02-11-2011, 11:23 AM
(02-11-2011, 11:13 AM)kitty1 Wrote: i think so. they were very lenient with the girls, esp. lisa i think they thought she was safer at home than living on her own. trust me these are church going, well educated parents. i know it is difficult for outsiders to comprehend how they would let him stay there. i just can't explain it to anyone's satisfaction. children can be master manipulators to get what they want, especially those in late teens and early 20's. people using, abusing and addicted to drugs and alcohol are absolute masters of manipulation to get what they want.
Thanks again for your insight, Kitty.
It's a tough call for parents in that situation. I've known parents in a similar situation where the daughter was involved with a creep. The parents knew they couldn't forbid the daughter to see him - well, they could, but they knew she'd sneak off with him anyway. So they invited him to dinner a lot to kind of keep an eye on things. The daughter dropped him after a while - later the daughter said it was seeing the boyfriend next to her siblings and their friends in the family's home made her realize that this wasn't the kind of person she wanted to be with.
I'm sure the parents are feeling guilty about what happened. But, IMO, even if Johnny hadn't been living there, he very likely would have been there when the parents were gone, whether the parents wanted him there or not.