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CNN Saturday Morning News
Teenagers out of Control
Aired May 17, 2003 - 08:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: Two separate incidents involving teenagers in the Chicago area have people asking what is going on? Well, one involves that now notorious hazing video. The other involves teenage partygoers who police say made themselves at home at their friend's parents' home while they were on vacation, including the friend.
Now, joining us to talk about this is Eileen Byrne, a Chicago radio talk show host from WLS Radio.
Eileen, good morning to you.
Thanks for being with us.
EILEEN BYRNE, CHICAGO RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.
Great to be here.
MEADE: You know, the details about what happened at these two homes, it's astounding. What are your listeners saying about that?
BYRNE: About the homes, this is unusual because it's not like -- we have seen people have parties. Young people have parties when their parents go away. This is unusual because the entire family went to Mexico. Another family went on a cruise. And you have people, teenagers, actually breaking in and destroying the house, thousands of dollars worth of damage, condoms all over the house, pornography, cocaine residue, marijuana. Our listeners are astounded and outraged about it.
MEADE: And it happened at two homes, basically, one in Hinsdale, a suburb, and one in Wheaton, another suburb. At the Wheaton home, it seemed to be the worst one. There were also things missing. Tell me, what is happening, do we know, to the perpetrators, the alleged perpetrators in that case? And then we'll talk about the hazing.
BYRNE: Well, they have now been charged. It'll be interesting to see, unlike the hazing incident, whether the parents are going to come forward and cooperate with the police and try to give all the information. But we do have charges now and they did, a lot of the teenagers did turn themselves in yesterday. So we'll have to see how it goes.
MEADE: Now to the hazing incident. Yesterday's "Tribune" headline, the "Chicago Tribune," was, "When Everybody You Talk To Says They Have A Lawyer and They Don't Want To Talk To You, There's An Issue." I guess you could ask what is wrong with these kids? But some people may also be asking what's wrong with their parents?
What are your listeners saying?
BYRNE: Well, let me show you the cover of today's "Chicago Sun- Times." And it's parents are getting scolded because they're not coming forward. They're all lawyering up. And it really does send a message to teenagers and to young people that if you do something, you're not going to have to accept the consequences of your actions because mom or dad will get you a high powered attorney. Now the rumor is that one attorney has handled death penalty cases. And they're actually trying to get these students out of the crimes that they have committed.
MEADE: You know, if you're a teen in Chicago and you're not a person involved in these kinds of things, are these events really making it just, people assume that you're some wild thing? Have you heard from listeners who are teenagers?
BYRNE: Yes, it's very unfortunate and a lot of the students at Glenbrook North High School, they have done wonderful things. There was one teacher who didn't, you know, lost her car. They raised money for this teacher and was able to -- they were able to get her a new car. It's just a small number of these students. But it really does send a message to everybody else that, you know, why should -- this is not just hazing. I mean I was initiated in high school. This is assault and battery and these criminal misdemeanor charges should be -- I'm glad that they're coming forward now and these students should be expelled.
Now the other part of the story today is the prom is tonight and now the rumor is that there's going to be an alternative prom for the students that are suspended.
MEADE: So in other words what lesson is being learned?
BYRNE: No lesson.
MEADE: Eileen, I recently moved from Chicago and I imagine that the talk is going to be about these are well to do kids, what if the same thing had happened in the inner city, what were the punishments -- what would the punishments be then?
BYRNE: Right.
MEADE: Has the talk moved to that arena?
BYRNE: Oh, yes. My co-host and I, you know, after this incident first happened last Sunday, Monday we were talking about this, that, you know, people are trying to gloss over this like oh, it's initiation. I said look, you know, we've had mob action on the South Side and immediately people are like, you know, these kids or whoever is involved should be in jail. Why should these children be not -- they're not even children, 17, 18 year olds be treated any differently? MEADE: You know, what's really disturbing, I would imagine, is not only the video that you see of the hazing and of the houses being torn apart, basically, but what appears to be a lack of apologies, public apologies, anyway, from the perpetrators.
MEADE: Right. And a lot of people are blaming the media. They're saying why doesn't the story just go away? Look, now we've got a situation where we've got a lot of lawsuits, hard to keep track of them all, but some of them are now suing the school for monetary damages.
I think the story would die down a lot sooner if the students would just come forward and say look, I did wrong, I didn't, you know, I'm sorry and stop with the nonsense of the lawsuits. And then you would, you'd actually see some contrition.
BYRNE: All right, Eileen Byrne, a Chicago radio talk show host, thank you so much for your time and insights.
