Not long ago, a 6th grade girl in Sasebo, Japan, killed her classmate in a rather gruesome way at school. Investigators discovered the girls had once been friends and things had gone sour. The victim had written some unkind things about the girl on a website. The murderess (so sad to think of an 11 year old that way, but she is...) also had a website where she posted poetry and other writing expressing her unhappiness and problems.
Today a survey company, Interactive Marketing Interface, announced that 69% of sixth- and seventh-grade female students have their own websites. Do you think that websites will be tied to school violence like video games were after Columbine?
69%? really? My daughters don't have their site, adn probabbly most of their friends don't either.
Anyway I think websites infruence their behaivor a little ( or a lot). They tend to be weak at expressing their emotion or thinking from their own mouthes.
You're probably right about the blame game. Rather than take responsibility for why the children find violence the only way they can respond, we end up blaming something that's convenient. I just hope that everyone and their brother won't try to pass ignorant legislation to try and solve the problem.
milk. milk has not received its fair share of the
blame.
each and every high-school shooter consumed
milk in the 24h period preceding the incident.
causality is sometimes just a little overrated as a concept.
);-)
Yesterday's news said 69% of 5th grade children in Japan have ever used internet, and I think it didn't mean that they have their own websites. If you said about another statistics, I'm sorry for mentioning that. Anyway, I'm a great fan of your blog.
I think many people don't realize that VIRTUAL things like websites or videogames only reflect the REAL world. As for that murder case, some people pointed out an influence of violent movies. They think fiction influence on the real world but the truth is contraly.
The news I read (Kyodo New via Japan Today) said that 69% of sixth- and seventh grade girls [a different source added 'who use the internet"] have websites. Maybe only a small fraction of all sixth-and seventh grade girls use the Internet, but that wasn't part of the report.
This is sad. I remember in the mid nineties when two boys about that age abducted and killed a two year old. It's hard to think of children as murderers. Sixth and seventh grade girls are cruel to each other. The need to be a part of the group seems stronger now than it was when we were kids.
I've read some pretty disturbing weblogs written by teens and pre-teens.They are into abusing themselves mostly. Their blogs read like a cry for help.
I can't find a website I like.