Very, very nuts.
CAIRO, Egypt - The boys' deaths - scattered in the United States, in Yemen, in Turkey and elsewhere in seemingly isolated horror - had one thing in common: They hanged themselves after watching televised images of Saddam Hussein's execution.
Officials and relatives say the children appeared to be mimicking the former dictator's Dec. 30 hanging, shown both on a sanitized Iraqi government tape and explicit clandestine videos that popped up on Web sites and some TV channels.
The leaked videos, apparently taken by cell phone cameras, set off international outrage over the raucous scene at Saddam's execution, but some experts are more concerned about the images of the deposed Iraqi leader dropping through the gallows floor and his body swinging at the end of a rope.
The experts say such graphic images can severely affect youngsters who do not yet understand the consequences of death and violence - especially because Saddam's death received intense international attention.
I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. The parents are blaming the TV coverage. Or the internet coverage. Or something. And then there's this.
Ramy, the professor in Egypt, said children are prone to imitating violence they encounter on television, the Internet and movies, but usually they act out against another person. Mimicking a hanging or suicide is unusual, but perhaps in this case it is unsurprising, he said.
Because "some people have said Saddam is a hero and martyr and have glorified his death, this has affected children," Ramy said.
But Jasem Hajia, a child psychologist in Kuwait City, cautioned against placing all the blame on video images. "This is extreme, and I think there were physiological disorders as well with the children," Hajia said.
Ya think?
