Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Bad/Good? Analyzing a Story from Two Angles

Article: Last week, a boy from Minneapolis ran away from home. Video cameras show him at the airport, where he picked up a bag from a carousel and went to a restaurant to eat. He told the waiter/waitress that he had to go to the bathroom but never returned to the restaurant to pay or retrieve the bag. He then snuck through the security line and managed to board a plane going to Las Vegas without a ticket. Flight attendants became concerned during the flight when they realized he wasn't on the list of unaccompanied minors. They alerted the Las Vegas police, who waited for the flight to arrive and took the boy to Child Protective Services upon arrival. He is supposed to be reunited with his family.

Questions for Kids:
  • Name all the things this boy did but should not have done (running away; theft of suitcase; eating food without paying for it; theft of an airplane seat; boarding plane alone; etc.)
  • What could the airport have done to prevent this from happening? 
  • There is a concept in Judaism of giving someone the benefit of the doubt (dan lechav zchut). Give this the boy the benefit of the doubt. Why may he have done what he did? (He is mentally disturbed; he is developmentally disabled; he has a horrible family and was trying to get away from a bad situation, etc.)
  • Assuming his family is bad, what can be done to help this boy? Assuming his parents is good, what should they do?

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