Elementary Children Molest Fellow Student: Who's to Blame?

Managing Editor

   On April 20, MonticelloLive ran an article entitled, “Incident on MES Campus Leads 4 Students Being Suspended.” Monticello Elementary School provides education to kindergarten students, first-graders and second-graders.

   As I clicked on the headline, I thought the four suspended students had probably brought a realistic looking pocketknife to school seeing as children who attend the school are, at the most, seven or eight-years-old.  After finding out the true reason the children were suspended, I had to swallow really hard to keep my lunch from creeping back up my throat.

   According to the article, a teacher on playground duty noticed four boys holding down a female student and touching her in an inappropriate manner. The four boys were suspended for three days. The article states their parents were notified, but it did not say whether the principal contacted authorities.

   Upon reading the comments posted by readers, I noticed the onslaught of placing blame on the parents of the four boys who molested (yes, I said molested because it’s the proper term) this innocent female student.  I don’t believe the parents of these children instructed their children to find an innocent bystander to fondle. With the way the world is today, it’s no wonder children are confused about the difference between acceptable and unacceptable, fantasy and reality.

   My afternoons as an elementary student consisted of riding my bike, watching "Tom and Jerry" and basically being carefree and happy the way a child should be. In the world we live in today, that’s not possible. A parent cannot let their children safely ride their bikes for fear of kidnappers, drug dealers, drunks and child rapists. A parent cannot safely allow their children to watch an after school cartoon because as soon as you turn on the television the child is bombarded with violent images of explosions and war.

   Even during the so-called “family-time” slot, shows such as “King of the Hill” come on, which depict cartoon characters engaging in disgusting behaviors. Children believe if the cartoons can do it and it’s funny, then they can do it and it should be funny. Children also play video games, which show characters stabbing and beheading the opposing character. Some children think since the characters reappear after killing them then stabbing a person results in the person simply standing back up.

   Although I believe society plays a large role in children becoming aggressive and committing crimes, things like children raping, killing and stealing happened long ago before the arrival of violent media.

   According to TruTV.com, in 1855, two youngsters in Liverpool were sentenced to 12 months in prison for manslaughter after one of them killed a playmate with a brick in a rage over a game gone bad. The other boy helped the killer dump the victim's body in a nearby canal.

   In my opinion, some children may commit offensive acts due to family problems. I can understand how one parent physically and sexually abusing the other parent could cause the child to imitate those behaviors. I also believe in the possibility of a child having sociopathic personality disorder, but since the MES incident involved four boys and one girl, I believe one or possibly two of the boys had the idea and the others followed because of peer pressure. I don’t believe all four boys had the same idea at the same time or that all four boys came from a troubled home.

   Apparently, the incident at MES grabbed the attention of Monticello citizens as several concerned parents attended the Monticello School Board’s meeting April 21. Now that people know the problem exists, it’s time to find a solution to the problem and enforce it. There remains no way of knowing if a child has a psychological disorder which causes the aggressive behavior until the crime takes place and teachers remain unaware of the children’s lives at home, but parents can do something to help. One solution consists of doing away with violent media, but that causes big companies to lose money, so the only thing parents can do is monitor their children or take away all media. Sadly, money makes the world go round and as long as people find materialistic things such as video games most important the world will continue to see innocent children commit crimes.

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