The kid was a Criminal and should have went to jail

Should have *gone* to jail.

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Yeah, the book/movie were made from the perspective of Tobias, so obviously he's going to make Dwight appear worse. In reality, he was probably just an old school military dad who tried to discipline a bad kid. Even what Tobias admits he did is enough to drive someone to want to smack him, so I can't imagine how bad he really was.

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The kid was a criminal and Dwight was trying to straighten him out

That's like saying any parent who beats their kids is just trying to "toughen them up."

Petty Theft

The answer to a child's troubles has never been and never will be true abuse.

Grand Theft Auto

Hyperbole much? Give me a break. While not appropriate to take a vehicle without asking, a teen taking a parent's car without permission is hardly "grand theft auto."

Animal abuse

I'm blanking on exactly what you could be calling animal abuse. Toby didn't want that dog--I recall that--and how he was purchased, was nothing but pure antagonism by Dwight. Toby finally started to warm up to the dog is what I remember.

Underage drinking

Yah, he and most teens... especially in that era. Again, how does delinquency warrant clear abuse and endless bullying?

Unsafe handling of a firearm

I'm officially starting to have difficulty with the purpose of this list. How did Dwight ever truly appropriately tackle the issue of a youth not handling a firearm correctly? How was anything Dwight did considered appropriate?

Fraud

While such ends do not justify the means, at least Toby's falsifying of school records was done to put his future on the right track.

Gay Bashing hate crimes

What hate crime? I don't recall anything that could meet that definition. Is this the fight? Toby's slurs were just part of trying to act "like one of the boys." Yes, it was wrong, but Toby then stopped and became friends with him. Um, Dwight was the real gay basher... duh. (How can this even be on a list when arguing the list is why Dwight was straightening him out, yet Dwight cheered over their fight and also was a bigot?! I'm starting to think this is just a trolling thread.)

Open alcohol in an Automobile

It was the 60s. Attitudes regarding this were so different. It and underage drinking were (and are) still wrong. However, I'm at the point where I must ask, "how were Dwight's techniques workin' for him? How do these techniques ever work for a troubled child?" ...Uh huh.

Graffiti
Vandalism

Oooh, let's keep beating him up and bullying him! He'll definitely stop graffiti and vandalism!

Non regulation footwear on a basketball court

Now I am 100% sure you are either trolling or a complete buffoon. DWIGHT FORCED TOBY TO WEAR THOSE SHOES. To humiliate him! There is no way you could be adding this to a list that you're saying is Toby's delinquency.

Underage possession of pornography

Zzzzzzzz.

Lusting for his sister

1. NOT HIS ACTUAL SISTER. They didn't even grow up together! 2. He just liked checking her out. Put non-blood-related teens under one roof to live, and one checking the other out is not that out of the ordinary. It certainly was not a real problem.

Littering
Reckless endangerment
Mischief
Assault
Driving without a license

All the rest are either so vague, boring, OR technically something already listed above. I'm now officially surprised you did not put "threw out mustard when it was not empty," or at least put "wasteful" for us to infer that situation! Or how about "wore his hair like a trouble-making greaser"!

Nice trolling try. Or doofus display. One or the other. A list of a troubled teens actions is not a compelling way to argue his stepfather was doing the right things. Dwight was not even attempting to do what he thought was right. The fact that Dwight couldn't get along with others just shows how he was the problem. A crazy, disturbed, bitter, little man who relished in making a child's life hell, while he attempted to disguise it as tough love. Pathetic.

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Indeed. Dwight was an ***hole sure enough, but I had a lot of trouble feeling any sort of empathy for Toby. The kid was a rotten kid. Few redeeming qualities. If he'd tried a little harder to be a good kid, and grow up to be a good man, maybe it wouldn't have been so hard with Dwight. Always smoking and vandalizing, and stealing cars. Kid needs to get his mind right.

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I agree with Dwight beating him up for stealing the car. but everything else he was too hard on Jack.

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he left u NAKED in a DITCH!

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@CementMixer

Gay bashing hate crime? Give me a break. The Arthur character started with Jack and his friends. Insulting their intelligence and Jack's clothes and mother? HE strated selling sh#t to them. He deserved to be called a homo.

Not to mention, Arthur was the hostile one. HE attacked Jack. He turned insulting into a physical attack. But oohhh, the gay is never wrong, right? Being gay doesn't give you a get out of jail card for hostility and intolerance.

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