Are the teens in your life naive about their own personal safety and security?

If so, it can cost them dearly.

Here’s a story of a naive soon-to-be Illinois State University freshman who came to ISU’s campus for a freshman orientation and a taste of campus life.  The taste she got was one she won’t forget, while ISU probably wishes everyone would just forget about it.

Officials: Dad drugged student, son sexually assaulted her at ISU orientation

Normal, IL (Chicago Tribune) – A father and son from Chicago face criminal charges related to the alleged sexual assault of a student in an Illinois State University residence hall during a gathering of incoming students on campus for orientation.

Ouch.  This has made headlines nationwide.  Welcome to ISU!

Shawn Childs Jr., 19, is charged with four counts of criminal sexual assault of a woman who also was on campus for orientation, which ISU calls Preview.

His father, Shawn Childs Sr., is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver for allegedly putting ecstasy in the woman’s soda during the alleged incident that happened between 10 and 11 p.m. Tuesday at Hewett Hall in Normal.

…According to a statement read Thursday in McLean County Circuit Court by First Assistant State’s Attorney Adam Ghrist, the father and son came into the residence hall with other students who were on campus to learn more about the university ahead of the start of classes in August.

…The elder Childs offered to go out and purchase alcohol for the students who were minors, and returned with alcohol from a nearby store, said Ghrist.

So, you think this older fellow was going to buy booze for underage boys and girls out of the goodness of his heart?  Hello, this is a clue trouble is afoot.

And remember, intoxication is a trouble magnet, as the victim soon discovered.  But not before this:

The alleged victim told police she saw Childs Sr. put a pill in her soda that she then drank.

She saw a stranger put a pill into her drink and then consumed it?  That’s felony stupid right there.

The alleged victim, whose hometown was not disclosed, left the gathering and returned to her room after she felt ill. She told police she was sexually assaulted by Shawn Childs Jr. who followed her into the room. In her description of the assault, the woman said the suspect raped her twice and barred her from leaving the room, Ghrist said in court.

She reported the alleged attack the following morning.

With a little more real-world common sense and pro-active behavior on the victim’s part, she wouldn’t have been raped.  Yes, victim blaming isn’t very nice, but at some point, if someone is utterly negligent about their own safety and security, they have some culpability when, not if, they get victimized.

Police: Mother, sons beat black teen while yelling slurs

CANTON, Ill. (WLS) –Police say a mother and her two sons beat up a black teenager while yelling racial slurs at a campground southwest of Chicago over the weekend.

According to police, Carrie Weller, 42, and Corry Weller, 21, were arrested at the Canton Lake campground at 4:35 p.m. Sunday after officers responded to a call of a fight in that area.

“They started beating him up and held him underwater until he was pretty much not breathing,” says the victim’s mother, Tina Foley.

Investigators said they later learned that racial slurs and threats were made to the 15-year-old victim during the incident. Police said the Fulton County State’s Attorney will be adding charges of mob action and hate crime in addition to the battery charges already filed.

It’s better to avoid stupid people, lest stupid things happen.

The same thing goes for crazy people acting erratically.  And when you encounter one of these lunatics who are trying to hurt you, you have to become violent enough, fast enough to stop the attack in order to save your life.

And for teenagers, a majority of attackers are known to the victim.  Like this one:

After hours-long assault, Wisconsin girl leaves brother’s girlfriend for dead, charges say

St. Croix County, Wisconsin (Leader-Telegram) – A 14-year-old New Richmond girl who said she was a “psychopath” and wanted another girl seriously injured to be her “first kill,” was charged Thursday in St. Croix County Court with attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

Kali J. Bookey, who is being held without bond at the Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Eau Claire, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Aug. 8.

According to the criminal complaint:

…At that residence, police found the girl, 15, lying on the floor in a bedroom, bleeding profusely from her face and neck. She eventually told police that Bookey, her boyfriend’s sister, attacked her.

The victim said she had been in bed when Bookey tried to suffocate her, and they struggled, with the victim being repeatedly struck in the head and face.

Bookey then hit the victim over the head with two bowls, using shards from the broken bowls to cut the victim. Bookey then asked the victim if she wanted to die or bleed out, and when the victim answered to bleed out, Bookey stopped the cutting.

Bookey said she “was a psychopath and crazy and that (the victim) was her first kill and she was probably going to kill again.”

Bookey told police that she left her home about 4 a.m., biked to the victim’s residence and entered about 6:20 a.m. before assaulting the victim. She said she wanted to scare the victim to leave the area so her brother would be closer to her and her family.

Bookey told police she didn’t want the victim to die, but rather to pass out from blood loss, and then Bookey would get her help. Bookey also said she cut the victim’s throat, but later got her water to drink during the second hour of the attack.

And then there’s “Condition Oblivious” to one’s surroundings.

Illinois teens robbed at gunpoint while playing ‘Pokemon Go’

LAKE VILLA, Ill. (AP) — Police in northern Illinois say two teens were victims of armed robbery while playing the popular cellphone app game “Pokemon Go.”

Lake County Sheriff’s officials say the robbery happened at about 10 p.m. Thursday in Lake Villa. Police say the teens were walking when a car approached and two men got out. One of the men pulled out a gun and took one the teen’s cellphones. The other man took the other teen’s cellphone.

Teach your kids to use common sense and situational awareness to avoid trouble, bullies, hoodlums and scumbags.