Hot on HuffPost Parents:
Pamela Redmond Satran: 14 New But BIZZARE Baby Names
'Vaccine Gap' Puts Pressure On Public Health System
7-year-old goes on zoo rampage
Filed under: In The News
A seven-year-old breaks into the local zoo. Sure, it's an unusual story, but you'd expect to hear that he just wanted to get a closer look at the animals and that his parents were relieved to find him safe and sound.What happened in Australia this week, however, was far more disturbing. A 7-year-old boy hopped the fence of the Alice Springs Reptile Center in central Australia. He then took a rock and killed several animals, feeding them to the zoo's 440-pound saltwater crocodile, Terry. Not satisfied, he threw several more live animals over the fence to Terry. In all, the reportedly blank-faced boy killed 13 animals worth over $5,000, including a beloved 20-year-old goanna. The zoo's director Rex Neindorf says that the boy was lucky not to be eaten by Terry himself.
Because of his young age, authorities can't press charges, though the zoo plans to sue the boy's parents. "I just want people to learn that they can't let their children go and run amok," said Neindorf. "If we can't put the blame on the child, then someone needs to accept the responsibility." Taking responsibility is important, that's true. But the horrific abuse this boy inflicted on the zoo animals should be a far greater cause for concern for his parents and authorities alike than traditional punishment. Children "run amok" all the time; most don't commit crimes as gruesome as this one.
What do you think?
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
Recently Asked
- If you kicked your college-aged child out of the house because of irresponsibility, would you grieve if your child died
- I cant be the only resposible parent that has a child age 3 who is creative enough to escape the house. I have put up multiple barriers and if even on...
- My husband's ex turns the kids against us.
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
A Five-Year-Old in Debt: The Instructive Power of Gaming
Video games are usually viewed as a form of escapism: pure entertainment and shoot-em-up fantasy. But increasingly, games are being recognized as educational tools, or as deliverers of social or political messages. This evolving medium is taking on complex environments and issues, and providing a platform for people to explore a world or situation in an interactive way. In this talk Ian Bogost presents the game Animal Crossing, and its instructive qualities.
-
Mother's Vegan Diet Blamed for Baby's Death
A vegan couple in France, charged with neglect, may face up to 30 years in jail after their 11-month-old daughter died from a vitamin deficiency.
-
Scarlett Johansson's Teen Hollywood Years
At 27 years old, We Bought a Zoo star Scarlett Johansson has already enjoyed quite a lengthy career in Hollywood, having landed her first movie role in North when she was just 9. Now, we're taking a look back at the star before she skyrocketed to fame. Based on the book We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo and the 200 Zoo Animals that Changed Their Lives Forever by Benjamin Mee.
-
Dolphin Gets Artificial Fin
Fuji the 37 year-old dolphin is the proud owner of the world's first artificial fin.
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 5 of 30)
10-05-2008 @ 7:02PM
Julie said...Nik, you think the kid needs to get picked on??? If a sociopath, what do you think he might do to those who would pick on him? And....this probably has absolutely nothing to do with spanking or not spanking. These characteristics are hereditary, too.
10-05-2008 @ 7:57PM
Nik said...Your abousoutely right. What I really meant to say was, he needs parents to be watching him everyday and set up a nanny with him, nanny's help I think. But at age 7 I think they need to be sent to a private school. No more field trips with parents, I would think better than that. Welfare Program Wake Up NOW! Get this a 10 year old in Northern California set the fire while the Santa Ana winds were blowing. I think the seven year old needs to be sent to a psyciatric away in the U.S.A. put him on a bus with total strangers. Then we well send him back, but better behaved. One can only hope and pray that he does not return to hurt animals.
10-03-2008 @ 9:21PM
pamela said...ok now, everyone is all on this 7 year old, one word people "PARENTS" did anyone think what could be happening at home?, plus just because the kid {and im not justifing what he did to the animals} did this, dose'nt nessecerly mean he'll be a serial killer,yes he does need help, but i think there could be something wrong with his home life.
Reply
10-03-2008 @ 11:04PM
Chris said...It is this kind of thinking that has our children acting the way they are and getting younger all the time. When are we going to start asking them to take responsibility for their actions and stop blaming everybody and everything else! At 7 yrs old you know right from wrong and this kid was enjoying himself. Once again nothing can be done to teach him there are consequences for his deplorable behavior. It would not surprise me one bit to hear about him again someday and his lawyer will be telling everybody it is all because of his terrible home life.
10-05-2008 @ 2:26PM
patticrompton said...Pam; I agree with what you said, I think something is going on at home and it should be looked into. it could be a cry for help.
10-03-2008 @ 11:35PM
Meagan said...Ok, obviously this kid is out of control, and obviously he knew he was doing something wrong, but I think it's going a bit far to assume he's a sociopath. It does not strike me as all that strange for a young child to want to see a crocodile eat other animals. The killing is disturbing, but does not necessarily prove that the kid is unbalanced. It is true that many serial killers torture animals. It is also true that many young children who do NOT become serial kills torture animals before their moral sense is fully developed.
