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I'm pretty sure the video games didn't make him do it

Kwazy

Shared on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 17:00

I have oft been attacked with the confines of this site because of my personal beliefs and convictions..the most paramount of these being my opposition to the capital punishment (or destructive incarceration) of adolescents or the mentally ill.  Some of the most fervent attackers demand a blood-price for any wrong, regardless of the perpetrator’s age or mental health.  In my last posting prior to my sabbatical, I suggested imprisoning a 14 year old child for 45 years was insane.  At least one person disagreed with me, implying it’s not safe for society to have such a person free to walk the streets.  By way of its brevity, that opposing comment was perhaps one of the most polite I’ve received.

 

So what do you do with this kid?

 

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/04/ducks.stabbed.ap/index.html

 

For those of you not inclined to read the article, a sixth-grader in Wichita, Kansas recently murdered a mother mallard and two of her ducklings.  The duck had nested near a middle school, and the students had been taking turns “monitoring” the brood to ensure they were not disturbed.  While on the pretense of this activity, the boy repeatedly stabbed the three animals to death with a pencil. 

 

I would hasten to say a child with such a propensity for cruelty at such a young age (how old is a sixth-grader…11, 12?) will only gravitate towards more serious activities.

 

So do we throw him in jail?

Should we just kill him now?

Should he be treated for his apparent illness (predisposition, whatever)?

 

What if it had been a fellow student or a younger child he killed?

Are you answers the same?

 

What if he was two years older?  Or four?

Are your answers still the same?

Comments

Devonsangel's picture
Submitted by Devonsangel on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 17:33
Valid questions. After reading the article, the one statement that jumped out at me was that the child didn't know that what he did was wrong. Without having a psych degree or training, it would appear that something is not right. It would seem that taking the life of another animal, after watching his fellow students care for these same animals would indicate that this kid cannot tell right from wrong. I don't know if he can be taught at this point or he will never learn. I wish I could say. But, I would be fearful of my children if he were in their school. Would he know that taking the life of a classmate is different than the ducks?
wilderz's picture
Submitted by wilderz on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 17:51
Um intense counseling, and observation are in order, and possibly anti-psychotic drugs.... I've read that the mutilation/killing of animals could be a precursor to sociopathic/homicidal tendencies.
CrypticCat's picture
Submitted by CrypticCat on Fri, 05/04/2007 - 20:11
Well, since criminal behavior can be treated by finding out what lies beneath, I'm very much for pro-actively identifying such tendencies as in minors. At the same time, I remind myself of the Clockwork Orange movie and even though that movie raises valid points on its own, it's not really a direction in which I would not care for it to go. It has been sufficiently proven that incarceration for any sort of crime does not help matters, not for the victims and not for the criminal. All it accomplishes is that a criminal is off the streets for a while. It really is a band-aid solution. The only instance where incarceration is useful is when the criminal is in for life with no parole. Identifying the root of criminal behavior in minors is key. However, since the cause for criminal behavior is so multi-faced, it's awfully hard to predict how a minor might develop. Good questions, but you should ask them again to criminologists and psychiatrists, IMO.
NotStyro's picture
Submitted by NotStyro on Sat, 05/05/2007 - 00:10
While there is no denying that this child need some sort of mental health evaluation and some form of care, the parent should proceed very carefully with any form of therapy. It would be very easy for a mis-evaluation and then poor choice in therapy could lead to a very poor outcome for the child and others that deal with him. The killing of the ducks by the child could be simply that he was jealous of the ducks due to the attention given to them by the staff and other students. Then again, he could have also killed them because he never learned compassion for lesser beings from his parents (alternately, he could have learned a hatred of lesser beings from his parents and acted accordingly). So, to answer the questions posed. The child, regardless of his age, needs to have a number of mental health evaluations. Several possible therapies may be introduced, discussed, the decided & acted upon. Maybe the evals and therapies help, maybe not. Maybe the evals and lessons from therapies can be put to use to identify any possible causes and symptoms and future generations won't have this happen again. Then again, maybe not...
Kwazy's picture
Submitted by Kwazy on Sat, 05/05/2007 - 15:34
Interesting note re: Clockwork Orange. Hey Cat, are you familiar with the original British version? It has a 21st chapter not included in the American version, hence omitted also from the Kubrik film. Changes the whole meaning of the work.
CrypticCat's picture
Submitted by CrypticCat on Sun, 05/06/2007 - 08:42
No, I have been searching for it on DVD. The funny thing is that I did find the original english version of Equilibrium, which after all that time is still miles better than the American re-make. Coming to think of it, both clockwork orange and equilibrium revolve around the same kind of issue, that is, that the root of all evil is burried away in the fact that mankind has emotional feelings which largely dictates it's actions.

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