What was the girl thinking?

小6女児同級生殺害事件の背景

It has been reported that the two girls had corresponded via the Internet and that trouble arose between them over something that at least one of them had written on a Web site. We need to get as close as possible to the truth about the motive for the attack.

One clue, albeit a small one, is that the attacker was carrying the box cutter in her pencil case. Possibly she felt too weak to face up to the other girl without it, or she might have felt enmity toward, or frustration with, the children around her. Perhaps she saw the cutter as a kind of talisman to make up for psychological problems.

Past incidents involving juveniles often have thrown the spotlight on the age of 17. In 1997, though, a 14-year-old boy murdered two children in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. Then there was the case in Nagasaki last year, in which a 12-year-old boy killed a kindergarten child. This time the perpetrator is an 11-year-old girl. One common thread in all of these cases is that they have involved young people in the emotionally turbulent age of puberty.

The question that should be explored most carefully in this case is: Why did the girl give vent to her impulses in such a way? One of the most important issues for youngsters in the age of puberty is learning how to control their impulses and emotions through communication with others. Yet it is only when they meet other people on whom they can depend that children begin to safely communicate and learn to control their impulses. Children who do not have this base of trust are unable to properly gauge their distance from others and tend to become isolated.

For a child who constantly feels pushed into a corner, even a trivial argument or misunderstanding can seem like a matter of life and death. Another aspect of this case that should not be overlooked is that the girls were corresponding over the Internet. In cyberspace, where expressions and mannerisms cannot be seen, even adults sometimes let their emotions run ahead of them. It is possible that the faceless chatting of the two girls amplified the emotional discord between them.

Ascertaining the everyday emotional condition of the assailant, including parent-child relations, and clarifying what triggered the tragedy will greatly help to prevent recurrence of a similar incident. Whenever something like this happens, education officials emphasize the importance of conveying to children the preciousness of life. This time, Education Minister Takeo Kawamura responded with the statement that "the starting point of education is teaching that life must be treasured."

But there is a limit to which this lesson can be taught with words. Almost certainly, those children who have committed murders have understood, in words, the importance of human life. But children watch news about Iraq, for example, and know that many precious lives are being lost every day. Life then looks very cheap indeed. Teaching the preciousness of life in words proves to be an extremely difficult task.

One common underlying characteristic of youngsters who commit assault is a strong feeling of self-denial. They are isolated and convinced that they are not worth loving. It is rather difficult to tell people who do not love themselves that they should be compassionate toward others. If one does not know one's value, he or she is not going to understand the value of others. And he or she is not going to think about the lives of others. The line between injuring oneself and injuring others is wafer-thin.

There seems to be an increasing number of young people who get caught up in the feeling of self-denial. On the same day of the incident in Sasebo, a fifth-grade elementary-school girl in Hyogo Prefecture committed suicide by jumping from her apartment building. According to the government, 123 youngsters of elementary, junior high and senior high-school age committed suicide in fiscal 2002. Schools and parents should give careful thought to the rule that the shortest route to safety is to give warm and thoughtful support to their children.

The Japan Times Weekly
June 19, 2004
(C) All rights reserved

      かつての衝撃的な少年犯罪の加害者は、17歳が中心だったが、97年には神戸市で14歳の男子生徒が2人の児童を殺害した。昨年には、長崎市で12歳の男子生徒が幼稚園児を殺害した。今回の事件の加害者は11歳の女子である。

      この事件では殺害への衝動を詳しく調査すべきだ。思春期の少年少女の問題は、他者との交流を通じて、いかに衝動や感情を抑制するかだ。信頼できる人が身近にいれば、安心して自分の気持ちを伝え、衝動を抑制できる。信頼できる人がいなければ、他者との距離を測れず、孤立する。

      精神的に追い込まれている子供にとっては、ちょっとした言い争いや誤解も生死に関わる問題になりかねない。

      被害者、加害者はインターネットで通信をしていた。ネット上の通信では相手の表情や身振りが見えないので、成人でも感情的になることがある。

      河村文部科学相は今回の事件について、教育の原点は「生命の貴さを教えることだ」と述べた。しかし、そのことを言葉で教えるのには限度がある。殺人を犯した子供たちは生命の重要性を言葉の上では理解していたに違いない。しかしながら例を挙げると、イラク関係のテレビニュースを観れば、生命が軽視されていると感じて当然だ。

      他者を攻撃する児童の共通の特徴は自己否定の感情を持っていることだ。自分を愛せないものに他者に思いやりを持てといっても無理だ。

      自己否定の感情を持つ子供が増加しているようだ。佐世保の事件と同じ日に、兵庫県の小学5年少女が自宅マンションから飛び降り自殺をした。02年度には123人の小中高校生が自殺したという。学校と両親が子供を温かい思いやりの気持ちで支えることが求められる。