Of course this alternative lacks the attraction of being malign. Digital vandalism is and always will be great fun for a teenager....
Somebody did something like this on OKCupid a few
months back. He made a journal post containing a
javascript worm that caused anyone who tried to view the
post to also post a reply to his journal declaring him to be
the supreme master of the universe.
Anyone who tried to view that reply would also post a
reply. The system didn't give you and feedback that it had
happened, so some people would actually get hit multiple
times.
OKC shows all journal posts and comments on your front
page from people either in your area or people in your
extended network. Before OKC Staff deleted the thread the
guy had over two thousand posts.
Anyone out there identifying our most brilliant minds and then pushing them to achieve greatness?
You mean besides Wall Street?
If he's all that brilliant, I presume he's passed his graduation tests. After that, it's just a matter of keeping below the radar so he survives until graduation.
That should be challenge enough for any kid.
Meeting the social/emotional needs of gifted kids is greatly lacking in education. That's a big reason why we homeschool.
Then take the electronics away from them, kick their arse outside and they can use their imaginations like we did. I can't believe how people overlook simple solutions to idiotic problems.
Playing outside was mandatory. Then again, my mom is West Indian so she's not spoiled by American slothfulness.
I don't care where your mom is from. The fact you shoehorn in more nationalities than you do incontrovertible facts merely shows you're being racist.
My only point is that compared with individuals from less developed countries Americans are less likely to value outdoor activity. Of course this does depend on where you live in America. It may be gross generalization and not entirely fair, but it certainly has nothing to do with race. For one, American's come in many races and so do West Indian's.
Regardless, look at the American obesity problem. How many of those people are actually physically active?
Can't speak for everyone else, but I suspect most obese are not very physically active. Some by choice. Some by infirmity. Some due to lack of time constraints; I truly pity those who have to work 2 or 3 jobs just to make ends meet.
But I still have exercise equipment in my basement and even without that I can still take the stairs to work, and do push ups and sit ups in front of the TV.
Although I did have the benefit of the Army requiring me to stay in shape.
Regardless, as a nation America has progressed technologically but our people are losing sight of the basics to living a physically active and healthy life.
You've got some of them clinging to you. That's what you get for running wild outside.
;-b
I live in an area with tons of kids and rarely see
them playing outside. There's a huge park just
down the street with every kind of playground
equipment and sports facilities known to
mankind. It's almost always empty. Once in a
blue moon you see some young teens in there,
but very few, and you never see younger kids.
The basketball courts are empty. The tennis
courts got so little use that the park authorities
didn't bother resurfacing when necessary. You
never see kids playing pickup baseball on one
of the two fields. The various swings and
slides might as well be pieces of modern art for
all the use they get.
The place is so empty that many of my
neighbors, and myself, take our dogs there so
they can get some exercise. It's a "no dogs
allowed" park but, since we're the only people
there, nobody complains.
That's the park. On the streets (quiet) you
never see kids out playing or riding there bikes.
In fact you don't even see young teens walking
or riding to their friends house - in an area of
closely spaced homes on 50 foot wide lots.
I've witnessed this decline in kids out playing -
mostly due to over protective parents - over the
last 30 years.
I play a video games, write a story, watch TV online..... what is WITH these kids? And I don't usually say that, makes me feel like some 85 year old, one foot in the grave fuddy-duddy.
Interesting article, too bad ZDNET doesn't offer an option to "thumb up" or "vote up" the articles we like. Anyways.
I think you are making a mistake, though, Mr Dawson: The fact that the kid was able to exploit some twitter's vulnerabilities doesn't make him smart as well. I mean, give him a fairly easy mathematics excercise and he may screw big time.
So, although I agree that he might be useful to the open source community, I would take it to the extent of saying he is smart.
(I am not saying he is not, just making a comment. Plus, I also understand that your point wasn't him being clever but I thought of contributing to the discussion)
Keep up the good work!
but if a 17-year old can do it, it isn't that hard.
