http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Mississippi-Boy-9-Shot-Dead-In-Video-Game-Row-In-Marshall-County/Article/200906215300047?f=rss
So yea. What do we see here?
A death of a young individual by his own sibling, both underaged.
First of all, apparently, the complication was a result of fighting over a videogame. That will probably set the scapegoating flags into motion, but the general public.
But~
"He said the boys' father was outside mowing the lawn at the time of the incident."
Where was the mother? If there is no mother in this familial setting, then what exactly was the father mowing the lawn for while the kids were playing videogames with a weapon of potential mass devastation left in the house? But more concerning, what was the weapon doing in the house open to access by the children?
I would say that is a lack of parenting right there. What kind of a message is the parent (in this case the father) giving to the children? Probably nothing as the gun seems to have carelessly been left out.
Kids have the tendency to easily get upset with competitive activities. In this case, videogames was the medium.
If the father at least was aware that his children had the tendency to get upset easily and in a spur of the moment, the child may have believed that a gun would be a good way to 'show who's boss', maybe...just maybe, 1 of his kids did not have to die in that careless and unfortunate manner?
If a father, or any adult in general, believes that he/she is mature and competent enough to raise children and have a weapon in the house, I believe that the adult should have the care to at least make sure the weapon is out of access by the underage children, as they often lack the competence to understand how dangerous a gun really is and, albeit an accident in this case, that it really can kill someone.
" 'it appeared to be an accident anyway'." right...just an accident so just slip it under the rug.
The father may need to receive some counseling of some sort to make it clear that if he is to leave 2 underaged children unattended inside their home where there is free access to a gun (let alone any weapon), that maybe the parent is not competent enough to take care of the children.
Imagine what the child who did the accidental killing feels and thinks right now. He sees that his brother was killed with a shotgun at his hands; albeit an "accident". But imagine what it would feel like for him years later to realize what he had done. And then consider what he may feel when he realizes that 2 children were left unattended with a weapon inside the house.
The children really are not to blame. No one really should be blamed in this situation. The father was incompetent and the children were incompetent. If anything was to be blamed, it would be the lack of care from both parties.
Maybe there is a lack of decent education in that area? For an 11 year old to not be able to understand that if he does hold a shotgun to his 9 year old brother, he may accidentally kill him; not wound...kill, is a bit scary.
Incidents like this are things that are unnecessary and unfortunate. Children should never witness nor take part in such "accidents" as the ramifications in their near future has the tremendous potential of being too much.
What do you think about this. Post your comments below.
In America, the public is too quick to place the plame on the parents. While the parents do share a large portion of culpability, we sometimes forget that our children are individuals capable of reason as well. The ages of the individuals, both victim and shooter, show that both children were at the age where they should have had a clear understanding of cause and effect. The gun, a shotgun, was probably for hunting. These children should have known by now that this gun kills!
ReplyDeleteIs it too cynical to assume that this is the darwinian struggle in effect?
Thank you for your comment.
ReplyDeleteThough I will have to respectfully disagree on your point.
Often, it may be the case that "American" public blames the parents too quickly. However, I believe that, if you want to talk about blaming, people in general tend to blame not themselves, but other 'things' for any negative outcomes and tend to gloat and boast themselves when positive outcomes occur.
You say that, "...children are individuals capable of reason...". That may be true, but their competence and capacity to reason out situations is quite limited and often miscontrued.
Think about it.
Children at such a young age (in this case under 18 years of age) may have the capacity of reason to understand what the item is, what it represents, and ultimately what the item can do.
However, most will lack the ability to think further beyond that; that is being able to create scenarios in their mind as to what woudl happen if such and such was done, and what the consequences of such action would be.
www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=7241
Read that article.
Also, you claim that, "The ages of the individuals...show that both children were at the age where they should have had a clear understanding of cause and effect."
Maybe they "shoudl have", but chidlren develop different skills (be it cognitive, fine motor functioning, language, etc) at different paces and thus at different ages.
Just because a child is of certain age does not neccessarily guarantee or dictate that che child will have certain abilities or not.
Also, this isn't really an issue of cause and effect as you claim it to be. The problem here is the lack of parenting. The 2 children were both underaged and a shotgun was left open to access and use.
You believe this is a Darwinian struggle? So you believe that 2 children playing a game is a product/outcome of the children surviving? Surviving what? There is nothing to survive. Are you saying that they were competeting so that it automatically makes it a Darwinian struggle?
>_>
Survival of the fittest is actually more in reference to which male can mate with the most number of females to increase the odds that his genes will prosper.
Please be more considerate of what you type out and how you organize your thoughts. You may have some good ideas but your execution in writing was poorly done.
Also, even though this was posted under an Anonymous identity, I still consider the comment a valid piece of data that I can use.
Why wouldn't you want to use something that will better identify you. There is nothing to lose. You gain the chance of giving your input and thoughts on topics that I post here.