What's up with Raymondville? (Harlingen, Kenedy: low income, fit in, crime)

[Threnody]

Greetings all!

My son (13) was living with me in Camden Arkansas. He was doing poorly in school so I let him move in with his Mom in Raymondville TX. hoping that the change would do him good.

Now 7 months later I'm hearing that my boy is into gangs, won't come home for days at a time, hasn't been to school in weeks, and is constantly going to court for various different crimes.

My X-wife has obviously lost control, but has been seeking help from the courts, law enforcement, even social services, but they offer nothing.

When HE breaks the law, SHE gets fined, NO consequences for him. The school counselor tells my X-wife that over 80% of the kids enrolled there rarely attend school and are causing their parents the same grief.

I realize it's a parent's job to raise a child, not the State's, but in Arkansas he'd be in detention, Arkansas Sheriff's Boy's Home, or even boot-camp way before now.

I've secured an attourney to drag him back here, that won't be a problem.

Anyway, my question is, does anybody know anything about Raymondville, the school system, court system there? Is Texas law that different from Arkansas, or is it just Raymondville? Or am I being fed a bunch of bull?

Any comments would greatly be appreciated . . . Thanks

[NOTAM]

there is no law in Willacy, Kenedy, or Kleberg counties-they are all corrupt law enforcement agencies. heck even drug runners from Mexico dont get busted. raymondville, just like most towns here in this area have a very high indigent population. low income, uneducated...so they are not going to care about education. you need to get your son back to Arkansas, where family values are, and where law is the law.
what a shame it is down here.......i come from the Texas where you DONT MESS WITH TEXAS. and law enforcement officers mean business.
here they are a bunch of wimps and are easily paid off to look the other way.
you should see the ones that come in with the inmates from the jail...they are pathetic looking officers.....the deputy sheriffs are wimpier than me (and i am a FEMALE) and they baby the inmates (i am a former head nurse of a large Texas prison and i dont play that)...corrections officers in my Texas prison didnt play, didnt baby inmates..they walked tough, they talked tough, they looked tough. (ok they might have not been really tough but they at least tried to be) here, they are just a bunch of pansies. cant wait to get back to North Texas or West Texas where cops are cops and law is the law and i feel protected.
i feel very insecure here knowing that the law is not going to stand up for me. it doesnt help that i am a female Anglo, blonde and blue eyed. i definitely dont belong.

[NOTAM]

i sure would like to know, what the heck your exwife is doing in Raymondville anyway? how the heck did she end up down there?
yes you need to DEFINITELY get custody of your son and get him back to Arkansas QUICK before it is too late.
he will be unlikely to have any education or future with the influences he has there in Willacy County.

[Threnody]

My X-wife was born and raised in Raymondville, so all her family is down there.
Her brother is a RN in Harlingen. His name is Moderator cut: personal info, maybe you know him. They are (at least the ones I know) good Christian folks. I truely thought it would do him good to be there. I had NO idea!

Thank you SO MUCH for the info.

[NOTAM]

you are SO welcome. just get him back to good ole Arkansas, where they still believe in family values, God, and the AMERICAN way.

[mijos3]

You are blaming the school system and the law enforcement system for the problems you are having with your wayward son. The blame should be squarely on you and your ex-wife's shoulders. You are shuffling your son from "supposedly" your highly educated state of Arkansas to Texas and when he does not fit in you blame everyone else.

I was raised in Raymondville and recieved an excellent education and take great umbrage with your disparaging representation of Raymondville. I am a teacher and have 2 sisters who are also teachers and one sister who is a nurse and we were raised in the poor part of Raymondville and migrant workers and know a lot more like me. So not blame the quality of Texas education

I will admit that going from Arkansas to the Rio Grande Valley is going to a completely different culture but you should have expected that.
The RGV is predominately hispanic and Arkansas is predominantly "blond, blue eyed".

Even though we are in south Texas it does not make us any less American, or God fearing and I think we place a lot more emphasis on family values.
Bellestaroftexas demonstrated her AMERICAN sentiments quite eloquently.
You should take the log out of your own eye before taking the splinter out of someone else's.

[yosoyway]

Sorry to hear about the problems with your son. But you can't blame the community or the school for your son's troubles. He must have some problems that originated at home. The fact that your ex-wife and yourself are separated alone is a cause for problems in teenagers. Rather than pushing the problem on your wife; you should've sought help for your son and yourself.

Your son came to Raymondville with problems and now your are moving him from one state to another; it probably caused more problems for him emotionally. He probably felt unwanted and that he didn't belong and gangs tend to offer that. They make unwanted teenagers feel that they belong somewhere.

I also grew up in the valley and in mexico. I could've sold drugs if I wanted and chosen a wrong path to but I had good family values and God in my life.

Maybe you need to pray for your son and yourself.

