An 11-year-old Japanese schoolgirl slashed a classmate's throat and arms during a school lunch break and left her to bleed to death.
It all came about because of unflattering internet comments the victim had made about the girl. Of course, this immediately leads experts to the conclusion that
technology (internet/TV) is the real culprit.
Over a computer ... you can't see the person's face, so it's easier to use increasingly violent language. If that's the case, it's an incident that reflects a pathology of society in the age of the Internet," the Tokyo Shimbun, a major metropolitan newspaper, said in an editorial Thursday.
"What children need most is to be able to piece together real things and real experiences," wrote Hisashi Sonoda, an Internet crime expert at Konan University, in an analysis published by the Sankei Shimbun, a conservative daily.
The girl was attending school and interacting with humans everyday. They act like she was linked to the web with little external human contact. Obviously, some disturbed individuals are going to behave badly with or without access to technology.
At least this was heartening to read...
"The girl may have given some signals, but the greater tragedy is that adults may have overlooked them," said the Tokyo Shimbun editorial. "Ultimately, it's our responsibility as adults to protect children from incidents and crimes."
At least someone thinks that adult and societal neglect and indifference (and possibly the girl's on psychological makeup) might have a bigger roll than the Web.
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