Young Killer
Created | Updated Jun 21, 2003
Earlier this week, a six-year-old in a US school, shot a classmate over a small fight which had taken place in the playground the day before. The classmate was killed, raising the question of whom is really responsible for this awful act of unnecessary violence.
Unlike the shooting in Columbine in April last year, this was not a statement against popularity and cliques, a rally for anarchy, or anything else of that sort. The young killer only meant to threaten the girl with whom he fought on the playground the other day. The threat became an accidental reality, however, when the young boy mistakenly pulled the trigger.
Now, we need to find out who is to blame for this awful tragedy. As I said before, this was not the same as the other shootings that occurred in US schools over the past 5 years. For once, the killer may not be the one to blame... because of his age.
The main suspect is a friend of the family, named Jamelle James, who lives with the boy's uncle in what has been called a crack house, where crack cocaine and another loaded gun were found. He was supposedly the one who gave the boy the gun, and has been charged with manslaughter, facing a 15-year jail sentence.
There is, however, another possible candidate for guilt no one seems to suspect: the media. Do you think this would have happened had it not been for the heavy coverage of previous shootings? I don't. Six-year-olds can't discern the difference between a bad example and a good example, especially when they're seeing it on TV. Perhaps he got the idea to take out his anger through violence thanks to the mass media coverage of other shootings.
This all begs the question, how much is too much? What is an
appropriate amount of coverage? Are we having it shoved down our throats, or is it really necessary? Perhaps there should be a limit that balances the good news and the bad news. Do you really want to see violence on your TV screen every time you turn on the news to hear the weather?
This tragedy may just be an example of what a negative effect 'Negative News' has. Maybe society will learn next time.
