I’ve been trying, over the last few days, to think of something to say about the horrific crime committed by the two brothers in Edlington. Or rather to think of something to say that hasn’t already been said.
Well, I’d given up – until this morning, when I was talking to my husband about it and he said to me “are you surprised? As a teacher, are you really surprised about what some kids are capable of?”
Sadly – the answer has to be “no”. Yes, I’m shocked, as I’m sure everyone who’s heard about this is. But surprised? No. And how awful is that?
I suppose we’re lucky that something of this nature doesn’t happen more often, given the number of children and young people out there that come from so-called “broken homes – who are growing up with no guidance, no discipline, no role models and, probably, no love or affection. I’ve not read all the articles that have been published since the story about the trial hit the media, but this comment, from The Times has stuck with me -
Martin Narey, the chief executive of Barnardo’s, said last night that many more children need to be taken into care at birth to stop them being damaged beyond repair by bad parenting.
There is an overriding assumption these days that children are better off with their parents, seemingly regardless of what those parents are doing to their offspring. But surely, neglecting them and allowing them to do whatever the hell they want is just as bad as beating the crap out of them each night.
The answers are complex – and politicians think they would be unpopular, which is why they’re all too scared to do anything that would make a difference.
Again, from The Times -
This horror occurred because the system for intervention in the lives of neglected children is woefully inadequate and intellectually and economically flawed. Too late, too short-term, too wishy-washy, too cheapskate.
Dozens of people will have seen this particular horror coming for years. The police said yesterday that all the agencies had been involved with these children since an early age. Teachers, neighbours, social workers, police officers, health workers, parents — everyone who has had contact with the brothers since birth, probably — will have known trouble was looming. Since they were toddlers, in effect, they have been wearing labels screaming “Help me! lost child!” 5ft wide.You can put money on it that they have a record of exclusions from school. Equally, you can be sure they have grown up in a spectacularly dysfunctional family. You can speculate whether, as well as suffering from complex emotional and behavioural problems born of poor parenting, the boys are on the autistic spectrum and have poor speech and language skills.These boys had their fate written for them: perhaps from birth.
So there are no surprises, but that’s precisely my point. Everybody knew this, but nobody did anything. The authorities stayed in their silos, guarded their threadbare budgets, watched their backs and let the slow motion tragedy unfold. Why? Because that’s what the system decrees that they do.
And that’s what we, as a society, are up against. When I was listening to a report on the radio this week, the senior police officer being interviewed said that although these two boys had been on their radar for some time, there was nothing they could have done to prevent this crime, despite their having been questioned about a similar offence shortly before. Sure, none of us wants to live in a society where we could be detained because of something we might do – but none of us wants to live in a society where a crime like this can be perpetrated by two children, even when a number of adults – police, doctors, teachers, social workers - saw it coming a mile off.
I suppose the thing that sickens me more than anything is the fact that two boys – children – could actually contemplate doing such terrible things. That they did them is bad enough, but that they had, somewhere in their minds, the ability to actually think up and plan to do the things they did is even more appalling. My eldest daughter is ten now, and she would no more dream of hurting another child than she would of robbing a bank. What sort of life have those boys had that has equipped them with the – for want of a better word – imagination - to come up with the idea of torturing their victims in the way that they did?
I fully understand why the CPS has taken the decision to avoid a trial. I have no strong opinion on that either way; if the sentence is the same for GBH as for attempted murder, then as long as the sentence is carried out appropriately I think that justice has been served.
Although of course we all know that chances are, the boys will be out in ten years or so, complete with new identities and police protection.
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September 6th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
It’s tragic. There are kids out there who have been born into a miserable existence and who are given absolutely nothing worth having by their parents. Then, as here, it seem no one else cares enough to do anything about it. No wonder they feel they owe the world absolutely nothing either and that hurting others doesn’t touch their consciences. Consciences have to be nurtured. This is all so sad.
September 6th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I agree – it’s terrible that there are kids out there who have been brought into this world and then more or less left to their own devices. It’s not fair on them – and as time goes on it’s not fair on the rest of us who are expected to pick up – or try to pick up – the pieces, and unfair on the other kids in their class, or their street or wherever who then have to put up with their unacceptable behaviour.
I have nothing but sympathy for kids who have such terrible home lives – but on the other hand, it’s not fair that they should be allowed to affect so many of their peers – either by being disruptive in the classroom and having a negative effect on the education of others, or by such extreme behaviour as in this case.