Schoolchildren who find body in stream then throw stones and take pictures on their phones

As anecdotal evidence to the Op's point, I submit the following study:

Source: www.sciencedaily.com...

Excerpt:

Empathy: College Students Don't Have as Much as They Used To, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (May 29, 2010) — Today's college students are not as empathetic as college students of the 1980s and '90s, a University of Michigan study shows.

I think the problem is more with the general perception that kids are "little angels" rather then just younger less experienced human beings with all of the failings of larger human beings.

There have been Juvenile prisons for a long time, it's not like kids doing things wrong is a new phenomena

Even the concept of "Kids nowadays are so much worse then before is pretty old

However, a pivotal year was 1816 when the Report of the Committee for Investigating the Alarming Increases of Juvenile Crime in the Metropolis was published. The report said little that was new, many of its arguments having already been presented in the pamphlets of the Philanthropic Society (formed in 1788), but it does seem to have sparked a parliamentary debate about such crime.

link

I doubt they were playing a 19th century version of Grand Theft Auto that influenced them to be criminals

reply to post by wayno


True.. However as a child I did not and presume neither did you spend 90% of your free time playing virtual wars on consoles, watching adult themes on tv, being sexualised by the media and on social networking sites which have now become a new source with which idiots both grown up and young kids use to terrorise even unto death some poor victim as THIS STORY FROM TODAY SHOWS

We went outside and tested our strength, built our immune systems, learnt communication skills and how not to be duped.. This generation is brainwashed and their parents allowed it to happen.

I think that this prove that we as a species have been overtaken by technology that we are not responsable to use. Advancements have come too quickly creating a society that cant equalise itself with the sudden impact those advancements bring.. Maybe we need to slow these advancements until society catches up and can be more responsable with them... Another thread on that subject in the future i think

Some cried, some took photos, some threw stones. Pretty natural if you ask me. It's a bit Lord of the Flies. What concerns me more are the "kids" who put this story in the paper and spread it around the planet like it's a huge big deal, who delight in upsetting folk, expecially the relatives of the poor man who died. They're the real dangerous "kids".

reply to post by Yissachar1

Maybe we need to slow these advancements until society catches up and can be more responsable with them

For the good of the children eh?

The answer isn't for you to take away my right to use technology. The answer is for PARENTS to PARENT.

You do realize that throughout the history of our society there has always been a demon which was blamed on the the bad behaviour of children. Culprits in the past have been Rock N Roll, heavy metal, comic books, ect;
Every generation seems to have have something which is used to spread fear of feral youth

Are some kids less empathetic? Are some kids badly behaved? Are some kids just plain freaking bad? Yes, of course, but that is true today as it was 50 years ago. These kids acted normally, even if differently form how you would have.

Agree with you that the overall "quality" of young people has changed overtime. That isn't because of technology, however. It is because the quality of parenting has seriously been downgraded in the last couple of generations.

I can sorta understand the photo taking by young people - first thing they think of is their phone and it has a camera. I am sure their emotions were going crazy - in all directions. The article said some were crying - nothing wrong with that emotion. I don't understand the stone throwing but whos to say how a teen will react to something like this - this is not your everyday occurance. I am not too sure how I would react but I am sure I wouldn't throw stones.

reply to post by ugie1028


the crime scene is where the crime happened.

this is where the body was found and it is not a crime for a body to be in a stream.

of course we paicked when the woman put a cat in the dumpster
and the young girl threw six puppies in a river.

This is not a problem of "parenting" or "video games" or whatever is the popular excuse. This is a problem of ignorance and frankly immaturity. A emotionally mature and mentally sound adult would express alarm, concern and try to call the police. Children can't fathom death, they lack the emotional maturity or the mental ability to understand its consequences. This behavior could be considered psychopathic but psychologists have shown that children are known to be exhibit some of these traits.

reply to post by Yissachar1


As gruesome as this sounds, maybe they were trying to see if the guy was alive by throwing stones. I wouldn't put too much stock in this showing the nature of man and his insensitivity to man.
This is why they call them children.

I once almost picked up a centipede as a child because I thought it was just a worm with legs.

Nothing is weird/new or freaky here. Kids do stupid things because their brain hasn't developed yet.