10-year-old boy hanged himself after watching news of Saddam's hanging

[Sparkly]

HOUSTON - A 10-year-old boy was apparently mimicking Saddam Hussein's execution when he hanged himself from a bunk bed, police and family members said.

Sergio Pelico was found dead Sunday in his apartment bedroom after watching a news report on the execution of the former Iraqi leader, said Webster Police Lt. Tom Claunch.

"Our gut reaction is that he was experimenting," Claunch said after officials spoke with family members. An autopsy of the fifth-grader's body was pending.

Julio Gustavo, Sergio's uncle, described the boy as happy and curious. He said Sergio had watched TV news with another uncle on Saturday and asked the uncle about Saddam's death.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070105/ap_on_re_us/mimicry_hanging

How horrible!!! :cry:

[blondeatlast]

1. Good God. The media isn't even warning us of the graphic content

before they show it--I had to cut the tube off quickly the other day when my 9 yo walked into the room.

We can't see the carnage in Baghdad, but if W likes what he sees, we can replay the gore of a hanging endlessly.

What a world...

Another son lost to this madness--but this one won't be counted as a casualty.

[blondeatlast]

2. Kicking--this taps into so many issues I don't know where to begin. nt

[Lawrence]

3. not to sound callous but

Darwinism?

That kid must be retarded.

[Sparkly]

4. That does sound callous.

He was a KID.

[blondeatlast]

6. You may not have meant to (right...), but you did.

I have a child approximately this age.

Sick response, IMHO.

[originalpckelly]

12. No, the kid is not retarded, society is "retarded" for airing a fucking execution.

We should not regulate this away, we should simply not want this and it should not be profitable for the media to show this on TV. I say people lead a boycott of the evening news, and news in general until they change their editorial policy to not show any potentially dangerous parts of executions.

You think about the Nick Berg video, they only showed him sitting in front of some guys in masks, the only thing a kid can do to imitate that is set up the same scene. People sitting around are not going to result in someone's death.

[cigsandcoffee]

5. Was he listening to Ozzy Osbourne records?

Kids do stupid things. It's a tragedy, but it's folly to start blaming television for it.

[blondeatlast]

8. I have no problem with them showing the hanging, but they don't

warnings about the content.

[cigsandcoffee]

16. Warnings stop 10-year old boys?

No more than "parental adisory" stickers do on records. They're just there to make certain adults feel better.

And anyway, who didn't preface the video with a warning? I have a hard time believing that any network or cable news show didn't preface that video with a warning that the following scenes were disturbing.

[blondeatlast]

18. CNN, at least once on Tuesday.

I do supervise what my son watches and I'm perfectly aware that parental advisory stickers are a sham--I'm select A/V materials for a library.

[originalpckelly]

14. I blame TV and society, but I don't believe we should regulate it away...

people need to start thinking about what they should be watching instead of what they can watch. Should we see an execution on TV?

Not really.

[blondeatlast]

19. Especially since it's such obvious propaganda. nt

[MindPilot]

7. OK that's three.

I'm getting REALLY skeptical of these stories.

[Sparkly]

11. Three what?

I guess I missed the other two.

[blondeatlast]

13. Can you post links to the others?

If someone's pulling a fast one here, I'd appreciate knowing about it.

[MindPilot]

17. I have to hunting for the threads

But there was a 9-year old in pakistan, then a 15-year-old in India all of whom were either supposedly imitating hanging or so distraught over Saddam's death they hung themselves.

on edit here's one: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2674752

And the other: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=3020927

[blondeatlast]

21. No names in that piece, and as the spouse of a very educated Indian, I'll also say that the

that the Times of India tends to be suspect in this household.

[sweetheart]

9. The entire thing is horrible

George Galloway's commentary on saddam's lynching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlKKsY4Zhb4&eurl=

and the criminal bush tragedy costs in blood...

[slj0101]

10. Who will the religious wackos blame for this one?

He obviously wasn't listening to Judas Priest or watching a Harry Potter film.

That is sad. Very sad.

[originalpckelly]

15. No one but themselves.

To my knowledge the Bible doesn't prevent one from seeing such a thing, they might actually have to think about what their children should watch! OMG! Seriously! They may have to think instead of being mindless idiots!

[jsamuel]

20. Must have been the violent video games.

:sarcasm: