Jake Spruance ’19
In the late spring of 2013, an intoxicated sixteen-year-old boy named Ethan Couch drove into a group of people, killing four and injuring nine. When brought to court, his defense team described him as having a mental disorder called “affluenza,” characterizing his lack of control for his own actions because of his parents’ appalling tolerance. At the age of thirteen, Couch was driving himself to school. His parents pretended not to notice his underage drinking. His judge sentenced him to ten years of probation, virtually nothing in comparison to the charges he could have faced for driving under the influence and killing four people. Ethan then violated the terms of his probation when a video of him playing beer pong was uploaded to Twitter. His mother then hosted a farewell party for her son, proceeding to dye his hair a dark brown and sending him off to Mexico, so he could avoid his arrest. Every parent strives to help their children in whatever way possible, but a mother that disrupts the police and molds her son into a fugitive crosses a line. Today, this event serves as a classic reminder of the impact unruly parenting has on children, sparking the creation of the hippo worm. Continue reading “Hauntingly Infectious Behavior”