" ROCK ON DON'S MOM!!!! "

" I would like to thank all of Don's friends who have written in to show their support. Don has great friends and they are all GOOD kids. I don't know where the gossip started about Don being a juvenile deliquent; he isn't and neither are his friends. They are NOT a bad crowd. We have just come back from court where Don was given 100 hours of community service. He must finish this before he leaves for college in Aug. He will do this along with working full time on the farm. Thank you friends. Our hope is now that the school will reconsider and let the students "walk" across the stage for their diplomas. The courts are punishing these kids. The school doesn't have to double punish them. Please reconsider SCCS for the kids and for the parents. "

" It all starts here -- the attitudes and behaviors of young people who will be the next generation of The Powers That Be. If they don't learn to be responsible for the consequences of their relatively minor actions at this age, if they learn to point the finger of blame at anyone but themselves, if they learn to feel entitled and priveleged and like the rules don't apply to them, what kind of people do you think will be ruling our lives when we're older? This issue is every bit as crucial as the more political issues you mention because the attitudes learned at a younger age drive the decisions made by adult leaders on down the road. I wrote so much on this subject because it IS about the bigger issues you mention -- this sort of discussion takes on those issues at their root. Individuals have a chance of having a positive effect on a local issue like this, engaging each other in discussion, learning from each other, maybe having a small hand in doing some real, palpable good right here, right now -- in ways that are just not feasible for individuals or even groups when it comes to those "bigger" issues. I could write pages about stuff on the war in Iraq or tax reform or health care, and it wouldn't make even a dent in the issue. Here we can hope to actually accomplish something. And for all the stirred up feelings, I think this was a positive exercise, right here in the tiny little Citizen newspaper, right here in Southern Cayuga School District. I personally was very pleased to see so many young people engage passionately in talking about something that matters -- things like personal accountability and responsibility, and things like behavior of authorities and the individual's relationship to the law. I'm proud of the young people who wrote in and argued with me, corrected me, even the rude and angry ones. I was only sorry to see that it looks like I was the only PARENT to join the discussion. "

" I graduated from SCCS years ago and I try to keep up with area news via the Citizen on-line. I'm sad that students showed such disrespect for our school.... And I am amazed at the comments about this incident. I wish people would get this involved and vocal about issues that really matter -such as taxes, healthcare, illegal immigration and National Defense! "

" Actually, I have kids in Southern Cayuga, including one in the senior class, so I have an interest in the issue as a parent as well as a resident. This has been a conversation, an exchange, worth pursuing to me because I live here. My life and my children's lives are affected by the attitudes and actions of young people graduating from our schools. I see some notes here from passionate, loyal friends. Some are sensible and, although understandably upset, show some learning going on -- I see compassion as well as a public taking of responsibility and that is all admirable. Others are just hysterical and childish. Still, even with those, anger is a normal reaction when someone you care about gets snapped; it just isn't productive here. For the loyal friends who have corrected the newspaper reports (we all know they aren't always accurate) and who have shown the public another view of the kids than what came through in the paper, and who have reassured readers here that many of the kids involved have indeed taken responsibility and learned their lesson, good for you and glad to hear it and sorry it had to be such a hard lesson. Life is full of hard lessons and many worse than this, though it may not feel like it right now. But for those of you still ranting and lashing out, just saying things to try to be mean, I hope you grow out of it. Don't come crying because your friends were the only ones who got caught doing something wrong -- it was wrong every time some other kid did it too and the others just got off lucky. You mistake my meaning if you think I sit here being glad anyone is treated unjustly or handled roughly -- not at all. I wasn't there, I don't know if kids were mouthing off and resisting, or if the kids were cooperative and conntrite and the police were overzealous -- I wasn't there, so I really can't say. I never said anything about any of that. [BTW to "friend" -- you are quite right to apply the boys-will-be-boys attitude problem to the authorities -- some of the worst cases I've seen have been from people in positions of authority]. I've just been engaged in what I feel is a very important conversation with several young people who live in my community, and if an open discussion of some of these issues can lead to learning on all our parts, mine too, it will benefit everyone living here. Peace and good luck to each and every one of you. "

" This responce is to "very sad" and "responsible." I think that everyone knows that kids shouldnt have done what they did. . .its common sence, but there were prevention measures that could have been taken. This isnt making excuses, its given ideas so that this situation doesnt happen again. i dont know about you, but i have actually talked to the police and dectivies, and some of them think the same, that this could have been prevented and the kids should not have been arrested and charged. The police were aware and did not stake out early enough, or stake out at the school itself. I think everyone is aware how many miles the sherrifs cover, but because this was not prevented they had 9 cops at the school. . .and who was watching the rest of the county?? No one! Certin police officers wanted to catch kids in the act. The job of the police is crime prevention, if possible. If the police could have stop this from occuring, you would think they would. I think that you need to learn a little bit more about the situation and the law system. And yes, they do need to be punished, but they need to be punished approratly. . .if all these kids went to jail for 7 years, youd be thinking a little different. I would also like to get your laws staright, burglery is not stealing anything. . .that would be robbery. And nothing was stolen. "Very sad", dont you dare call anyone a juvenile deliquent. . .look around you, there are kids that are doin crack and who kill poeple, or sexually assault there silbings. As a teenager i have made some stupid mistakes. . .and im sure you have to, so dont act like you are better than them. . .because your obviosly not! "