[tchavarria]

I am a Law Enforcement Officer in Georgia, and I was raised in Raymondville Texas. I really believe that Raymondville is no place for your son to be raised. The hispanic gangs in this town are out of control. I still have plenty of family living in Raymondville to include my mother. I had no problems myself growing up, but I could have gotten in a lot of trouble if I hadn't decided to keep myself away from the dead beat kids. I have several cousins that are in the drug business in Raymondville and I am sure gangs. I have not been to Raymondville in about 8 years, but do I miss it? no. The last time I was down in Raymondville a guy that I knew growing up was shot at a party. The guy I used to hang around with got arrested for drugs. Is the Law enforced in Raymondville well I don't really know. I hope and pray that they have their values and ethics in line. I have been policing for over 15 years and give 100% to my job. I treat people the way they want and should be treated, but at the same time you can't drop your guard. Policing is a tough job, ok maybe not in little Raymondville. The city that I work in, has 130 sworn Officers. I can tell you that this has been the best place for me to raise my family and all our Officers are well trained and educated.
feel free to contact me......

My son (13) was living with me in Camden Arkansas. He was doing poorly in school so I let him move in with his Mom in Raymondville TX. hoping that the change would do him good.

Now 7 months later I'm hearing that my boy is into gangs, won't come home for days at a time, hasn't been to school in weeks, and is constantly going to court for various different crimes.

My X-wife has obviously lost control, but has been seeking help from the courts, law enforcement, even social services, but they offer nothing.

When HE breaks the law, SHE gets fined, NO consequences for him. The school counselor tells my X-wife that over 80% of the kids enrolled there rarely attend school and are causing their parents the same grief.

I realize it's a parent's job to raise a child, not the State's, but in Arkansas he'd be in detention, Arkansas Sheriff's Boy's Home, or even boot-camp way before now.

I've secured an attourney to drag him back here, that won't be a problem.

Anyway, my question is, does anybody know anything about Raymondville, the school system, court system there? Is Texas law that different from Arkansas, or is it just Raymondville? Or am I being fed a bunch of bull?

Any comments would greatly be appreciated . . . Thanks

[NOTAM]

Texas law aint much different than Arkansas law, just maybe tougher. but i CAN tell ya that many of these small towns in South Texas are run by the most pathetic folks i have ever seen. the folks they hire in many of these towns are a joke! i sure as hayull dont feel protected. cant wait to get back to the Texas i know, where the tough good ole boys are-where they aint skeered to enforce the law and be TOUGH.

[jsalazar]

Hey there, sorry to join in on the info exchange so late, I just finished reading the previous info given. First of all I'd like to inform you that I am a peace officer and was born and raised in raymondville tx, I had the privilage of working as a peace officer in my hometown (03-05) and wished i never left. but the fact of the matter is that there are some problems here in my town, and i believe that it's the same everywhere else (drugs, gangs, etc.) and the drug problems are what i believe to be regional, for instance there's not much meth here in raymondville or much less in the rgv, and what i understand from previous trainings is that it (meth) is pretty rampant up in your area (south east us) now there is a lot more marijuana, crack, and cocaine problems here.
Allow me to give you some needed stats, population wise in the 2000 census was 9,700 or so, i estimate the pop. has increased to maybe 13,000 (plus or minus). We average 1 murder a year (although there were'nt any when I worked here). I don't know what kinda trouble your boy was getting into, but based on what you stated about the ex getting fined, and not him, well that's just the way Texas law is (if he were 15 years old or older then it's his fine to pay), and as far as detention is concerned (juv. boot camp) then it would be up to a district or county judge to decide, but normally nobody (juvenile or adult) is sentenced to time for a class c misdemeanor or "status offense" (which is about the same amount of trouble as getting a ticket for speeding), aside the initial detention (it sounds to me as if he was getting himself into trouble for curfew violations and other calss c misdemeanors) usually we would release back to parent or guardian as per J.P.O.
It was proceedure for us (peace officers) to report any crime committed by a juvenile to the juvenile probation office where they (J.P.O.) would initiate the court proceedings.
I regret to inform you that you were given several shovels full of bull about raymondville being that bad. I'm not saying it's perfect but my wife and I have chosen to live and raise our 3 children here.
Another thing you may want to do is check the universal crime reporting (U.C.R.) statistics online about our town, and the towns listed by the people who fed you the "bull" and just compare.
If your boy is still over here you may want to check with the juvenile probation office, to find out what is being done with your boy, and another thing you can do is speak, or write the county judge and the district judge to see about placing him in boot camp or some other type of facility, but they (camps) are usually reserved for more troubled/violent offenders. Above all else contact the Raymondville Independent School District to find out about the drop out rate and any other statistics, after all it is public record.
Oh and by the way I nor any of my partners (most of whom still serve our hometown) were never corrupted nor did we cower in any situation.
There were a couple of people who stated that there was nothing more than problems here, I don't know who the correctional guard is nor where she works, but sounds to me as if she was also mis-led with the information she gave you, and probably has never been here to really experience the town it really is (there's a lot more good people here than she led you to believe), and yes the majority of us do attend church and other organizations (t-ball, baseball, etc.)
As far as the georgia peace officer.... I don't know the demographics of the city he works in, but here in Raymondville the majority of the little hoodlum gangs are of hispanic origin, and do not get out of control. They are quickly dealt with when they step out of line, and to tap into his personal experience here, it all boils down to the decisions we make......... that's life.
If you need any help or if you have any questions feel free to reply.