Killer Kids

Savagery is in all of us. It is how we choose to consume the true beast within ourselves that makes us civilized. But the question is in what state or setting would it take for us as humans to release it. What does it take for humans to go back to our caveman style of living and when exactly do we lose that way of living? In our adulthood?  In our adolescence? When we as people are young we don’t know as much about the world and how to survive in it. Children are more savage than adults because they have been in civilization for less time and they rely more on their animal instincts.

Fear takes a heavy toll on our lives. Out of fear people make some very drastic actions such as shooting up a school. In those moments of fear they are completely vulnerable. In William Golding's Lord of the Flies a group of young schoolboys are stranded on an island from a plane crash and are fighting to stay alive. In the book the boys lose sight on the humble life they once had and turn into complete barbarians. School boys who have never once been outside of society, away from adults, truly on their own lose control of themselves. They are on this island trying to find food and become excited from the rush of hunting commenting “ You should have seen the blood¨(pg.70). They experienced the thrill of the chase. It was at this moment in the book that you could see changes in the boys. They were not the domestic people they started out as and this was just the beginning of the decivilization. All they were doing was hunting pigs but what ended up happening was their animalistic instincts returning to them. Getting blood on their hands changed them in the worst way possible.

No one should commit murder, but when someone does they are frowned upon in society.  They are seen as a monster. So when a child commits such an act as murder it is truly disturbing. According to New York Times, ¨The best predictor of violence is past violence. The earlier the violence, the worse the prognosis''. Meaning that children are influenced by the things they see and hear. They aren´t born a killer they are made a killer. The parents are usually the blame for this. People always wonder how they let their child become a mass murder. But what about society's impact on a young mind? With the things that are shown on tv and the crimes happening in everyday life their are millions of possible faults that are to blame for children who murder. Most of them feel no remorse as to what they did. A 15 year old murderer who killed an elderly woman and a little girl commented on his actions stating ''I don't know the girl so why should I have any feelings about what happened to her?'' The fact that he does not feel guilty about his felony says a lot about the mindset of a young executioner.  At an age so young these kids minds aren't developed enough to know that what they are doing is wrong. They weren't taught this yet. So being as these kids watch the life go out of someone and have no empathy is quite barbaric.

In life, things can go from going really well to very bad almost instantly. Something as simple as a game went from laughing to stabbing very quickly in Lord of the flies. Jack one of the older more violent boys in the group decided that the boy should play a game reenacting the moment that he slaughtered a pig when they were hunting. They decided one of the boys would represent a pig and that he would show what he did to kill it. Things took a turn for the worst when the boys began biting and scratching the boy completely ignoring his cries for mercy. ¨ Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Bash him in!¨ (pg. 114), they chanted completely forgetting that this started out as game. This is a prime example of animal instincts taking over. They became vicious in a childlike game showing again no signs of remorse stating “ that was a good game¨ ( pg.115) while the boy they attacked laid on the ground crying. Coming back to the idea that children don´t know the fault in their actions because their minds aren't fully developed yet. Them not having any repentance makes them even more savage than they already are.

Than again ¨some children do kill knowing exactly what they did was wrong¨ or so everyday psychology. com states. There are cases where kids committed acts of violence and were well aware of what they did. A 13 year old boy was being bullied by an older boy who he played football with. His parents told him to do what he had to do in order to protect himself, so he got a knife and stabbed the bully in the heart. He knows that what he did was wrong but he did it anyway. Again coming back to the concept of children's minds not being completely developed when they commit these crimes, one can assume that they would know not to kill someone. But knowing they aren't supposed to do it makes them want to do it more. In a kids mind that's the game, seeing how far they can go with something without having any repercussions.

Savagery is in all of us. But when it is seen it in the eyes of a child it´s different. Pity is taken on the fact that the criminal is so young. Children are more savage than adults because they have been in civilization for less time and they rely more on their animal instincts. Adults have been in civilization longer than children so therefore they are more domestic than them. Most adults know wrong from right and are charged because of this. They have been exposed to the world and all that it is. Children have not been. Children are uncontrollable. They can be trained like dogs but they could turn on you like dogs.