These kids aren't brilliant, they're morally bankrupt. Instead of
mentoring, how about parenting.
If you could show me that the average high
school student could write a piece of code like
that, then I'll gladly agree with you. As it
stands now, it seems like you're just making
comments like this to get a rise out of people.
Despite what you might think, the kids that do
this stuff do so because they're smart. Most
kids AREN'T bored at school: they have things
like lessons and homework to keep them busy.
However, there are a few students who finish
all their homework in class and spend most
classes bored out of their minds, and those are
the students who will escape to the computer
lab and amuse themselves by doing something
like this. I would know: I was one such
student. I, however, got caught before I did
anything big, and I was sent off to rebuild a
computer lab out of stacks of broken computers,
which entertained me plenty and provided the
school with another computer lab.
By the way, I think morally bankrupt is a
little harsh. There's a lot of worse things he
could have been doing.
However, there are a few students who finish all their homework in class and spend most classes bored out of their minds
Because teachers are forced to aim low in order to get a large number of kids across a "minimum skills" threshold. Kids who show promise who should be pushed to even higher levels of learning are left to fend for themselves. Since they already possess "minimum skills" they don't receive the attention that they require to push themselves over the "advanced skills" line.
They are simply declared "smart enough" and are never pushed to reach their potential. Meanwhile, kids who may marginally outperform them are put into "advanced" classes, which fasttrack them on a college prep course study. Over time, the differences that started out as negligible become real and apparent.
No child left behind? I call BS!
Mentoring is exactly what's needed. Maybe not even
actual mentoring as much as just a positive outlet for
their energies.
Teachers don't even have to put that much effort into
it: just give them something useful to do, and then
check in on them every once in a while. Even better,
present them with a problem and ask them how THEY
think it could be fixed. Students tend to have a
unique way of looking at things because they've never
encountered the problem before and so probably haven't
encountered the defacto solutions that might be
keeping the IT professionals from coming up with a new
idea.
People tend not to give students full credit for their
talents. Give them a try. I think you'd be pleasantly
surprised. Besides, it seems like you have plenty of
IT work to do, and it might be nice to have some extra
hands around to do some of the smaller tasks: send a
student to go help next time a teacher can't figure
out how to turn a computer on. That way, you can focus
on overseeing stuff and the students get valuable
experience and a way to avoid boredom.
It is probably worth looking at what he meant by boredom. I remember myself at about the same age and would use the term a lot. It came from having things too easily come to me that I didn't have to challenge myself so when gaps in activities and times users would naturally happen I'd feel bored. It's interesting that with maturity I find there is no time for bored. Even quiet time is a blessing. For me the answer isn't so much technology related but spiritual development. Most people dislike silence and attempt to fill space with sound and keeping busy Few at that age understand how expanding being in a state of quiet mind can be.
I believe that most of the kids who display these talents aren't the "A" graders and therefore teachers don't necessarily pay attention to what makes them tick.
I agree 100%. I have been thinking about this alot lately (4 kids, two in college). One thing that I think the schools don't realize is that different kids have different talents. They are pushing kids towards (college is the only way) a one way direction. Some kids are book smart, some kids are more logical and some more physical. The way our society is going we will have millions of kids with college degrees working at a fast food restaurant.. We still need skilled craftsman, we still need entrepreneurs (sp) and not everyone wants a desk job, which seems to be the only direction our society is pushing anymore. My father was in construction and I do IT (I have done both). We need to start realizing there are many ways to prove your intelligence and need to give our youth the chance to find out what will work for them. But the key is we need to give them the chance. I say less Ivy League and more trade school options, or we will get what we have.. too many people sitting around trying to dream up things that are wrong instead of going out there and actually doing something. We have become a society of "let's sit around and complain".
Just my $.02
Brilliance does not have to automatically mean boredom. Boredom does not have to automatically mean criminality.
In fact, the really bright kids typically will find ways to apply themselves, with some help with the adults in their lives.
