Brian Holloway, ex-NFL lineman, was in Florida when his second home in Stephentown, New York, was broken into by an estimated 400 teenagers.
They destroyed his property—urinated on the floors, spray painted his walls, broke furniture and stole a memorial of his stillborn grandson. He watched the entire night play out via social networking sites. The party attendees posted pictures of everything they did and tweeted about it for the world to see.
One would expect that a big tough ex-football player would give back to these kids just what they deserve—but they would be incorrect. Holloway created a list of names taken from these social networking sites and posted it on the internet with an invitation to a picnic.
The teenagers who broke in were asked to attend a gathering to help with repairs at the house and to have lunch with Holloway. Only one kid showed up. The parents of the rest of the teenagers are now threatening to press charges against Holloway for exposing the names of their children.
Excuse me, but I think their children did a pretty good job of exposing themselves before anyone else. Now, I am a little less shocked at the irresponsibility and disrespect these teens displayed at Brian Holloway’s home—it was demonstrated by their own parents following the incident.
According to New York Law, criminal trespassing and burglary are both considered felonies. Not only could Holloway have had these children tried but possibly sent to juvenile hall or prison as well. He chose to handle the situation in an extremely mature and peaceful manner. These parents then disregarded his gesture and immediately made it about their delinquent children.
At this point, parents should realize that protecting their children cannot help them get away with something so inappropriate. Either let the child learn a very difficult lesson and watch as they do so, or teach them earlier on that this type of behavior is absolutely wrong, both in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of any decent person.
This didn’t only shock me because of the appalling actions of those teenagers, but also because of how these parents reacted to the situation at hand. I cannot help but have the utmost respect for Brian Holloway. If it were anyone else’s home, one can bet it would have been a lot worse.
Let’s hope these parents let their child learn their lesson the easy way while this very rare opportunity is available to them. Until then, I’ll continue to shake my head at parents who allow their children to get away with such behavior.
Jennica Martin can be contacted at jmartin13@keene-equinox.com