" ok who plans a 1,2,3,4 statement do you have nothing else to do with your life but to respond to some poor choices that ended in an arrest but i hope you rest good knowing that the cops are in full force after a bounch of kids just doing a senior prank nothing else in the whole county but some kids not to mention that the kids were thrown around and the hand cruffs too tight that their fingers are numb and their frists are bleeding i hate to tell ya but who should get that treatment boys will be boys is right i bet you had some real bad high school years no one liked you did they? from what i know these kids did what every other senior class did in the past years but they just got caught i cant speak for the whole high school but i talked to them and everyone i talked to says this is a overkill but to you that want to pick apart this kids go for it waste the rest of your life up doing that "

" I am friends with EACH one of those kids and NOTHING was stolen actually please and thank you. The police KNEW about it THAT day so they had 12 hours to get there. No one called them to report it. Yes they should have known better, we all know that they definitely shouldn't have done it, but they know that now too so to take it this far? They TOOK responsibility for it, They KNOW what they did is wrong, they aren't trying to blame other people their friends are...because they don't want anything bad to happen to them. So maybe before you JUDGE them and how they feel about the situation then you should probably stop talking. "

" 1. DRINKING: Someone I know very well ran into a bunch of those kids out and about somewhere else that same night and they had been drinking. 2. POLICE: Before you jump all over the police for coming so late to their stake out -- have any of you ever had to call the police? It takes an AVERAGE of 45 minutes for the police in Cayuga County to respond to a call, even for something as serious as gunshots, physical violence or an intruder in your home (I know from first-hand experience). It is entirely possible that they could not have gotten there any sooner -- remember, there are only a few on the road at any given time and they are covering the whole of Cayuga County, from Sodus to Genoa. 3. BURGLARY: The newspaper reported that the kids had been charged with felony burglary, which sure sounds like something was stolen. 4. TWO GROUPS? I have heard some further stories (from other kids at the school -- as yet unsubstantiated) that there was more than one group of kids -- that there was one group already in the school getting into more serious trouble, then there were a few other kids just coming in with the intention of filling the hall with balloons as their senior prank and that this latter group were the ones who were caught initially. IF this is true, then the authorities will need to sort out very carefully just who did what. 5. WHAT'S DESERVED: IF that's so, then obviously that group of kids doesn't deserve such a strenuous punishment, though they do need to know that breaking into school was a bad choice, a risk to put a black mark on their own records for years to come. IF these kids have really learned in their heart of hearts that what they did was wrong, was their own faults and no one else is to blame, that they can't blame the police for catching them when they (the kids) were the ones doing wrong (that's the job of the police), then maybe some good can come out of the whole sad mess. 6. ESHEWING RESPONSIBILITY A COMMUNITY PROBLEM: What bothers me is when I hear a lot of people right here on this forum wanting to blame everyone else when the reality is that we are all responsible for our own actions and part of that responsibility is that those actions come with consequences. It is a disturbing trend I have run into time and again in this community where bad behaviors are tolerated and glossed over with a sort of "boys-will-be-boys" (girls too) attitude which allows those bad behaviors to grow and escalate; those "boys" learn that it's OK to get away with all kinds of wrong things, from drinking and driving to harrassing women and more. I myself have witnessed and even been the victim of just such behaviors which were let off easy despite the seriousness of the crime. 7. BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOURSELF: So just make sure you THINK before you take an action which puts the rest of your life at risk in some fashion, that you take responsibility for your own actions including any consequences and don't try to blame others for your own actions, and finally have respect for others, for property and for what's right and wrong. If we can get that far, maybe there is some hope for responsibility after all. "

" Yes everyone is responsible for their own actions, but is it not also the SRO's job to help and advise the students at his school so they will make responsible decisions. It looks like this SRO just waited so he could "catch" these kids and be a hero. "

" actually you should get your facts right...they didn't steal anything from the school at all. and yes they should take responsibility for their actions but i have a feeling that they regret doing it and wish it never happened...why bother making it worse? they've already been arrested and put in jail, but to charge them with a felony? Come on...that alittle over the top. Yes we all know they shouldn't have done it. Even they know that now, but how were they supposed to know the consequences when they felt that all they were going to do was a prank? Were they supposed to know it would cause this much drama and result in arrests? Doubtful "

" Mr Responsible, Where in the news articles and letters did they say the students were drunk? "

