A
curious case of an young Indian boy from New Delhi, has been reported
by Singapore news paper, Strait times. This young boy, just 13 years
old, is studying at the Global Indian International School in
Queenstown, Singapore.
This
boy, perhaps peeved and frustrated due to some pressures from
unknown reasons, vented out his ire and frustration by writing a 4
line message on facebook, which said that the day he leaves
Singapore, he is going to take “a big big revenge,” “spit
everywhere” and “plant bombs on Marina Bay Sands.” The
four-line post also contained an expletive and was critical of
Singapore.
An
Internet user who saw it, immediately made a police report last week
and the police took prompt action by arresting this 13 year child for
allegedly making an online threat to bomb Marina Bay Sands. Global
Indian International School also lost no time and suspended the boy
from the school and says that it was in touch with his father “to
offer advice” pending the result of the police investigation and
adds that it has set up an internal review committee to investigate
further and to reinforce its online and offline codes of conduct.
Meanwhile facebook profile of the boy has been taken down and he has
been released on bail.
According
to Singapore laws a person found guilty of falsely threatening
terrorist acts can face being fined up to $100,000, jailed for up to
five years, or both. A criminal lawyer from Singapore says that
people, who carry out bomb hoaxes are often referred for a mental
examination and adds that this case was “unique” as most juvenile
offenses involve crimes such as theft.
It
would be easy to put the blame of this incident on facebook. However
facebook stipulates that a person above age of 13 can open a facebook
account and since this boy meets that condition, facebook is pretty
much in the clear here. Whether age limit of 13 proscribed by
facebook as an age limit, is good enough age to allow children its
use or not, is a different issue of of debate, with which I am not
concerned here.
I have
highlighted this case here to point out the potential hazards of
allowing, uncontrolled free use of modern gadgets and internet to
children and preteens, by their parents. Anyone who has raised
children, would vouch for the unstable temperability of the preteens,
particularly boys. They are highly emotional and have a feeling of
injustice being done to them all the time. I have seen many present
day parents gifting internet connected devices such as smart phones
or tablets to their preteen children without any form of parental
control. It is like giving a sharp edged instrument in the hands of
an untrained, where most likely result would be a self inflicted
wound. There is no wonder that unfortunate cases like the one I
mentioned above, happen. Such an happening can ruin the life of the
boy as well as the parents.
A
generation back, most of the parents, particularly mothers, used to
watch their preteen boys and girls all the time. Who are the friends?
What kind language they speak? How they dress? Hundred things like
this. Even though, this parental caution still exists in most other
fields, somehow, whenever any demands come from preteens regarding
modern electronic gadgets, parents usually oblige without thinking
much about the potential hazards. According to me, this generosity on
the part of parents, may turn into a danger trap as seen in the above
example.
The
case of this Singapore lad, could be considered as a warning for
today's parents and greater need to exercise full parental control on
preteen children till they grow up. Once the kids start understanding
consequences of their own actions, they are free to face the world on
their own terms.
4
January 2012
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