Affluenza

tude dog · Post by **tude dog** » Sat Dec 19, 2015 2:32 pm

Learned a new word.

When I first read this my thought was another excuse for bad behavior we so often hear about. The poor lad from a broken family, single mother etc. This time, it is from someone who had it all, or so it would seem.

What is missing when trying to evaluate a kid simply on economic/social status?

Outrage, but not surprise over 'affluenza' teen on the lam

That's what Kevin McConnell feels after learning that Ethan Couch -- the teenager who killed four people and injured several others, including McConnell's then 12-year-old son Lucas, while driving drunk on a Texas road -- is on the lam. In the McConnells' view, Couch was never held accountable. Not meeting with his probation officer and fleeing to points unknown, McConnell says, goes along with that.

"No surprises at all; there was a pattern," Kevin McConnell said Friday. "Nothing is going to make an impact on this guy unless there's something severe or certain."

Couch's lawyers had argued that the teen's parents deserved much of the blame. They even called a psychologist who testified that Couch, who was 16 at the time, suffered from "affluenza" -- meaning he was a rich kid whose parents didn't set limits for him.

Tarrant County Juvenile Court Judge Jean Boyd decided against a long prison term, instead giving him 10 years probation and mandating that he get treatment.

On the night of June 15, 2013, Couch and some friends stole beer from a Walmart. They started drinking and then hit the road, with Couch behind the wheel.

That same evening, Hollie Boyles and her daughter Shelby left their home to help Breanna Mitchell, whose SUV had broken down by the side of a road. Brian Jennings, a youth pastor, was driving past and also stopped to help.

Couch plowed into them, killing them all. Several others suffered severe injuries, including two passengers thrown from the bed of Couch's truck.

Move forward two years. Couch, now 18, is back living with his mother. And a video turns up on social media showing Couch at a party playing beer pong, as reported by CNN affiliate KTVT, despite explicit instructions he stay away from alcohol.

A warrant was issued for Couch after his probation officer couldn't reach him this week. Since then, the FBI and U.S. Marshals have joined local authorities to hunt him down. A $5,000 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest of Couch.

CNN

Affluenza-Wikipedia

AnneBoleyn · Post by **AnneBoleyn** » Sat Dec 19, 2015 3:15 pm

I'm surprised you just learned of this now.

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Sat Dec 19, 2015 7:16 pm

Looks more like it means something to do with a rich version of getting a sniffle. Affluent Influenza.

tude dog · Post by **tude dog** » Sun Dec 20, 2015 9:50 am

FourPart;1490684 wrote: Looks more like it means something to do with a rich version of getting a sniffle. Affluent Influenza.

That is just how a defense attorney wants to paint his client. A victim himself. Race an poverty wouldn't get far.

along-for-the-ride · Post by **along-for-the-ride** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 2:10 pm

The latest

Even after manhunt, the most â€˜affluenzaâ€™ teen can get is 120 days in jail

Post by **LarsMac** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 2:33 pm

I don't care, really if he does not go to prison for the tragic accident he was responsible for, but I do care that he manages to this day to avoid taking any responsibility for his actions which lead to the deaths of those people.

Sending him to prison will likely not fix that. He will just be another criminal who thinks he has been persecuted.

THAT's what needs to be corrected.

AnneBoleyn · Post by **AnneBoleyn** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 2:55 pm

His mother needs a good spanking.....no, wait, she might enjoy that. Jail time would be better.

Post by **LarsMac** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:29 pm

AnneBoleyn;1491038 wrote: His mother needs a good spanking.....no, wait, she might enjoy that. Jail time would be better.

I agree. She's the one needs to do time.

AnneBoleyn · Post by **AnneBoleyn** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 9:16 am

LarsMac;1491042 wrote: I agree. She's the one needs to do time.

They BOTH do. Four people are dead because of HIM, not her. Any idiot knows it is against the law to drink, drive, kill people. Even spoiled kids.

