Comments by Children on the Six-Year-Old Perpetrator

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Six-Year-Old Kills Another Six-Year-Old
Children as Perpetrators
Comments on Six-Year-Old Perpetrator
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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Latest update: March 13, 2000
jeanne
Susan
Comments by Children on Six-Year-Old Killing

On March 13, Chandra Robinson wrote:

Hello, Jeanne. Today I went to work and told my special education class of third graders that we students at Dominguez would be disscussing the tragic event of the six-yearold killing. My kids say that they should have a say since the topic is about children. So I put up the following journal topic: The news has been giving up-dates on the six year old killing. They report that a six year old boy, who had threatened to harm a female classmate the day before, brought a gun to school and shot that female student killing her. Do you ever get mad enough to want to kill someone?
Here are my students' responses:

Jeremiah Davis grade 4:
I feel sad about kids killing other kids. How do you other kids out there feel about kids killing kids? I hope you will feel sad too. I do not get mad enough to want to kill someone.
De Andre Cole, grade 4:
I feel sad about this. I feel that if I hurt a little girl, I would kill myself. If I killed a little girl, I would run out of state. If I ever hurt a little girl, I would never go home.
De Anthony Miller, grade 3:
I feel sad because it is not right to kill someone. I will not kill anybody. That isn't right to have a little kid shoot somebody else. How could a little kid have a gun?
Antione Marshall, grade 4:
I feel mad because he shouldn't have killed that 6 yr. old girl. If it was me and I would have killed that girl, I would turn myself in and I would tell them to give me a year in jail and when I get out I would get a job and pay for the girl's funeral.
Kevin Johnson, grade 4:
I feel sad about a little girl getting killed. I would never get mad enough to kill a little pretty girl. She was in kindergarten.
Ronald Coleman, grade 4:
I feel mad. That was bad. But the boy felt mad. I don't like that he killed the girl. He did wrong. Why did he do that? He thought it was a game. I wouldn't have done that. How did he get the gun? I know. They probably had a gun in the house, and he saw it.

Well there you have it. Straight out of the mouths of babes. Stay tuned for their comments on the much publicized Proposition 22.
On March 13, jeanne responded:
What a great idea, Chandra. Because the children chose to participate I put up their names, since the area is very large, and there is no access to them. I hope they will enjoy their fame.
I like the idea of sharing our concerns about violence with our children. They are right; it is about them, and they do have something to say. Witness what these children are expressing. Most of them are expressing sympathy with the child who was shot, referring to her as pretty, worrying about her funeral.
They want to share in these discussions. They want to know what others feel. What hope there is in that! One puts himself in place of the perpetrator, and imagines how he would feel had he done such a thing. One would run out of State! What beautiful insight into the size of his/her world!
They express sadness and anger that one could so hurt another. And several wonder how a little kid could get a gun. These children display remarkable sensitivity and sharing, Chandra. How wise of you to have shared this with them and with us.