Before you all jump on me, please understand that I am not defending this child's actions, (or those of any child who kills or tortures animals) nor am I suggesting that strong action doesn't need to be taken to prevent him growing into a psycho. All I'm saying is that this might not have meant the same thing to a seven year old as it does to us.
Reply
10-04-2008 @ 10:07AM
Jenni said...It is the CLASSIC sign of a sociopath. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. Every serial killer has this in common (not just a few...EVERY ONE!). It sucks, it's very sad, but he needs immediate help.
In my profession, any time we have a child who is mean to animals, we refer to counseling because of this fact. There is something wrong in the brain (chemically, physically, I don't know the exacts). They are wired differently and they need help.
Home life doesn't matter. It can be a great home life, it can be a horrible home life. What matters is the brain. Serial killers come from them all.
I'm not taking the parents completely out of the blame, here. But they need help in helping their child.
10-05-2008 @ 3:32PM
nina Errichiello said...The 7 yr old is a potential serial killer in the future....it is something his parents have nothing to do about raising him...it is a gene somewhere in his brain that is causing him to react in this manner....yes, deep phycological therapy is needed, but, i doubt if it would work, with meds, perhaps...& when he is tired of the meds reactions, he will end up a serial killer.....i wish there was a happy ending to this tragic child's future, but, i don't see that he can be cured........unfortunately, not only for him, his parents, or the people he will kill, he already is a sociapath, & at a very young age, when boys his age are playing sports................i pray i am wrong.
10-05-2008 @ 3:43PM
elizabeth said...this child killed the animals with a rock first, then threw them to the croc. The kid is a sociopath and it's not always the parents that make them this way. It seems to be in the genes acording to some recent research. I grew up hard and so did some of the people I knew and know now. I do not kill animals or people or abuse them either.
10-05-2008 @ 3:53PM
dee said...all i know is that i would not want my kids playing with a child like that. I would like to know how this boy's parents are like. if their child at this stage could break an entry and then kill. it's just so scary at age 7. wow, hello psychiatric home!
10-04-2008 @ 12:32AM
David Robinson said...Perhaps we all should see Equs before passing judgment.
Reply
10-04-2008 @ 3:28AM
Mihir said...what the hell?? i'm sure it took more than say, 5 seconds, to kill all these animals and throw them to the gators. no one thought to chuck a rock at the kid and show him it actually hurts??
Reply
10-05-2008 @ 2:33PM
Diana Bauer said...The child broke into the zoo at about 7:30 in the morning before it was open to the public and before most of the employees reported to work.
10-04-2008 @ 9:23AM
CLM said...It took 1/2 hour to kill all of those animals according to the Australian media. That is messed up! Who lets their 7 year old out of their sight for 1/2 hour!
Reply
10-05-2008 @ 2:13PM
Luanne said...your right! where were the parents? you dont let a 7 year old out like that by themselves for that long not knowing what they are doing. This boy definitly needs help and the parents should be held responsible for his act.
10-05-2008 @ 7:30PM
bcobainb said...he was on his way to school
10-04-2008 @ 10:03AM
mynennni said...Pamela,
It is a proven FACT that serial killers were mean to animals in their youth. So, yes, it is fair to believe that a child at this young age who does this should be treated as possibly being a future serial killer.
Sometimes, it has everything to do with home life. Sometimes, however, it has NOTHING to do with home life. It is an actual physical or chemical problem within the brain system.
When we see see children, in my profession, who are mean to animals, we take it very seriously and begin counseling immediatly.
I'm not talking s/he pets the dog too hard. I'm talking the torture and cruelty. They can come from any type of parents.
Reply
10-04-2008 @ 7:02PM
Alison said...I think the second an animal's worth is calculated in a dollar amount, you can point straight to the problem: The culture. This boy is totally outside the norm and obviously has a serious case of early onset conduct disorder but we also live in a culture that devalues animals so much that when an article is written about them, the factors used to persuade readers of the seriousness of the incident related to loss of animal life is not the value of animal life itself, or the value of those individual animals, but that they are worth some amount of money or that, well, they aren't quite rare but they are hard to replace. Right there, you have the pathology leering at you, wide-eyed and bushy tailed. Society can blame the kid, or the parents, or the mental disorder but none of those things are independent of the pathology of the culture that is so clearly evident in the article. Just my two cents.
Reply
10-05-2008 @ 6:48AM
Kerry said...Murder In the Making I feel he should Pay for His Actions if it was my child id get him surtified and put him in a pych ward if kids who cut them selfs can go in then he can i just hope some one in the future dose what he did to them animals before he becomes the next ian brady or Ed Gene that kid is seriously Messed up to not even feel a ounce of empethy for the animals is just serial killer tendencies not all phycopaths kill animals but most start of killing pets and animals its just there trate..
I feel he should be put in a hospital and given theropy until hes 18 as a punishment at lest it might help his future or ours!!!
Reply
10-05-2008 @ 11:22AM
Jenni said...You're right, not all sociopaths kill animals, but they all torment them. I hate to keep beating this in, but I don't think everyone gets how serious this really is.
Children who torture and kill animals end up killing and torturing as adults. It doesn't matter if their parents beat them or are the best parents in the world. It has little to nothing to do with their environment and totally to do with the wiring of their brains.