Long Island Teenager Shot

On Saturday April 24^th at 1:00 a.m. a 16 year old girl was shot in the abdomen. She was walking with friends when a man appeared from behind a house and fired several rounds at them. It is said that after the girl was struck her friends carried her and called the police. The girl was transported to a local hospital and is listed in serious condition. This incident happened in Hempstead on Baldwin Road and anyone with any information is asked to call the Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.

Parents what was the first thing that went through your mind as your reading this? Do we truly know where our teens are and what they are doing when they are not home? This was 1:00 a.m., what was a 16 year old doing walking the streets at this hour with friends? Our thoughts and prayers go out to this girl and her family, but what went wrong here? Was there anything that could have been prevented? What the teenagers were doing before this incident is not stated, so one can only speculate the circumstances leading up to this event.

Maybe the teenagers were at a local party that parents felt it was safe to walk home from at that hour in the morning. Maybe the teenagers did not have permission to be out and walking the streets at that hour. Hopefully, regardless of how this happened and why, this should be an eye opener to parents. Know where your teens are at all times, who they are with, where they are going and when they will be home. We can't be with them all the time, but we can take steps to help ensure that when they are not home we are doing everything possible to keep them safe.

This was originally published on Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/x-33498-Long-Island-Parenting-Teens-Examiner