I was perturbed, to say the least, by the news of two 14 years olds shooting dead one of their classmates in their school premises. The reports are still a bit hazy, what with the accused being juveniles and the law about maintaining their anonymity and such. But apparently, one of them shot the deceased 4 times before handing over the gun to the other who shot him once more to finish the job. According to the killer kids, they did it because the killed kid regularly bullied them a lot and supposedly even threatened to kill them.
Last time I checked, there was a big, BIG difference between bullying and the threat to kill, especially when it came from a 14 year old. And I knew that even when I was 14. I was bullied a fuck load, my school life consisted of many many beatings, more than I care to recount, and they were merciless. And while my lot was worse (in this one regard) than many others in my school, I was not the only one. But I do not recall anyone (from among the 500 or so) harbouring a death-wish for anyone else, even while vocalising many violent threats (mostly empty, and rarely openly). Anyway, much as I hold human life in low regard, if any, this still seems quite unacceptable.
And since when did kids in India get access to guns? The gun belonged to the father of one the killers, but is there no such thing as a safe place to keep things in the house? More importantly, where the fuck from did these kids get this "shooting to settle scores" idea? Is it a spill-over from the media coverage given to similar incidents (which are usually not such directly pointedly revenge-based) in the gun-mad USA? Or is it an independent incident, fuelled by the new lifestyle changes in urban India brought on by the ranks of nouveau riche and the explosion of technology?
I am tempted to blame television more than anything else. But since its only my conjecture, I will refrain. But man oh man, the damage television has wrecked on humanity in general! (And here, I can speak authoritatively, for I am an anthropologist of media after all.)
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6 comments:
Yeah! But...But! Television taught me all the naughty moves I use on men who are verily addicted to me...hehehe! So how about a post on all the good things TV gives us. Like countless hindi songs so I know just the right one for the right moment???? Tv enhances and helps decorate self expression. And dont tell me to be original, I am quite happy borrowing, thank you! And so are my men! ;-)
this was not a post about the evil of TV. it was about fucked up kids. all the same, i agree that TV has done many good things other than teaching you naughty moves, which i doubt it did anyway.
And since when did kids in India get access to guns?
man did i not tell you about the time i carried a gun in class 1 to school. guns are a important part of our upbringing in interiors of up and bihar.
and its just a one off incident, those kids atleast had a clear sense of purpose not like those american kids who shoot every body coz they are angry with the world.
and kids being fucked up is the lot of their parents not some electronic gadet sitting atop the table in your living room.
btw those beating gave you character. i know for fucking sure those stupid cross country race are the only reasons my lungs haven't shut down.
i am pretty sure you never told me about carrying a gun to school in class 1. you must tell me all about it in response to the email i am going to send you.
easy to blame parents for fucked up kids, but do you think it was the parents who put the idea of shooting the classmate in the kids' heads? i somehow don't think so.
it's not the tube...it's the environment, giving values of interpretation to what's on...
it's the home that needs another look (ok, so boarding school punks, but they too get conditioned by the values around them), it's the social construct pushing false gods, worshiping vices, after the bottom line. shit like this is a non sequirter. TV is just a medium. It's what's on, it's who's listening and how they interpret it. fucked up kids. they weren't born that way. use your anthro and dig deeper, punk, do you feel lucky?
tengu, if you read the last para, i did NOT blame TV. and it maybe just a medium but a very powerful one at that. and using anthro to dig deeper... again man, too much intellectualisation. and i haven't made any baseless conclusions. as for feeling lucky, you know my take on luck...
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