Why did he drop out? And if he was a high-school drop-out, why did someone give him a car for his 16th birthday?
Farlan’s daughter Amber seemed to be the member of the Knapp family most poised for success. She was the first Knapp ever to graduate from high school ...
Why? Why did NONE of the previous generations ever graduate from high school?
This article is full of statements that have me asking, "Why?" If the family was doing okay before, "The economy just seems to have stopped delivering for these people,” why wasn't anyone graduating from high school?
What happened to the Knapp children's father? After mentioning his line of work at the beginning, the authors don't mention him again.
Is there a conflict between condemnation of the "War on Drugs" and recognition of the harm that drug use has done to all these people? More generally, can we deplore and attempt to ameliorate the obvious dreadful outcomes of personally and socially irresponsible behavior while at the same time insisting that "consenting adults" should be able to do whatever they want without the slightest moral opprobrium? It seems to me that this approach is not working out well.
Well said. Dysfunction is all about personal choices. Many people are able to deal with grief over the loss of parents without becoming addicted to drugs.
What happened to the Knapp children's father? After mentioning his line of work at the beginning, the authors don't mention him again.
The article begins with a false narrative (happy children representing a happy family) and their downfall came because "society" (the American way of life) failed them.
The original NYT article is an agenda hit piece meant to blame American society for their downfall.
These kids made bad choices because of their home-life. The kids are described by others as 'feral' meaning they had little guidance from high-functioning parents.
The authors of this article quickly dismissed and glossed over the dysfunctional family structure to point the finger at the alleged destructiveness of the American society and a heartless capitalist economy that chews families alive.
The NYT article is pure agenda 'journalism'.