A Child Without A Chance

Most children grow up with people that love them and try to teach them the right things - to be honest, decent and treat your fellow humans right. Even the few that get involved with the juvenile justice system have people who are trying to help them to take the right path, and most eventually do grow into decent law-abiding folks. But every now and then you find a child who really didn't have a chance from the time they were born.

This story is a good example of that. This story takes place in Commerce City (Colorado), but believe me, it could and does happen in cities all over this country.

Police were called to a disturbance in a video store in Commerce City. It turned out to be an argument between the father (pictured above) and the mother of a four-year-old child. The horrifying part is what the argument was about.

The parents are "gangbangers", and are members of different criminal street gangs. The mother and father were arguing over which gang the four-year-old would join when he got a little older. That's right -- he's only four and his own parents are planning to encourage him to join a criminal street gang!

Does this child have a chance to avoid a life of crime and trouble? Is there any chance he will avoid the juvenile justice system (and probably the adult justice system also)?

With this kind of upbringing, the odds are very high that he will not finish school, will be in and out of jail, and may well die a young and violent death. Sadly, these parents will probably realize their foolishness someday, but it will likely be far too late for this child.

Sometimes a child doesn't have a chance from birth.