STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Hermes

Boy, 12, Sticks Gum on $1.5M Painting

Maddie · Coach

detroit wrote:

"Even though we give very strict guidelines on proper behavior and we hold students to high standards, he is only 12 and I don't think he understood the ramifications of what he did before it happened, but he certainly understands the severity of it now," said Kildee.

I hate when people say stuff like this. 12 is pretty old, like 6th or 7th grade. Obviously the kid is just a jerk.

valenciana · Dooney & Bourke

Maddie wrote:

Obviously the kid is just a jerk.

hahahaha...i tend to agree. i knew kids like this when i was 12, and i'm pretty sure they understood the "ramifications of their actions"...unless they were some sort of medical sociopaths.

but it's pretty amazing the kind of restorations and cleaning and stuff they can do with artwork, so hopefully the painting can be cleaned sufficiently.

hotcocoa · Kate Spade

Maddie wrote:

Obviously the kid is just a jerk.

hilarious!

seriously. he IS old enough to know better, but kids do stupid things sometimes. i can just picture one of his classmates daring him to do it. i think i'd be more likely to call him a jerk if he slashed it with a knife or drew on it with a pen — something obviously destructive. i'm sure he didn't know that the chemical residue might leave a damaging mark.

-- Edited by hotcocoa at 14:41, 2006-03-01

-- Edited by hotcocoa at 14:43, 2006-03-01

bumblebee · Coach

lol. agree w/maddie--at 12, a kid knows what he is doing and the difference between right and wrong. the "he didn't understand" argument is really not valid for a child in this circumstance who is older than about 4, i would think. pretty funny story, though. i love that they identify the particular brand and flavor of the gum.

blink · Coach

Don't call him a "jerk," he is just a kid, 12 is still pretty immature in this society. YES, he should have known better, but kids at his age are known for making really dumb decisions sometimes and I agree that he obviously didn't realize the ramifications. I mean, an adult wouldn't have done this, even a 17 yr old probably wouldn't have, at least not a sane one. An adult would be facing serious legal charges, and would probably have some mental problems as well. This 12 yr old was being a typical prankster who happened to damage something worth 1.5 million rather than $100. I am sure he is learning his lesson, no kid wants THIS much attention for a dumb little prank.

The museum, and all museums, ought to have a no chewing gum policy.

Starstuff · Kenneth Cole

lorelei wrote:

Don't call him a "jerk," he is just a kid, 12 is still pretty immature in this society. ... I am sure he is learning his lesson, no kid wants THIS much attention for a dumb little prank. The museum, and all museums, ought to have a no chewing gum policy.

I don't agree with calling him names, but I also don't agree that he didn't know what he was doing. At 12 years of age he know enough not to stick gum on his classmates, on the chalkboard, in the hair of the girl he likes, on the carpet, etc. He knew not to do this and it was willful behavior. I'm not sure that he's not loving the attention -- he could be shamed into modifying his behavior, or it could be the catalyst that spurs him on to even more destructive behavior. There's no way to know. I wish museums were more careful about checking people for water, food, gum, etc. It would be funny if there were spot checks, to make sure that people weren't chewing gum. On the whole, though, I guess the museum just relies on its visitors being mature and respectful of the art, which in this case was not true. There's a (public) museum in NY that won't allow anyone under 16 in -- even school groups. I love that place.

As an aside, Helen Frankenthaler's paintings are not ones that would appeal to 12 year-olds. They're very minimalist and totally abstract and I can see how a child, who might not have had prior experience with museums or even art at all thinking this stuff was extrememly boring and basically a waste and wanting to liven things up a bit. I didn't have any tolerance for abstract art until I was about 16 or so, and even then the appreciation came gradually.

-- Edited by Starstuff at 16:05, 2006-03-01

Maddie · Coach

I feel pretty comfortable calling a 12 year old a "jerk." 12 is really pretty old and defintely old enough for you to take responsibility for your actions. Think about yourself when you were that age. Would you ever in your wildest dreams have stuck gum on a painting? Of course not. And you would be horrified with a classmate who did. It shows a total lack of respect. I work with kids a lot from ages 6 to 16 and a 12 year old defintely knows what they're doing. The idea that "he's just a kid" is coddling kids and showing them that they're not responsible for their behavior thus perpetuating these sort of actions. I mean this boy is in middle school. I defintely made some dumb choices in middle school but none of them included defiling works of art in a museum.

