Now This Is "Tough Love"...!

You don't see this very often, and it's a shame that we don't!

In my day, this is exactly the kind of "tough love" that I would expect from my parents in a case like this!

Of course, that was a different time. That was in a day when the rules were well established and the boundaries were clear! I knew that when I screwed up, I would be punished...period!

My parents were not mean, but they insisted on obedience and truthfulness. If I got in trouble at school, I got in trouble again at home! That's the way things were, and I was aware of that from the git-go! If I did wrong, it was on me and I had to face up to it!

Angry mom refuses to bail out teen son accused of car theft

August 2, 2010

BY KIM JANSSEN Staff Reporter kjanssen@suntimes.com

A teenager accused of stealing a pizza delivery guy's car was chewed out by a judge -- and his mom -- Sunday morning in court.

Ravontay Hutchins, 17, allegedly stole the 1996 Acura Integra after the driver left the keys in the ignition and the engine running outside Pompeii, 1531 W. Taylor, at 9:20 p.m. Saturday.

Two cops on a lunch break at the restaurant heard about the theft and quickly put out a description of the stolen car, which the delivery guy was following in another car, police said.

Hutchins and a 14-year-old accomplice were soon arrested after a brief foot chase in the 1300 block of South Albany, prosecutors said.

At a hearing Sunday in Cook County Criminal Court, Hutchins' mother told Judge Peggy Chiampas that Hutchins' father was serving with the military in Iraq and that she'd done everything she could for the boy, who was "spoiled."

When Chiampas set Hutchins' bail at $25,000, his mother told the judge "I've got [the money to bail him out], but he's staying here, locked up!" and stormed from the courtroom.

Chiampas praised her, saying, "I want to know why there's not more parents like this. ... I applaud her for her truthfulness."

As Hutchins was led back to the cells, she told him, "You think about that, while your dad's in Iraq."

In addition to a felony charges of possession of stolen motor vehicle, Hutchins, of the 1200 block of South Throop, also faces a misdemeanor battery charge and several traffic citations.

Maybe if more parents and care givers did this kind of thing, there would be fewer numbers of kids in serious trouble! Time to go back to "do the crime...then do the time!"

Let's have some coffee in the kitchen this morning. I'm too tired to fight the heat!