There isn’t a more difficult job to do well than being a parent.
That’s why people like James and Jennifer Crumbley of Oakland County, Mich., are such an object lesson for these sad times. Their 15-year-old son Ethan murdered four of his classmates with a semi-automatic pistol his parents had purchased for him just four days earlier.
Ethan will be charged with four counts of murder.
James and Jennifer have been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
They bought Ethan a gun, bragged about it on social media and took him to a shooting range to practice. Then on the same day they were called in to discuss problems with their son at his school, he shot and killed four people and wounded a number of others later that same day.
When authorities decided to arrest the Crumbleys for their role in their son’s crime, it took hours to locate them. Eventually they were found hiding in an empty commercial building.
They were jailed and bail was set very high — $500,000 each — for people who were essentially accomplices to their son’s crime. Perhaps it was because they were hiding to avoid arrest, but in setting such a high bail, the court declared them flight risks.
Blaming parents for what their children do can be problematic. In many cases, any fault they might have could be chalked up to negligence. Life can be tough, and in many instances, parents are working several jobs just to be able to pay the bills. Even questions like “How’s school, kiddo?” can be difficult to find time for.
But the Crumbleys’ role in this wasn’t one of neglect or ignorance.
When the school called the parents in because Ethan had drawn pictures of people lying in their own blood and of ammuniation for his gun, his mother told him not to get caught.
It’s difficult to know what’s true and what’s not in the immediate aftermath of an even like this, but the word is the Crumbleys were Trumpanzees and that they were thrilled that Wisconsin shooter Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted.
It sounds like they weren’t the most wonderful role models for young Ethan. I can only judge from my own experience and from people I know well, but I don’t know anyone whose dad would buy them a firearm that would be illegal for them to purchase for themselves.
This is where it’s all falling apart for America.
I remember about 50 years ago when basketball player Spencer Haywood signed a contract for $400,000 a year and someone called him a hero.
“I’m no hero,” he said. “A hero is somebody who’s making $18,000 a year, raising three kids and giving them good values.”
Parents who give their kids good values might outnumber parents who buy their kids guns, but there are too few of the first kind and too many of the second.
Maybe we can teach the second type a lesson.