" YOU are responsible for your behavior. It is not the job of the police to watch every person to see if he or she will do something wrong. Those kids may be generally good kids, but they made bad choices, not the first time from what I hear in the community, and did the wrong thing. Now they want to whine and complain and say it's the school's fault they didn't handle it right, it's the police's fault they didn't handle it right -- NO WAY -- You do something wrong, it is YOUR fault and YOU are responsible. And sometimes it takes some authority coming down hard on you to make you wake up and realize YOU are out of line. There are all too many irresponsible people out there who grow up with somebody making excuses for their bad behavior, blaming it on the system, the parents, the schools, the police, the government, anyone but their own selves. Those kids got drunk (underage), broke into the school (a crime), did damage and stole something (more crimes). It really isn't relevant if there was lots of damage or a little, whether what was taken was of great value or not. Those kids were out of line and no one is doing them a favor to let them off in such a way that they can tell themselves and their friends that it was "just a prank" and they didn't deserve a punishment. Bunk! If these kids are so smart, why are they breaking into the school and getting themselves arrested? Intelligence has little to do with common sense or respect for property, laws and basic right and wrong. From the tone of the letters of the kids' friends here, I can tell it was absolutely the right thing to do to arrest these kids because they are already whining on about how it was all someone else's fault and they aren't to blame. "

" personally i think that instead of focusing on any one particular students involvement and going as far as to labling him as a "juvenile deliquent", when in fact he is a sweetheart, very caring, and nice, i think that the actions of the authorities need to be critcized. there were 9 cops and 3 kids were caught, 13 got away. not only that, but if they had gotten there earlier the entire event could have been prevented. everyone does things that they probably shouldnt, and everyone makes mistakes. Donny is an awesome kid, hes doubled up classes so that he can graduate a year early. hes a smart kid. most of the kids involved are. decisons for charges were made based on 'intention' whos to say what their intentions were, i bet not one of them walked in there planning on breaking things and moving desks, although moving desks is a small task to clean up. "

" This whole thing has gotten blown way out of proportion. Most of the people that have gotten arrested are my friends and I know that they are definitely not juvenile deliquents. haven't gotten written up once in school. They're good people. And like one "friend" wrote it could have easily been prevented. The police KNEW about it, they knew that kids were going to be there. Why didn't they step in sooner? The arrests could have been prevented. These people may go to jail...and for what purpose? What was the point in all the arrests? A story for people to talk about in this small community, to set a precedence for future SENIOR PRANKS or is it really such a big deal? In the end, was this senior prank REALLY going to affect anyones lives? Was it going to hurt anyone? If it wasn't going to do anything before it sure is now. Students might not get to walk across the stage for their graduation, If convicted they could go to jail for up to 7 years, and for what? a prank? A silly prank that could have been stopped? In the end, is it really worth all of this trouble? Is it worth potentially ruining young lives? and for what reason other than trying to set a precedence? "

" I think that everyone needs to keep in mind that people in groups are more likely to cause trouble, even when individually most of the people involved are generally good kids. Perhaps people thanking the police that they stopped such behavior in time should think that perhaps if Officer Nedza had started his stakeout a bit earlier and warned the kids off, rather than arresting them, none of these events would have occured. I feel that this whole incident has been blown up to something much bigger than it should have been. I know all three of the kids mentioned in the article, and a few who were not mentioned, and i seriously doubt that they previously intended to cause damage. I know for a fact that over a dozen students were hauled into the cauyga county sheriff's office and threatened with arrest if they did not answer questions. This is a is excessive in the extreme, even the principal admitted that the damage was "very limited". This should have been delt with through the school. They could have fined these kids for the damage they did and sought justice through the school, rather than charging them with a felony that they will have to explain on every application for the rest of their lives. There is just something wrong with this whole situation. "

" I'll be the first to admit that I don't know Donny very well. However, from what I do know, Donny is a gentleman. He is sweet and considerate and kind. To label him as a juvenile delinquent on account of his involvement in a SENIOR PRANK is absurd. I think that although the prank got a little out of control, the way that this situation has been handled has spiraled even more out of control. "

" All I have to say in this matter is maybe 'very sad' should get their facts straight. First of all, whether you are aware of it or not, people change over a time period of 13-14 years. Secondly, Donny is nowhere close to being a juvenile delinquent, and he certainly does NOT do things to 'win the approval' of his friends. We are his friends because of who he is, which is an awesome kid who just likes to get together with friends and have a good time. Unfortunately, this specific time got a bit out of control. 'Very sad' wants to assume that Donny did the things he did that night for our approval? False, everyones actions were based on what they wanted to do, not the influence of others. One more note to 'very sad'; Please dont make Donny's behavior sound like a disease that was 'hopefully caught in time'. And lastly, who are you to determine what or what isn't the 'right path' for anyone. You are out of line for judging someone, that you havent known for over a decade, this harshly. Do everyone a favor and bite your tongue next time you have something to say. "

" Is this the same Donald I knew as a 4, 5 and 6 year old at the Aurora Preschool and at Southern Cayuga who was INTENSELY shy and withdrawn and who would never go anywhere without his toy stuffed holstein cow, a youngest son of many whose family had his whole class out to visit their dairy farm? It is a little hard to reconcile with the young man who has just been arrested -- a drinking, partying, property-destroying juvenile deliquent who seems to have been part of a group involved in other minor crimes as well, if the local word has it right. Has he just fallen in with a bad crowd and is now trying to win their approval by behaving as badly or worse than they do? My heart goes out to his family and I sincerely hope they have caught this terrible behavior in time to curb it strenuously and turn him back to a better path for the rest of his life. So sorry! "