If you are a parent, you will agree with me that we always want to see the best in our children; we might even be a bit blind to their shortcomings, but could you be raising a rapist or serial killer? It is always hard to imagine young people as heinous criminals, but now and then, we read about them, and we wonder why.
Children who kill is not a new phenomenon. In 1748, William York, aged 10, murdered a five-year-old girl because he didn’t like her. But this was in England; let’s take a look a bit closer to home.
In South Africa, 21 022 murders were recorded between April 2018 and March 2019, 736 of these murders were committed by children.
The big question remains, why? Why do some children act this way and others don’t? People often look at the parents when their kids are convicted of horrendous crimes, especially the mothers. And in return, these parents often look at themselves, was it the genes? Were we too strict or not strict enough? Did we not love enough, or did we neglect this child?
According to the profiler, Micki Pistorius, Marlene Lehnberg came from a conservative and strict background, her parents were uninvolved. Also known as The Scissor Murderess, Lehnberg was 18 years old when she stabbed her lover’s wife to death.
In the book ‘Kinders Wat Moor’ I read that murder starts at home. Research has shown that when a mother is unable or unwilling to care for an infant, it has detrimental effects. When a child doesn’t receive the care that they need, they become emotionally traumatised. When these children grow up, they might have problems maintaining stable relationships.
Kosie van Zyl was 18 years old when he was charged with murdering his father Koos van Zyl. Koos had been abusing Kosie since he was 9 months old. He was removed from school when he was 9 years old. At 18, he looked like a 13-year-old, and apparently, he was beaten by his father. His mother knew, his pastor knew, and no one did anything. Kosie was found not guilty.
According to the FBI, in America, between 200 and 300 parents are murdered each year by their children.
It is easy for us to look away, and then read about it in the news years later.
Speak up today, before it is too late.
It would seem that murder does start at home.
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