An eighteen year old school boy from Johannesburg came to school one morning wearing a mask and carrying a Samurai sword. He lashed out killing one student and injuring others.
There have been cries of Satanism. Heavy metal band Slipknot have been blamed. He has told the psychiatrist that ghosts ordered him to become a Satanist.
But his mother revealed that the boy had been bullied at school. Bullying can have very dire consequences. Often the victims remain silent. They lose self-esteem and going to school means another day of torment. Sometimes bullied children take their own lives. In this case it seems that the bullying victim took action. He became a Satanist. Perhaps he though that this gave him licence to take revenge.
Schools seldom take action when it comes to bullying. Parents shy away from taking action. Perhaps their intervention will only make matters worse.
The killer is in no way justified. But hearing about the bullying meant that I could get a glimpse into the boy's psyche. It made it possible at least to understand.
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