Ethan Couch made international headlines for having "affluenza," a purported mental condition wherein extremely spoiled kids supposedly do not know the consequences of their actions. He was drunk driving and crashed into multiple people, but only received a punishment of 10 years probation.
"His millionaire parents, Fred and Tonya, had given him everything he wanted for his entire childhood and never punished any wrongdoing," said an article on the New York Post. Couch's first notable offense was when he was caught in possession of alcohol at only the age of 15 when the legal age for possession and consumption of alcohol in the United States is 21.
It is also worth noting that he was caught while he was in his parked pick-up truck with a naked and unconscious 14-year old girl. For this, he was only sentenced to probation, an alcohol awareness class, and 12 hours of community service.
Unfortunately, Couch again operated his vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and was speeding when he drove at 70 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone. As one would expect, he crashed and injured multiple people. The crash also resulted in the untimely death of 4 innocent people. Ethan Couch was only sentenced to 10 years in probation for this heinous crime and did not actually serve any jail time.
While we can lament on the judge's horrible decision, we should shift that blame over to his parent's who have seemingly lost control of their child. This loss of spine is a grave problem in modern parenting. "If you're raising young men, you've got to learn to say no," said LeVonna Anderson, the founder of the private school Ethan once attended. It is okay to let your child fail, as long as he or she learns from this failure.
Obviously, Couch's parents failed in this sense because they never punished any wrongdoing. Ethan's mother Tonya even let him skip a mandated meeting with his probation officer, as the pair ran away to Mexico. According to a hotel worker interviewed by Fox News, Tonya Couch was also awoken by her son to pay his strip club bill. Luckily, a national manhunt occurred and both mother and son were caught. Couch is now expected to face more serious consequences for his recent actions.
