A trigger-happy society

As a society, there is a serious need of understanding what is making our children more and more desensitised.

On January 4, a seven-year-old boy from Charsadda district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) shot dead an eight-year-old over a minor argument which broke out during a cricket match they both were playing. Earlier in 2012, a 10-year-old shot his mother dead in Lahore, a case that was well publicised in the media and sparked countless debates on online forums regarding gun control and curbing easy access to firearms. Similarly, how can one forget the harrowing case of 16-year-old Hamza Ahmed, who was also shot dead by the guard of a schoolmate?

All this poses the question as to how and why minors get their hands on weapons clearly meant to be used by a responsible adult, and what it is that lets them feel that it is acceptable to use a firearm in an unpleasant situation. A variety of reasons can lead a child to believe that certain things are acceptable and one of them is, if they have seen an adult do the same thing. It is a known fact that children learn from their surroundings. Like a sponge they absorb the good, the bad, and most definitely, the ugly that they see around them.

Regarding the Charsadda incident, one could argue that ‘gun culture’ is quite prevalent in K-P, which is why a seven-year-old saw nothing wrong with firing at his opponent. However, this is a very weak argument to make. Why brand a certain area a hotbed of gun culture when the phenomenon is spread out far and wide, surpassing territorial distinctions?

From toy guns that parents happily buy for their children to movies, popular TV shows and video games, violence, weapons and general mayhem is everywhere. It is glorified in films and fed to us through endless line-ups of action-packed adventures and consumed by audiences across the world. As a society, there is a serious need of understanding what it is that is making our children more and more desensitised to and accepting of violence and how we can nip the problem in the bud. After all, none of us would want our child growing up to genuinely believe that shooting someone is the best way to answer hostility.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2014.