Yep, you may well be correct Chet, and as I said that was my first reaction. Also, we do not know what future restrictions / punishments might be given after the event. Seeing as her father took away the game console in the first place I would assume he is not so easy going as to be a bad parent.
But it is also possible that the bigger job done here was to de-fuse the situation, calm things down and smooth over these actions enough (legally speaking mostly) that everyone, including the girl, can get on with things without a heavy burden of legal difficulties, fines, etc. hanging over their collective heads.
Of course this could serve to be a bad example but unfortunately there are so many bad examples already out there, some of whom are very popular celebrities, that this one is 'small potatos' I think. But we are not privy to everything that happened and what is happening now so it is impossible to form a valid opinion either way- without knowing any of the parties or having been there for at least part of this ordeal (at the police station picking up the kid would be the best place to be a fly on the wall IMO) we just don't know what the best course of action might be.
Stealing cars is certainly not what I would normally consider something we should shrug off but this case is a little different: the intent was not to steal the car, she merely 'borrowed' it to run an errand (minimized of course but somewhat accurate). There was no damage to the car as far as we know. This is quite different IMO than 'borrowing' the same car to go out at night, drink to excess (which is any amount for a 13 year old really) and party with several of her friends. I do not believe anyone was really in danger other than perhaps the girl herself if that other kid wasn't a 'kid' at all. Somewhere here there is a line between a criminal act and a youthful indescresion; I would like to believe this case if the latter and the parents are trying to make the whole incident go that way.
Brian
My thoughts-I hope this doesn't encourage other incidents like this. She shouldnt be "The" example, but "An" example. I see this young lady learning that being cute (actions, not appearance) gets you off the hook. That is the lesson being taught to the masses. The parents must be afraid of alienating their daughters affections, not realizing their actions will have exactly that result down the road. Again, IMO, they rewarded her poor decision with a visit. A broad comparison, she robs a bank with a pink water pistol, since it wasn't a real gun, they allow her to keep what she stole. The bank was so happy she didn't use a real gun, they open an interest drawing account complete with a no limit credit card.
