Consequences of the wrong choice

High school and college graduation is a time to celebrate the achievements of our young people each year, but is also a time when youth are especially at risk. It's also a time when many of them face peer pressure, and youth sometimes make the wrong choice.

About 2:45 a.m. Friday, the day before graduation, four outgoing Columbia Falls seniors — three boys and a girl — were arrested and charged with criminal mischief. Two of the 18-year-old boys — found on the roof of the high school — are facing felony charges, and the other two were charged with misdemeanors. The pair charged with felonies allegedly broke skylights on the roof. That's how a prank becomes a criminal offense.

Yes, thousands of dollars in damage was done and the youth will be expected to make restitution. But the bottom line is the danger that the youths on the roof faced — probably without knowing it. What if someone on the roof fell through the skylight to the gymnasium floor below? They could have been killed or seriously injured. Dire consequences of making the wrong choice. The four youths were also charged with minor in possession of alcohol.

Fortunately, no one was injured. And give credit to Chief Dave Perry and the Columbia Falls Police Department. They had extra patrol on school grounds during graduation weekend.

In an unrelated incident, two Columbia Falls kids — ages 14 and 15 — were injured in an ATV wreck in town (see story in this issue). They were passengers on a machine driven by a 14-year-old, and both were thrown off when the driver failed to make a corner and the ATV went into a ditch and crashed into a porch. Should there have been three people on the same ATV? I think not.

Life is full of choices. It's important to think about the consequences and make the right ones.

Joe Sova is the managing editor of the Hungry Horse News.