Joanne Johnson, 93, murdered in her Augusta, Kansas home, September 2023

[SMK777]

I thought the same thing when I first read it, too. Their emphasis was on making sure THEIR good name wasn't smeared in anyway. Really inappropriate. Their PR person needs some sensitivity training. JMO IMO

It looks like they were concerned with liability issues re 2 murderers at the school, and potential harm. Warding off litigation looks to be their sole focus in the statement. And yes, it lacks sensitivity, certainly.

 

[acehard]

That is an odd statement from the school and, honestly, rather cold.

jmo

The police arrested them while they were at school, one year after the incident. The school is distancing themselves from the arrest. I don't think it's odd. If the police arrested them at home, the school would have said nothing IMO

 

[SMK777]

The school is distancing themselves from the arrest

I’m sure their attorneys made this a priority, which is their job.
If they said anything sympathetic to the victim, it might be misconstrued as culpability regarding the two teens, now that I think about it. MOO

 

[Seattle1]

I’m sure their attorneys made this a priority, which is their job.
If they said anything sympathetic to the victim, it might be misconstrued as culpability regarding the two teens, now that I think about it. MOO

Seems to me at 14, the suspects are first year students in HS and who were not students at the school on the date of the murder. I could be wrong -- I did not attend American HS.

And what culpability falls on a school with no reasonable knowledge of the crime or suspects. IMO, the parents of students have no claim to superior safety than Mrs. Johnson's own neighbors who have lived in fear for nearly a year.

That said, I'm sure if the school had suspended the girls and barred them from attending in anticipation of arrest, the suspects would have sought millions $$ -- claiming their civil rights violated. Let's be real, the impact of their brutal actions impacted the entire town -- not just a school starting its first calendar year. MOO

 

[TTF14]

Seems to me at 14 the suspects are first year students in HS and who were not students at the school on the date of the murder. I could be wrong -- I did not attend American HS.

The superintendent would be over all of the schools in the school district - all elementary schools, middle school(s), and high school. It's also possibly middle school and high school are in the same building/on the same campus. Sometimes they are.

IMO MOO

 

[mickey2942]

So interesting how society has changed. 40 years ago, I did a graduate research paper on juvenile crime. There wasn't much hard core crime at that time. 1984. And almost nothing about teen girls committing murder.

2024, routinely, every day almost we read about juvenile crimes, even girls as young as 13, committing horrific murder. Assaults, car jacking. Really interesting.

I had developed a model then, of rehabilitation and education to help change their path. I don't think that would work now.

 

[SMK777]

So interesting how society has changed. 40 years ago, I did a graduate research paper on juvenile crime. There wasn't much hard core crime at that time. 1984. And almost nothing about teen girls committing murder.

2024, routinely, every day almost we read about juvenile crimes, even girls as young as 13, committing horrific murder. Assaults, car jacking. Really interesting.

I had developed a model then, of rehabilitation and education to help change their path. I don't think that would work now.

Do you think it’s from increased drug use, or breakdown of the family, or what?

 

[azure]

Juvenile crime is actually steeply declining, you're just reading about it more.

"The violent crime offending rate declined 70% from 17 crimes per 1,000 juveniles ages 12–17 in 2005 to 5 crimes per 1,000 in 2021."

SOURCE: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey and Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Program, National Incident-Based Reporting System.

Childstats.gov - America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2023 - Youth Perpetrators of Serious Violent Crimes

The official website of the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. The site provides easy access to the forum's annual monitoring report, America's Children, other Forum's reports, national- and state data on children and their families collected and published by various...

www.childstats.gov

"In 2021, there were about 123,000 serious violent crimes committed by youths between the ages of 12 and 17 in the United States, an increase from the year before. However, this is still a significant decrease from 1994 levels, when violent crimes committed by youths hit a peak at over 1.05 million serious crimes."

U.S. - number of serious violent crimes by youth 2021 | Statista

In 2021, there were about 123,000 serious violent crimes committed by youths between the ages of 12 and 17 in the United States, an increase from the year before.

www.statista.com

 

[acehard]

Do you think it’s from increased drug use, or breakdown of the family, or what?

Increase in population and social media letting us know everything from everywhere instantly. Crime is historically down.

 

[SMK777]

Increase in population and social media letting us know everything from everywhere instantly. Crime is historically down.

I guess that must be true, if statistically it’s decreasing.

And it’s true, before the internet and social media many crimes would be published locally only. We see them now on YouTube and Websleuths and all social media platforms whereas in the past we would never have known about them.