HisPony
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http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stori...-crime-121708/
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Dennis Baltimore Jr.'s punishment for vandalizing his school was to take his confession to the streets.
His father made the 16-year-old walk the streets of Long Beach and Signal Hill for five hours on Tuesday wearing a sandwich board that proclaimed: "I am a juvenile delinquent who should be punished. I have wasted your tax money with dumb acts of vandalism in the public schools."
The 10th-grader painted graffiti from a fictitious gang on property at Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, a port city 25 miles south of Los Angeles.
Dennis Sr. got a telephone call Monday from the school and was told his son had caused $875 worth of damage.
"In a time of this uncertain economy, I'm sure the public is not going to like it," the father said.
Baltimore, who moved to California from Washington, D.C., a few years ago, said he got the idea for the sign from a news report about a laid-off man in New York who wore a board advertising his qualifications for a job.
"When I saw that, I went to the store, bought the supplies and made the sign," Baltimore said.
"I want him to always question himself before he makes a decision," the father said. "You have to make conscious decisions. He's a good son; he just made a bad decision, and he has to pay for it."
The sign drew laughter from onlookers. Some took photos.
"I'm doing what I have to do to make him a man. That's my job," Baltimore said. "This is nothing compared to what could happen to him. He could get shot in the streets for something he thinks is minor."
Passersby seemed to agree.
"He won't want to do that again, and it's better than his dad putting his hands on him and beating him," said Adrian Paxton, who was released from prison in October.
"If my dad had did something like that to me when I was doing my thing, it probably would have helped me," he said.
Dennis Jr. said he got the message.
"I was thinking about being a gangbanger, but once I saw what the punishment was, I was like, no," he said.
"Right now I feel dumb and I regret everything I've done," he said.
In addition to his father's punishment, the teenager got a four-day suspension and must spend several days over the holiday vacation painting over graffiti and performing other community service at the school.
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Dennis Baltimore Jr.'s punishment for vandalizing his school was to take his confession to the streets.
His father made the 16-year-old walk the streets of Long Beach and Signal Hill for five hours on Tuesday wearing a sandwich board that proclaimed: "I am a juvenile delinquent who should be punished. I have wasted your tax money with dumb acts of vandalism in the public schools."
The 10th-grader painted graffiti from a fictitious gang on property at Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, a port city 25 miles south of Los Angeles.
Dennis Sr. got a telephone call Monday from the school and was told his son had caused $875 worth of damage.
"In a time of this uncertain economy, I'm sure the public is not going to like it," the father said.
Baltimore, who moved to California from Washington, D.C., a few years ago, said he got the idea for the sign from a news report about a laid-off man in New York who wore a board advertising his qualifications for a job.
"When I saw that, I went to the store, bought the supplies and made the sign," Baltimore said.
"I want him to always question himself before he makes a decision," the father said. "You have to make conscious decisions. He's a good son; he just made a bad decision, and he has to pay for it."
The sign drew laughter from onlookers. Some took photos.
"I'm doing what I have to do to make him a man. That's my job," Baltimore said. "This is nothing compared to what could happen to him. He could get shot in the streets for something he thinks is minor."
Passersby seemed to agree.
"He won't want to do that again, and it's better than his dad putting his hands on him and beating him," said Adrian Paxton, who was released from prison in October.
"If my dad had did something like that to me when I was doing my thing, it probably would have helped me," he said.
Dennis Jr. said he got the message.
"I was thinking about being a gangbanger, but once I saw what the punishment was, I was like, no," he said.
"Right now I feel dumb and I regret everything I've done," he said.
In addition to his father's punishment, the teenager got a four-day suspension and must spend several days over the holiday vacation painting over graffiti and performing other community service at the school.