I've heard this same argument applied to hackers - 'if they are so talented then why don't they do good; work for the government, work for respected security firms, etc.'. That's a great question, and I'm willing to put money on it that "an opportunity hasn't come along" isn't the real reason.
Same here: most children are offered some opportunities, but you can't force them to make the right decisions. And I'm willing to bet if a child is acting out because they are bored, the right choice isn't going to be the most appealing to them.
This kid you talk of that was "bored" could have chosen a million ways to fill his time. His choice was to do something destructive. A direct result of having no morals to guide his actions.
I love the new one coming from FOX Broadcasting; where people get to gawk at employers who will berate and fire their employees...
(half-sarcasm; I recall reading something to that effect... Of course, 6 months later the FOX cable channel people will whine and bleat about the lack of morals, yet suspiciously forget to mention their own broadcast channel brethren in the process...)
Wait, they're all being offshored because we Americans are just too dumb.
I wish I could say that's sarcasm, except jobs ARE being offshored and Americans ARE being called dumb.
The majority of the offshore software work is grunt work like coding and data entry and tech. support because it will save companies money to outsource and offshore this type of work and their competitors are doing it as well.
It's not exactly PhD level work that we are offshoring because Americans are dumb.
Big deal... Like this has not happened through history. A lack of social consience, a feeling of superiority, the youthful "I will live forever" has and will always happen. Unless we tailor a specific life agenda for each and every human that pops out of the womb, we will always deal with bad kids, underused kids, overused kids... forever. No, I do not think a womb agena tailored to the get most production out of each person is a good thing for humans in general. It might make guys like Maslo and Sknner and Freud happy to study though.
No kid this smart should be bored. I have trouble imagining his Indian, Ukranian, or Chinese counterparts causing mischief out of boredom. Anyone out there identifying our most brilliant minds and then pushing them to achieve greatness?
------------------
You should read this article in the latest Popular Science about the Chinese teenage hacker kids who pose a greater threat to our national security in the immediate future than the Chinese military.
http://www.thedarkvisitor.com/2009/04/chinese-hackers-you-guys-got-candles-youre-going-to-need-them/http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-03/dalai-lama-decries-chinese-cyber-spying?page=1Quote "one third of Chinese elementary school students claim they aspire to be hackers". Not surprising at all when white collar computer crime pays far better than any other kind of crime with a lot less risk.
May 2009 Popular Science article by Mara Hvistendahl on page 60. Sorry I could not find a link to the article online.
It seems to me that they Chinese government has allied with these civilian (often teenage) hacker rings to further their own political objectives.
Forcing kids into a 'one-size-fits-all' package in the public schools leaves our most brilliant students woefully under-challenged. Doubtless this kid's teachers saw his potential, but were forced by the 'system' to slow him down.
Interestingly, until the advent of compulsory education, our education system was actually in great shape (NY state teacher of the year John Taylor Gotto).
My very bright son was homeschooled during first grade because his
overly academic kindergarten made him think he was stupid. He tested
as gifted. But, proving he could spell or carry into the 10s column didn't
get him excited about learning. At home, within four months, he was
reading at a fourth grade level and simplifying fractions in his head.
If schools understood how to tap into kids' curiosity -- which they are
loaded with -- instead of push prefab worksheets at them, students
might actually be excited about school. The kids might learn how to
work effectively and think creatively.
Our Government and our society as a whole prefers to
spend vast amounts of money on the people who are
least likely to enhance our society. Where are the
schools for the "Gifted" as opposed to the institutions
for the "Special". As usual we as a society have our
priorities all fouled up. When I was in education,
special education classes had 2 teachers, and we really
had no expectations of greatness from our students.
we just hoped they wouldn't go to jail. But, for those
truly gifted children we had nothing to engage or
challenge their intellects.
Well that's what we call NCLB around here. Basically, we are all so busy making sure we meet NCLB requirements and handling the paperwork to PROOVE that we handled it, that we have no more time in the day to help a kid get ahead.