NCshopper · Hermes

Yup, he's a jerk. Granted, he probably didn't know the painting was worth $1.5 million, but he knew better than to put gum on it. Seriously, any 12 year old should know that.

Hermes

one more tidbit of information - he told some classmates he intended to do this before they went to the museum. so it was pre-meditated...

greca · BCBG

well then, that just confirms he's a jerk!

Maddie · Coach

What a winner.

I feel like the issue isn't even about the price of the painting. It's something someone else made and put a lot of effort into and other people have enjoyed. And that kid just felt he had to ruin it for everyone.

honey · Gucci

Maddie wrote:

What a winner. I feel like the issue isn't even about the price of the painting. It's something someone else made and put a lot of effort into and other people have enjoyed. And that kid just felt he had to ruin it for everyone.

that sums up my feelings.

i do a lot of work with kids and i feel like far too frequently we don't give them enough credit for being able to make intelligent and rational decisions. kids today are really advanced. and while i don't advocate holding them to same standards as adults, imo most 12 year olds are more than capable of understanding the decision making process, and the ramifications of their decisions. granted they may not understand all...i'm sure he didn't anticipate the story being national news. but i definitely think he realized that he was doing something he was not supposed to, and that there was a possibility for negative consequences.

hotcocoa · Kate Spade

detroit wrote:

one more tidbit of information - he told some classmates he intended to do this before they went to the museum. so it was pre-meditated...

this tidbit of info changes things for me a bit because he obviously meant to do damage. i can't help but wonder about the parents in this situation. who let's their child grow up thinking that this type of behavior is okay? you can teach respect to a 2-year old. but if a parent never bothers to teach respect in the first place, the child will never know what it means. it might not be his fault that his parents are the jerks.

i also agree that there should be no a gum-chewing allowed policy. however, a kid that had planned this in advance would find a way around it.

halleybird · Hermes

12-year-olds can easily be jerks. Maybe he didn't realize it was worth $1.5 million, but even if it was worth $15, that's jerky behavior. I work with kids barely older than him every day -- I am sure he knew what he was doing. Like many kids of this particular generation, he probably feels like the world is his oyster.

ejc423 · Coach

halleybird wrote:

12-year-olds can easily be jerks. Maybe he didn't realize it was worth $1.5 million, but even if it was worth $15, that's jerky behavior.

Totally agree.

If we excuse him for it just being a kid's prank, that's only condoning this type of behavior. I'm pretty horrified. This has nothing to do with the kid's age. Six year olds know better than to stick their gum on stuff, even if someone dares them to. Unfortunately, there is always some underlying problem that causes kids to be jerks, but even explaining away poor behavior for that reason is inappropriate.

The kid was being a jerk. I just hope he realizes he doesn't have to be for the rest of his life. Sadly, this incident is probably one of many that he will use to "define" himself. . .

Claudia · Gucci

What he did was really wrong and I'm more than sure he knows it. It's good that he got disciplined. Kids do stupid stuff all the time. We all have as kids and sometimes now. But yeah, it wasn't right.

dc · Dooney & Bourke

This reminds me of a recent and much sadder situation in Richmond. A little 4 year old and his father idiotically climbed a fence or something on the bear pen at Maymont and one of the bears bit the kid's hand. Well, duh - it's a bear. So the Dad freaked out and had both of the Maymont bears (which are like living landmarks in Richmond) put to sleep, I think by animal control, as the Myamont people never would have done it. Awful - it all happened so fast and nobody stopped to consider what had really happened, but those bears are dead now for just being bears protecting their territory from a stupid, stupid man and his no-doubt-will-also-grow-up-stupid kid.. This is a case where perhaps the kid would not know better, and his father was definitely at fault. He's got to be the most hated man in Richmond right now.

That said, a 12 year old should know better. What would possess him to even do that?

Cortney1982 · Chanel

Well, since nobody has said it yet, I think the museum is partially to blame. Why would they let 12 year olds close enough to their precious paintings? If the painting was really worth that much money, shouldn't they have it untouchable?

Cricket · Gucci

Cortney1982 wrote:

Well, since nobody has said it yet, I think the museum is partially to blame. Why would they let 12 year olds close enough to their precious paintings? If the painting was really worth that much money, shouldn't they have it untouchable?

True dat!