# WTF Boston? "Attacks by Boston youth ‘terrorizing unsuspecting citizens’ continue downtown; police can’t make arrests because many suspects ‘too young’" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 2, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-boston-attacks-by-boston-youth-terrorizing-unsuspecting-citizens-continue-downtown-police-can-t-make-arrests-because-many-suspects-too-young/963851 "2022-05-02T20:44:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-boston-attacks-by-boston-youth-terrorizing-unsuspecting-citizens-continue-downtown-police-can-t-make-arrests-because-many-suspects-too-young/963851/21 "2022-05-04T14:52:36Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > As a private citizen who is in real danger during one of these very threatening attacks, can I “beat or kill” my assailant(s) in an act of self-defense? You’re asking if you can fight a cop? No. If you fight a cop, they will murder you and face absolutely no consequence for it. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-boston-attacks-by-boston-youth-terrorizing-unsuspecting-citizens-continue-downtown-police-can-t-make-arrests-because-many-suspects-too-young/963851/22 "2022-05-04T15:04:28Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You’re asking if you can fight a cop? No, I’m asking if I can defend myself against an eleven year old who is threatening to maim or kill me. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-boston-attacks-by-boston-youth-terrorizing-unsuspecting-citizens-continue-downtown-police-can-t-make-arrests-because-many-suspects-too-young/963851/23 "2022-05-04T15:06:12Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > No, I’m asking if I can defend myself against an eleven year old who is threatening to maim or kill me. There are lots of “it depends,” but the very general rule is that you have to apply the minimum amount of force necessary to stop the threat, and “minimum force” includes retreating in a lot of circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-boston-attacks-by-boston-youth-terrorizing-unsuspecting-citizens-continue-downtown-police-can-t-make-arrests-because-many-suspects-too-young/963851/24 "2022-05-04T16:14:43Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Yeah why can’t we have a happy medium behind “Don’t arrest children at elementary schools for acting out” and “Maybe arrest 10 year olds waving guns at cops” Sounds sensible - but I’m also not sure what we expect/allow school officials to do WRT kids w/ pretty severe behavioral issues. I keep hearing about how responses such as isolation and arrests are inappropriate, but not hearing what the teacher is supposed to do with a kicking, biting, spitting, swearing kid. We are asking a lot of our cops and school personnel in dealing w/ certain behavioral issues. Not sure how best to deal with poorly behaved youth - many of whom have poor home environments. (And no, Officer Kruppke. I’m not willing to attribute the majority of such misbehavior to “a social disease!” ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-boston-attacks-by-boston-youth-terrorizing-unsuspecting-citizens-continue-downtown-police-can-t-make-arrests-because-many-suspects-too-young/963851/25 "2022-05-04T17:17:02Z")
Yes, it is a real problem. Obviously kids who _routinely_ behave like that should be in special programs, not mixed in with the regular school population. But those programs may not exist. And it’s not always an easy call how often and how badly a kid has to lose it before you essentially stamp their file “Reject”. There’s one kid in my kid’s third grade class who has had a few meltdowns this year where he’s thrown things and hit people. Not OK – but _almost_ every day he doesn’t do anything like that. It’s obvious even from a distance that his home life sucks, school is the most stable and “normal” part of his life and if he were transferred somewhere where he were surrounded by other problem kids that would probably move his chances of achieving his potential and becoming a solid citizen from slim to none. So that’s a terrible thing to do to him, but the right of other students to not even occasionally have chairs swung at their heads also needs to be weighed strongly. I think schools should probably be required to have several staff members (so that at least one will always be available) specifically trained in both de-escalating potentially violent children and restraining them safely when necessary (and also, of course, in judging when it is and isn’t necessary). Neither ordinary classroom teachers or police officers should be expected to deal with such situations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-boston-attacks-by-boston-youth-terrorizing-unsuspecting-citizens-continue-downtown-police-can-t-make-arrests-because-many-suspects-too-young/963851.md?page=1)