Just having programs and institutions that challenge gifted kids are not good enough.
You have to instill good moral values into children. Churches and other religious organizations do that. Most parents do that. There are some that don't, and those are the kids that make newspaper headlines in a bad way like this.
Challenging brilliance without creating a concern for others or the planet, will just lead to brilliant criminals.
All people have different talents. These talents have been developed in different ways. Visually ?monkey see monkey do.? Verbally, do this and do it this way. Guiding their bodies through a skill development sequence. Some people read and then try what they read. People develop in different ways and need the opportunities to sample these situations and then they may have an idea of what works and what does not. Pushing kids towards college is not the answer, but one direction.
Some people are book smart; some are street smart more logical or more physical. The way our society is going, we will have millions of people with college degrees unable to solve monkey problems. We need craftsmen, we need entrepreneurs and not everyone wants a service job, which seems to be the direction of our society.
Talented people have always been bored because American schools do not recognize their talents, difference in the pace of learning, the style or technique for teaching talented people. Fast learners are not challenged by a school curriculum designed for the lowest common denominator; it is designed to get even the moderately-dumber-than-average kids through the NCLB tests. The military does the same thing, teaching to pass the test not how to think or solve problems. The improvising comes later, the skills to adapt and overcome had to be taught and then tried for improvising to succeed.
We need to realize there are many ways to prove your intelligence and develop talents. People need to give our youth the chance to find out what will work for them. The key is to give them the chance. Play, outside activities, and work with their hands options. All these activities help develop imagination, problem-solving skills. If supported by their teachers, peers, mentors and parents would the behavior be appropriate or the skill set available for use of discretionary time in a productive way? Social interaction, emotional and physical development help develop a well-rounded person. People?s behavior will be people?s behavior; good, bad, indifferent those are your values.
Just my 2?.
This sounds a lot like those dumb ads that try to tell you that if you put children in baseball they won't break car windows with bats.
Sports doesn't make you moral, and bordom doesn't make you immoral.
You cannot replace decent, moral teachings with sports and computers and think that it will make children decent, moral people. You have to model your values, and give them a solid foundation and purpose for life.
Did the parents teach this child the reason for his existence? His worth to God? (no offence pro-choice people) The worth of other people? Thus not wanting to harm them.
What people do when they are bored, shows you who they really are. Keeping someone like this "busy" with other tasks will not address the reason he did this in the first place. There are trillions of things you can do when you are bored ... destruction and harm to others are not choices anyone should consider.
Put the smart ones into the workforce, they may find working for a paycheck much more stimulating than high school. I know some 8 year olds who will work for less than the Chinese and Indians.
I'm surprised at how many people are looking down upon this kid as if he just stole beer from the corner market. Just a couple of weeks ago I read about a 17 year old getting sued for millions by the RIAA for downloading music. When I was 17 I made viruses and downloaded music too, but you don't see me out robbing banks. I have a job designing websites. The fact is that yes, these kids are bored which leads them into mischief, but that's normal for all kids, brilliant or not. Where is everyone's parents? THAT is the problem. Kids do these things online because their parents don't stop them, and then everyone wants to get mad at the kid. Have you looked at myspace lately? My kids sure as hell won't be posting pictures like that online. Am I seriously the only person that realizes this?
The kid was bored. The kid succumbed to peer pressure. The
kid didn't know better. The kid is young. The kid didn't
whatever. This kid was 17 years old. 17! He should have
known better and had the sense to realize what he was doing
was wrong. The brains to know he'd get caught. The few
minutes of thought to think of the disruption in time and
money he might cause. So saying he was bored is an instant
and easy excuse for what he did? I won't buy it. The kid has
emotional and/or parental issues, before being bored. It's
great he wasn't using drugs or robbing a liquor store, but what
he did was wrong. We need to examine the root causes for
this type of behavior instead of sweeping it under the rug and
saying, "he was bored."
