The Tragic Consequences of Throwaway Teens

In an April 28, 2009 article in the San Francisco Weekly.com is the story of three teenage girls, Felicia, Jillian and Kim.  Besides being young teenagers, they had a couple more things in common–they were all three throwaways–and they were being tried for murder.

In the article titled, Pretty Bad Girls, it states, “All had come from broken families, eventually becoming what investigators called “throwaways,” the catch-all term for girls on their own at a young age. Struggling to support themselves and their drug-addled lifestyle, the teenagers had become close and built a family of their own.”

The article details the events of one ill-fated evening in San Francisco where they lured a young man to the beach, shot and robbed him.  This horrible tragedy, detailed in the link below, is yet another story of the terrible consequences of a throwaway teen. When teens have to run from abuse and neglect they often fall into hard crime on the streets to survive.  Here, the ultimate crime was committed, and the biggest tragedy of all is clearly the loss of that young man’s life.  But the article also accurately states, “the situation of the throwaway girls is also tragic. They are these kids on the street, living adult lives. Kids that are raised in dysfunctional families…have very short childhoods. I think childhood is so painful for them that there’s a tendency to want to grow up quicker just to get away.”

These girls now wear prison garb and have to take responsibility for the pain they have caused–and I agree they should.  But I also can’t help but wonder if they were ever given any hope in their lives.  Hope to see that there was much more in the world for them, and that they deserved to reach out and own it.  I said…I wonder.

San Francisco Weekly

2 Responses to “The Tragic Consequences of Throwaway Teens”

  1. Keely Says:

    I totally agree with you on this. I think its really sad how these kids end up on the street and I wonder if anybody reached out to them. Like maybe at homeless shelters, somebody could have noticed something or could at least ask their age and offer programs that were specifically designed for them (if there is any) and just reach out to them too. Don’t they have homeless shelters for kids though? and if they do why wouldn’t they do more to help? I’ve heard of kids who’ve gone to San Francisco and lived on the streets. Don’t they have shelters for kids there? I don’t mean to be rude at all but its so crazy because by now you’d think most people would know about it after all the hard work you’ve put in to addressing this issue to the public, you know. I’m so glad we have people like you who address this issue.

  2. Kelly Banaski Sons Says:

    This situation is true of nearly every woman on death row. They were throw aways, abused sexually, physically and mentally. When will people understand that the choices you make for your daughter today will determine the choices she makes tomorrow?

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