
Nearly a Third of Americans Are Arrested by the age of 23 - pitdesi
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/us/nearly-a-third-of-americans-are-arrested-by-23-study-says.html?src=tp&smid=fb-share
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JoeAltmaier
I guess my boys and their friends are luckier. None of them has been arrested,
though they have been stopped by police several times- for offences like
"walking around downtown while young and male", and "driving around on Prom
night while young and male".

Helps that they are mostly Eagle Scouts, tops of their classes in school, half
are planning to enlist, the other half going straight to Univeristy.

One was even accosted by an off-duty policeman when he was in a bar with a
friend. He was only 18 but wasn't drinking, just having a good time before he
shipped out to Iraq. When the policeman learned this, he bought him a drink!
Then the officer called a buddy to drive him home when the night was over.
Imagine his folks' surprise when a squad car pulled up and let their son out!

Anyway, the young people I know who have at least one parent that tried hard
and kept them involved, haven't had any experiences like the study suggests.
The stats are probably more a testament to the economy that keeps both parents
working, than any statement about youth today.

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cafard
This seems implausible to me, and I've known a number of kids (of my own
generation and the next) that pushed the limits fairly hard. Now, if one
simply takes the age cohort and divides it by the number of arrests, then
maybe I could see the number as plausible.

To be sure, my sample doesn't extend much below the middle class (my day) and
upper middle class now.

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bunderbunder
If it wasn't collected under controlled conditions then it is not data, it is
merely an anecdote.

If it wasn't collected under controlled conditions and is then extrapolated to
a wildly different sample group, then it isn't even an anecdote.

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teilo
So, how much does it drop when you eliminate arrests for possession?

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ericmoritz
I'm curious about that to. I bet quite a bit.

