Killing of Kayla: Abrasions in childhood

When Kayla Rolland was shot and killed by her six-year-old classmate, it became difficult to hold the child entirely responsible for his actions. PREMA SRINIVASAN writes on the failure of a system and the need to offset with positive influences, the violence that children are exposed to through the media and society.

IN today's society there are two major threats to social maintenance: the abrasions of intensified social living and the frustrations of unrealised expectations. While the adult learns to cope with this dual threat through regular behavioural patterns, children are under great stress because of their inability to respond to these abrasions and frustrations. Adults are a visible presence in their lives. However well-intentioned, teachers, siblings, parents, grandparents and are unable to create the right environment which can nurture socially acceptable norms. The dominant role of television may account for the escalating incidence of violence where children kill other children and assigning responsibility for such incidences becomes a complex issue.

A recent nightmarish incident in an elementary school in Mount Morris Township, near Flint, Michigan, in the U.S., raises the dubious question of social safety in school environments and the wider implications of the behavioural problems of a gun-happy generation. Six-year-old Kayla Rolland is shot dead by a classmate, a six-year-old boy, with a semi-automatic handgun which he brought to school. The killer was also carrying a knife, which was reported to the teacher and was confiscated. Chris Boaz, an eyewitness to this incident reports: as the children were changing classrooms the boy pulled out his pistol and called out to Kayla, who was walking ahead, with a rude "I don't like you." As Kayla responded with a challenging "So?" the boy who had earlier pointed his gun at another, turned around and fired a single bullet at Kayla. The shooter threw his gun into a trash bin and hid himself in the bathroom. By the time the bleeding child reached hospital she was dead. While distraught parents crowded in to take their children away to safety, the assailant was taken to the principal's room for questioning and later to the police station.

Not surprisingly, they learnt that the boy had a background of violence. The father, Dedric Owens, was a drug peddler who was in jail after violating parole. The boy and his eight-year-old brother were living with their mother until recently when she was evicted. The two boys then moved into an unsavoury dwelling with their uncle and another youth, where guns were traded for drugs. A 19-year-old from this dwelling left the loaded murder weapon negligently under the blanket from where the boy picked it up as a toy to experiment on his peer group. That the child was not totally responsible for his lethal act is obvious. Were his surroundings and upbringing responsible for his rage and confusion? Aggressive in his behaviour, he was said to have got into fights at school. Almost every day he was asked to stay back for using swear words or attacking his classmates. A few weeks earlier he had attacked Kayla and on the day prior to the killing, tried to kiss her and was rebuffed. Earlier on the fateful day he had got into a fight with Boaz's uncle and was heard to say: "I'll take my gun and shoot you."

He had also confessed to his father that he hated "them" and that was why he liked to fight. Even with a record of violent behaviour he was not receiving any kind of treatment to help him overcome his problems. The teacher to whom the knife incident was reported did not think of searching him. No social worker, teacher or responsible adult tried to deal with the child's trauma. His own parents were not at hand and his mother had confessed that she had exposed her children earlier to marijuana. Boaz, who witnessed the shooting, is extremely disturbed and does not want to return to school. The mother trying to comfort Boaz explained as best she could "the boy cried out for help but nobody helped him." This, then, was the truth. Not his family, not his school or neighbours comprehended the gravity of the situation till the matter got out of hand in this bizarre manner.

A liberal policy towards gun control is partly to blame. On the Today show, President Clinton said that while the bill (on gun control) is stalled, every single day there are 13 children who die from gun-attacks. Although polls indicate that more people favour gun control, there are those with vested interests who argue that parents and not guns are to be blamed for such frequent tragedies. As for the child himself, how far is he responsible for this murderous act. Without fully understanding that death is irreversible, he seemed to have been imitating the behavioural patterns of the adults around him. His desire for taking revenge on a classmate whom he imagined had slighted him seems to be the only reasoning that could be offered. Joan Little, author of children's books, quotes the incident of a five-year-old who runs away from home. When his teacher asks him if it was not frightening to be so far away from home, the child replies "No" showing them a kitchen knife and a few dollars. "I can take care of myself. I have money and a weapon. That's all you need." This story is an indication of the failure of social responsibility of adults as parents and teachers. In such a society, success in life is best measured by one's possessions and power. Less tangible qualities such as depth of character, personal integrity, or quality of relationships, find little place. Children feel, early in life, that the world is an increasingly violent place, and one is justified in protecting oneself by the adoption of violence also. We are living in a century which can no longer tolerate adults resorting to physical punishment to correct mistakes in their young charges. Adults are busy creating an illusory world full of justice and love, sensibly organised but which has no relation to the realities children will eventually experience. We are not able to prevent the media flood of violence from touching them. The impact of the electronic media on global cultures and the implications of the resultant cultural change on institutions like school and family are phenomenal. The child is not able to distance itself from aggressive behavioural patterns as positive figures like heroes also shoot and kill at the drop of the hat. The child is likely to identify himself with the superman who violently brings order to conflict by destroying his opponent. Psychologists suggest that negative effects of violence can be countered by positive images which a child must encounter in the media, printed page and classroom and family situations. Positive role models in school and home environments, supportive relationships between adults and children, creative pursuits, abolishing of all lethal toys like guns, arrows and knives in play and nurturing strong social skills are some of the suggestions made by researchers who worked on the theme - "How children can cope in a violent world." Suffering and abuse should not be a necessary part of childhood in any part of the globe. Adults as parents, teachers or socially responsible humans, need to shelter children during storms, point out rainbows and tell them that darkness is followed by morning in the journey of life we all make together.

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