A bunch of punks knock on a family's doors and ring the doorbells at the same time near Albany. It is a prank called the Ding dong ditch. (When we did it, we called it something else, which cannot be printed here.) The homeowner was faster than the teenagers thought and tackled one of them. He called police and held him until they got there. End of story. Right? Wrong. Now, the homeowner is being charged with endangering a child and harrassment. The boy's father is afraid his son's feelings might have been hurt during ther ordeal. Wasn't the homeowner the one being harrassed here?
When we did things like this as teenagers, we fully expected to be beaten up if caught. The last thing we'd expect would be to be labeled a crime victim. At the heart of this mischaracterization of justice is the teenager's parents. Instead of telling the kid he got what he deserved, they consider their son to be the victim. Obviously, there is no discipline going on in their house. If there's any justice, the judge will throw this case out of court and tell the teeneager he shouldn't be harrassing his neighbors at their homes at 10 PM.
"Ding dong ditch" victim retaliates, faces charges
When we did things like this as teenagers, we fully expected to be beaten up if caught. The last thing we'd expect would be to be labeled a crime victim. At the heart of this mischaracterization of justice is the teenager's parents. Instead of telling the kid he got what he deserved, they consider their son to be the victim. Obviously, there is no discipline going on in their house. If there's any justice, the judge will throw this case out of court and tell the teeneager he shouldn't be harrassing his neighbors at their homes at 10 PM.
"Ding dong ditch" victim retaliates, faces charges