Post by **LarsMac** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 10:07 am

AnneBoleyn;1491062 wrote: They BOTH do. Four people are dead because of HIM, not her. Any idiot knows it is against the law to drink, drive, kill people. Even spoiled kids.

I don't disagree.

Mom has enabled his avoidance of responsibility.

She probably enabled him for a very long time, and had he been raised better, he may not have killed those people. I hope that realization finds her, one day.

FourPart · Post by **FourPart** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:31 pm

To a degree, I can sympathise with the Mother. After all, as a Mother you could hardly expect her to do anything except stand by her Son. That's what Mothers tend to do.

Post by **LarsMac** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 2:36 pm

FourPart;1491077 wrote: To a degree, I can sympathise with the Mother. After all, as a Mother you could hardly expect her to do anything except stand by her Son. That's what Mothers tend to do.

Hogwash. A mother is supposed to teach her children how to be human beings who can contribute to society.

When I screwed up, my mother was the first one to see that I took responsibility and manned up to accept the consequences of my actions.

tude dog · Post by **tude dog** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 3:16 pm

So much about the Mom. Doesn't he have a dad?

Although Couchâ€™s father denied any blame, the owner of a metal roofing company had his own run-in with the law 20 years ago.

In a DWI stop in 1992, the elder Couch didnâ€™t deny telling a police officer that â€˜I make more in a day than you make in a year.â€™

Fred and Tonya Couch married in 1996, divorced 10 years later, then remarried but then split again after their sonâ€™s crash.

Ethan Couch was allowed to drink at a young age and even drive himself to school at just 13-years old. When the head of the school questioned that, his father reportedly threatened to buy the school.

Fred Couch once posed as a police officer during a disturbance call and displayed a fake badge, according to CNN.

He was charged with false identification and is awaiting trial.

Tonya Couch worked briefly as a vocational nurse. She reportedly pulled a separate bed into her bedroom so he would be near.

When Ethan Couch was 15, he was caught drinking in a parked pick-up truck, with a naked, passed out 14-year-old girl. In a deposition, his mother didnâ€™t recall punishing him.

CNN

I read a comment that maybe money would be better spent on a throwaway phone than hair die.

The Couches reportedly used one of their cellphones to order pizza at a condominium at the resort in Puerto Vallarta on the Mexican Pacific Coast. An agent with the U.S. Marshals Service told authorities in Mexico about the location of the phone, according to the AP. Mexican authorities had been on the lookout for the Couches since December 24, after U.S. authorities had requested their help in the capture of the pair.

The mother and son weren't at the condo when authorities arrived, but authorities found them in the area later that night. They were taken into custody without incident.

NEWSWEEK

It seems to me if he had parents who brainwashed/indoctrinated him about Jesus a lot of pain might have been avoided.

JMO

AnneBoleyn · Post by **AnneBoleyn** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 3:29 pm

tude dog;1491081 wrote:

It seems to me if he had parents who brainwashed/indoctrinated him about Jesus a lot of pain might have been avoided.

JMO

Not necessarily, not at all.

tude dog · Post by **tude dog** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 4:01 pm

AnneBoleyn;1491083 wrote: Not necessarily, not at all.

Well we do know what doesn't work, leaving it up to the kid to decided for himself.

Just seems Jesus is an easy sell. It isn't his soul I care about, just he isn't a danger to his neighbors.

Saint_ · Post by **Saint_** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 12:10 pm

I hate to say it but the whole "It's not my fault - I didn't do it!" thing is symptomatic of that entire pampered, sheltered, raised-by-The-Simpsons generation that is coming of age right now.

I actually had a student tell me, "It's not my fault that I was talking on my cell phone while you were instructing, someone texted me!"

Me: "So you're saying that you do not control your impulses? Or your thoughts? Or even the muscles in your own arm?"

Them: "No."

tude dog · Post by **tude dog** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 5:11 pm

This was an interesting report by ABC news show 20/20.