Sweet Young Things

"By RUSS BYNUM and MIKE STOBBE, Associated Press Writers
WAYCROSS, Ga. - Allegations that third-graders hatched an elaborate plot to knock out, handcuff and stab their teacher were met with shock by neighbors and with doubt by psychiatry experts who said it is unlikely that children that young seriously intended to hurt anyone.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080402/ap_on_re_us/children_s_plot

I guess we've all read about the 8 - 10 year old kids in Georgia who've been accused of bringing weapons to school in a kiddie plot to kill the teacher who had earlier punished one of them. The "experts" claim children that age are usually incapable of malice of this type.

Dear "experts" - does the name Lionel Tate come to mind? Although he was twelve when he committed his murder the difference of two years is certainly an indicator that children that age can and do KILL. Young Mr. Tate who was sentenced to prison in 2001 and released in 2004 after some legal maneuvering and a plea bargain is in trouble again. He is now serving 30 years in prison for violating probation and possessing a gun.

There's also the case of Eric Smith. This boy was absolutely scary. He was thirteen when he killed four year old Derrick Robie. Had he not been caught Eric Smith might have well went on to become a serial killer Psychiatrists predicted. Investigators over and over in court made the claim that Eric enjoyed killing young Robie. After killing Robie by choking him then smashing him with a rock, Smith sodomized the boy with a stick and poured Kool-Aid on the body.

An old Chinese proverb says "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step". I'm sure Charlie Manson took his first step at a very young age. So did John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Mark David Chapman, Gary Gilmore, The Green River Killer, etc... the list is endless.

Are these children monsters? I don't know but something is seriously wrong with them and the "experts" need to re-evaluate their stance on the innocence of young children. I believe most children who grow up with psychiatric problems are usually the victims of some sort of abuse. I also believe that some people are just born bad. Whatever is the case with these kids it needs to be nipped in the bud now. Do we need another Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold?

One last comment. Although I grew up in a single parent household my Mother and Father instilled the values and morals that I grew to live with. At the age of ten I KNEW the difference between right and wrong.