NPR reporter Richard Gonzales filed a story on November 4, 2009 about the conflict between San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Board of Supervisors.
The conflict is over a sanctuary law that has protected undocumented immigrants in San Francisco since 1980. At the center of the conflict is the case of Edwin Ramos, who entered the United States illegally at the age of 13, committed two felonies at the age of 17 and, at the age of 21, murdered three people.
As horrible as all this is, the criminal case is not the topic of this post. Richard Gonzales’s choice of words is.
I can’t fault him for quoting the mayor who uses the word “kids” inappropriately:
These are kids that committed felonies.”
But a professional journalist ought to know better.
The following uses of “kid” to denote juveniles who practice criminal behavior belong entirely to Gonzales:
But immigration advocates say kids who are merely accused of a crime but are ultimately found innocent are being deported.
[City Supervisor David Campos] says undocumented kids accused of a crime should be reported to federal authorities but only after a felony conviction — not before.
Still, Newsom insists he’ll ignore the Board of Supervisors, and he has ordered city employees to continue reporting to the feds any undocumented kids arrested for a felony.
Let’s keep kid and kids as pleasant, informal words for child and children. Let’s find more appropriate words for referring to young punks, robbers, thieves, drug pushers, terrorists and murderers.
More of my views on the use of kid
More about Edwin Ramos: