Malibu is a small town.
We have all been young-and foolish. Teen-agers are at the very height of the conflict of youthful powers and hormone-driven foolishness. Most families are able to draw a discreet curtain over youthful misbehavior, while trying-and usually succeeding-to let experience, maturity, and reasonable discipline go to work on these young colts and fillies. Surprisingly, rebellious teenagers almost always turn into handsome, loyal and reasonable 20-year-olds, strong 30-year-olds and confused 40-year-olds-perplexed by the behavior of their teens. Some grandparents call this ‘the Payback.’
The Corrodis are fine parents and they have done an amazing job taking care of and educating their kids. In recent events, however, two of the girls went off on a perilous adventure.
When it became apparent they were missing, Jack and Kay instantly asked the media to publicize the issue. They made flyers. They got the authorities involved and, thankfully, the girls were found and returned to the family.
Now these girls have lived in Malibu all their lives. They have gone to school here and they deserve the protection of the community. California has juvenile offender’s laws in place that protect persons under the age of 18 accused of a crime from being identified by name. Technically, neither newspaper seems to have violated that statute. The accused whose charges they detailed was older than 18, even though the girls were not. But the girls were tarred by the same brush, and that was bad judgment on the part of the writers and editors. Giving the accused’s name and the principal charge of child stealing with the less inflammatory ‘. . . and other crimes’ would have been sufficient to inform the public that the issue was being submitted to the justice system.
Were it your child, would you have handled it the way you did? What makes you different than the infamous paparazzi in exploiting an unfortunate situation that has occurred within a family when the consequences fall only on themselves in this very small town of Malibu?
V. Gerald Scordan