MEADE: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 17, 2003 - 08:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: Two separate incidents involving teenagers in the Chicago area have people asking what is going on? Well, one involves that now notorious hazing video. The other involves teenage partygoers who police say made themselves at home at their friend's parents' home while they were on vacation, including the friend.
Now, joining us to talk about this is Eileen Byrne, a Chicago radio talk show host from WLS Radio.
Eileen, good morning to you.
Thanks for being with us.
EILEEN BYRNE, CHICAGO RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.
Great to be here.
MEADE: You know, the details about what happened at these two homes, it's astounding. What are your listeners saying about that?
BYRNE: About the homes, this is unusual because it's not like -- we have seen people have parties. Young people have parties when their parents go away. This is unusual because the entire family went to Mexico. Another family went on a cruise. And you have people, teenagers, actually breaking in and destroying the house, thousands of dollars worth of damage, condoms all over the house, pornography, cocaine residue, marijuana. Our listeners are astounded and outraged about it.
MEADE: And it happened at two homes, basically, one in Hinsdale, a suburb, and one in Wheaton, another suburb. At the Wheaton home, it seemed to be the worst one. There were also things missing. Tell me, what is happening, do we know, to the perpetrators, the alleged perpetrators in that case? And then we'll talk about the hazing.
BYRNE: Well, they have now been charged. It'll be interesting to see, unlike the hazing incident, whether the parents are going to come forward and cooperate with the police and try to give all the information. But we do have charges now and they did, a lot of the teenagers did turn themselves in yesterday. So we'll have to see how it goes.
MEADE: Now to the hazing incident. Yesterday's "Tribune" headline, the "Chicago Tribune," was, "When Everybody You Talk To Says They Have A Lawyer and They Don't Want To Talk To You, There's An Issue." I guess you could ask what is wrong with these kids? But some people may also be asking what's wrong with their parents?
What are your listeners saying?
BYRNE: Well, let me show you the cover of today's "Chicago Sun- Times." And it's parents are getting scolded because they're not coming forward. They're all lawyering up. And it really does send a message to teenagers and to young people that if you do something, you're not going to have to accept the consequences of your actions because mom or dad will get you a high powered attorney. Now the rumor is that one attorney has handled death penalty cases. And they're actually trying to get these students out of the crimes that they have committed.
MEADE: You know, if you're a teen in Chicago and you're not a person involved in these kinds of things, are these events really making it just, people assume that you're some wild thing? Have you heard from listeners who are teenagers?
BYRNE: Yes, it's very unfortunate and a lot of the students at Glenbrook North High School, they have done wonderful things. There was one teacher who didn't, you know, lost her car. They raised money for this teacher and was able to -- they were able to get her a new car. It's just a small number of these students. But it really does send a message to everybody else that, you know, why should -- this is not just hazing. I mean I was initiated in high school. This is assault and battery and these criminal misdemeanor charges should be -- I'm glad that they're coming forward now and these students should be expelled.
Now the other part of the story today is the prom is tonight and now the rumor is that there's going to be an alternative prom for the students that are suspended.
MEADE: So in other words what lesson is being learned?
BYRNE: No lesson.
MEADE: Eileen, I recently moved from Chicago and I imagine that the talk is going to be about these are well to do kids, what if the same thing had happened in the inner city, what were the punishments -- what would the punishments be then?
BYRNE: Right.
MEADE: Has the talk moved to that arena?
BYRNE: Oh, yes. My co-host and I, you know, after this incident first happened last Sunday, Monday we were talking about this, that, you know, people are trying to gloss over this like oh, it's initiation. I said look, you know, we've had mob action on the South Side and immediately people are like, you know, these kids or whoever is involved should be in jail. Why should these children be not -- they're not even children, 17, 18 year olds be treated any differently? MEADE: You know, what's really disturbing, I would imagine, is not only the video that you see of the hazing and of the houses being torn apart, basically, but what appears to be a lack of apologies, public apologies, anyway, from the perpetrators.
MEADE: Right. And a lot of people are blaming the media. They're saying why doesn't the story just go away? Look, now we've got a situation where we've got a lot of lawsuits, hard to keep track of them all, but some of them are now suing the school for monetary damages.
I think the story would die down a lot sooner if the students would just come forward and say look, I did wrong, I didn't, you know, I'm sorry and stop with the nonsense of the lawsuits. And then you would, you'd actually see some contrition.
BYRNE: All right, Eileen Byrne, a Chicago radio talk show host, thank you so much for your time and insights.
MEADE: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
