Expert: Violent content may have driven boy to kill cousin

Beyond a crime believed to have been committed by an eight-year-old during a child fight is a behavioral attribution considerably influenced by exposure to cartoon shows and video games with violent content, says University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Psychology professor Marjun Delgado.

- 

This was her assessment after an eight-year-old boy who “confessed” to being behind the death of his five-year-old cousin was turned over to the Argao Municipal Social Welfare and Development (MSWD) for counseling and rehabilitation.

On the evening of November 26, the victim’s mother reported to the Argao Municipal Station that her five-year-old son was found floating in a knee-level creek near their house in a mountainous barangay in Argao town, Cebu. The child was already lifeless and had a slash wound on his neck, which was later found to have been caused by a bladed weapon.

Police investigation initially revealed that it was out of anger that the eight-year-old threw his right hand, which was holding a cutter, and struck his cousin in the neck.

In the eyes of the psychology expert, Delgado said watching cartoon shows and playing video games with violent content played a primary role in the behavior of the child in question.

Delgado particularly pointed to the common cartoon “immortality” concept, wherein characters are depicted as unable to be permanently killed and are able to recover instantly.

“Kanang mga cartoons, known na for crime scenes ug violence... Kung imo pusilon, kung imo dunggabon-mabuhi man,” she said.

Because of this, Delgado urged parents to always monitor the cartoons watched and video games played by their children, as they may be exposed to explicit content inappropriate for their age.

“Ang cartoons na gipakita sa bata dapat dile bisan unsa na cartoons,” she said, recommending that educational content is more appropriate.

For her part, Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 7 (DSWD-7) Regional Director Shalaine Marie Lucero said that on top of the crime being a reflection of a “societal ill,” the call for strengthened parental supervision grows stronger as juvenile cases remain prevalent.