Many of us have had the good fortune of listening to Michael Josephson’s spot on KNX radio entitled, “Character Counts.” I recently heard him interviewed and was extremely pleased to know that certain schools are following in this spirit and truly are focusing on ethics and character building with children, who see too often the misguided values in our society. Our kids are constantly exposed to media coverage about cheating in schools and sports, faked reality and temptation TV shows and simply seeing people getting away with murder (literally and figuratively) with the perception that if you can get away with “it,” it’s OK.”
On the morning of August 11, I was returning from the gym, turning right on to Zumirez with my turn signal on. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, I was smashed into from behind and pushed into Zumirez. When I got over the initial shock, I looked to my left on PCH and watched a white SUV speed away. I couldn’t believe someone could smash into me with such tremendous impact, not knowing if I was hurt, or worse, and then run.
Had I been in the other lane, the impact would have pushed me into oncoming traffic on PCH. I managed to get out of my car, saw the entire back end of my car was destroyed, and went to the phone to call the police. A nice couple pulled up, said they were witnesses, and further identified the car.
Bottom line for this part of the story is the police caught the teenage girl who, in front, of her father, confessed to the hit and run. She was also driving without insurance. The police gave the father our phone number and the father said he would, of course, call us and give us his information, insurance and otherwise.
The police called us, said the girl admitted to the hit and run, and the father, who was very “forthcoming,” would call us. Days went by and my husband and I could not believe that we received no phone call. Finally, given the small town we live in, my husband spotted a severely damaged vehicle of the description, pulled next to it in the market parking lot and confronted the father. He said he’d been meaning to call us, but didn’t have our number. Baloney!
My husband and I have three grown kids. Teenagers do stupid things, painful things. The great lessons for our teenagers looking towards responsible adulthood happen when parents make their children be accountable and genuinely remorseful for actions that are blatantly wrong. If one of our kids escaped from the scene of an accident, not knowing if they even killed someone, we would have hauled that child over to the victim’s home and, face to face, made them not only genuinely apologize, but beg for mercy.
I told the father, the owner of the SUV, that I was aware in the community that he was active in one of the local churches. I asked how he could be such a hypocrite in terms of moral lessons for his own family?
To date, three weeks later, the daughter has not called, visited or written an apology. We were originally told she had gone back to college the very next day after the accident, but have learned from mutual friends that she’s still here in Malibu. More deceit! Several local parents are angry with me, as they feel this behavior, if gone sanctioned by my not pressing charges, will continue. These local parents all believe that by not forcing this girl, and her parents, to be morally and legally accountable for their actions, I am making a grave mistake in terms of lessons for the other children and teenagers and our community.
This is a message to the irresponsible daughter and her parents. Now is the time to stand up and be accountable. It’s time to do the right thing. You have my address and my phone number. Character Counts!
Kim Collen-Ross.