Sunday, July 27, 2014

This crime shocked the hell out of us yesterday: 15-year-old girl arrested for beheading classmate in Sasebo

15-year-old girl arrested for beheading classmate in Sasebo

We saw this on the news yesterday afternoon and ended up discussing it for quite a while.  Horrific in its details, this crime isn't unique.  There have been other high-profile kid killings in Japan.  We're interested in motivation.  What caused this?  The circumstances leading up to it-- a 15-year-old girl living on her own-- have their own sickly fascination, too.  While some teens lead highly supervised lives with little or no free time, going from home to school to clubs to cram schools back home with hardly a break or a moment's respite, others seem to roam untended and unwatched even from very young ages.  People tend to take for granted the wearing of plastic helmets and the use of GPS devices will protect their children because, as they tell their English conversation instructors, "Japan is safety."  But what can protect a teen from one of her friends?

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