Dire Consequences

Several years ago I was teaching high school in the Rio Grande Valley; one of my freshman students was a very bright young lady who combined exceptional intelligence with an extraordinary work ethic. She demonstrated a deep interest in the study of World Geography, and she exhibited a keen understanding of often complex relationships. I had promised the students that my top two students for the year, as determined by grade point average, would get a flight around the McAllen, Texas area, courtesy of my good friend Paul, who was also a teacher, a retired Marine pilot, and civil aviator. This particular young lady was one of the two top students, and I made the promised arrangements with my friend.

Four years passed and I was teaching government and economics to seniors. I was pleased to find that this young lady would join my Advanced Placement government class. But after receiving a copy of the course syllabus and an outline of the reading, research, and writing requirements for the course, she decided that to take the regular government class instead and, within a week, she was transferred to a regular teacher. I was naturally disappointed because I fully expected that she would again be one of my best students and, I thought, if anyone would be a perfect fit for advanced studies, she was that person.

Midway through the first semester of her senior year, the student turned up “missing.” According to her parents’ interview on television, she had come home from school on Friday, packed a few things, and told her parents that she was going over to South Padre Island for the weekend. She didn’t come home after the weekend, and so by Monday a search was being conducted for her throughout the Rio Grande Valley. A few days later, they discovered her mutilated body stuffed inside a water irrigation pipe.

I was very distressed about this young lady’s murder. I was also somewhat angry because I could not understand why her parents would permit their 17 year old daughter to go off by herself for an entire weekend. Then, a few days later, her boyfriend was arrested and charged with the girl’s murder. Worse, the boyfriend was a sheriff’s deputy, married, and the father of two children. By this time, I was no longer angry; I was furious. I thought this girl would still be alive if her parents had the brains to tell their daughter NO, you are not going away for the weekend. NO you are not going to stay out late during the school week. NO you may not date a married man with two children.


Now we have the case of Natalee Holloway, an 18 year old high school graduate who has disappeared on the rather small island of Aruba, a protectorate of the Netherlands. Again, I find myself saddened by this event, and very angry. This young lady’s parents allowed their child to leave the United States of America, travel to a foreign country with “chaperones,” who were themselves negligent in their duty. The 18 year old girl was drinking in the nightclub, partying at 2 a.m., was seen entering a car with two strange men, and NO ONE had the COMMON SENSE to intervene and potentially save this young girl from an unknown fate.

Yes, I am very angry about Natalee Holloway’s disappearance. It did not have to happen. I do not want to see her negligent parents on television crying or bemoaning the loss of their daughter; they have failed at one of the most important duties any person can ever have — parenthood. Not being a parent in name only, but actually doing parenting. If Mom or Dad wanted the young lady to go to Aruba, why didn’t Mom or Dad go along? If that was not possible, try saying the word NO. Entrusting their daughter into someone else’s care does not satisfy the responsibility of parenting. We are living among some very stupid or very naive people, and in this case, negligence, stupidity, or naiveté may have dire consequences.