Editor, The News:
Re: Nobody died, give kid a break (Commentary, July 1).
I totally agree with Phil Melnychuk. He makes a lot of sense in what he says in defense of a teenager who, in the midst of a riot, lost control of his better judgement, and has since sincerely apologized for it.
What disturbs me most is the vigilantly attitudes of people who want to crucify this poor kid, including Christy Clark’s knee jerk comment that they should all be jailed. What an ignorant statement from our premier.
What do you really think would have been gained by putting this kid in jail for a spur-of-the-moment mistake, where he didn’t hurt or injure anyone?
It has certainly displayed a darker side of what lurks inside all of us, in our lust for revenge.
The same venom which drives the vigilantly crowd, is just as bad, if not worse than what these kids did in the riot.
We’d be well advised to look deeply into our own motives for wanting to crucify these kids, and show some compassion and forgiveness. We all make mistakes –especially teenagers. Give this kid a break.
Let’s keep it in perspective, as Mr. Melnychuk suggests, and realize that no one was killed, and hopefully these kids learn a hard lesson about not getting sucked into a mob mentality riot in the spur of the moment.
John McKenzie
Maple Ridge