Police: 9-year-old dies after playground stabbing

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/police-9-year-old-dies-after-playground-stabbing?ocid=fbmsn

KENTWOOD, Mich. (AP) — A 9-year-old boy has died after being stabbed repeatedly by another child at a playground at a mobile home park in western Michigan, police said Tuesday.

Police in Kentwood, near Grand Rapids, said in a statement that Michael Conner Verkerke ran home and collapsed on the porch around 6 p.m. Monday after he was stabbed. An ambulance was called, the department said, and he died after being taken to a hospital.

Witnesses told police four children were playing when one of them, for an unknown reason, pulled a knife and stabbed the boy.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/police-9-year-old-dies-after-playground-stabbing?ocid=fbmsn

KENTWOOD, Mich. (AP) — A 9-year-old boy has died after being stabbed repeatedly by another child at a playground at a mobile home park in western Michigan, police said Tuesday.

Police in Kentwood, near Grand Rapids, said in a statement that Michael Conner Verkerke ran home and collapsed on the porch around 6 p.m. Monday after he was stabbed. An ambulance was called, the department said, and he died after being taken to a hospital.

Witnesses told police four children were playing when one of them, for an unknown reason, pulled a knife and stabbed the boy.

Ban Knives

Now that this is out of the way. Is society sicker than before, or do we have so much ability to disseminate information rapidly, that we are more aware of things like this . 50 years ago this probably would have been a regional event.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Good lord,

What is the world coming to when kids cant play on the playground for fear of getting killed by another kid. Where were the parents when this was happening?

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Ban Knives

Now that this is out of the way. Is society sicker than before, or do we have so much ability to disseminate information rapidly, that we are more aware of things like this . 50 years ago this probably would have been a regional event.

This. Think about it. 50 years ago, bringing a knife to the playground was unheard of unless you were in a gang. Getting pregnant at 13 wasn't even a thought, it only happened to "those" people. Now you have shows that celebrate being 16 and pregnant. Violence on tv was POW, BANG, KA-BLOOEY. Now, it's heads being chopped off and entrails hanging out.

People are desensitized to the point that mass shootings and murders don't even raise an eyebrow.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

I tried looking up the stats but it is a bit difficult to google child on child US violence stats and get anything meaningful..

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

This. Think about it. 50 years ago, bringing a knife to the playground was unheard of unless you were in a gang. Getting pregnant at 13 wasn't even a thought, it only happened to "those" people. Now you have shows that celebrate being 16 and pregnant. Violence on tv was POW, BANG, KA-BLOOEY. Now, it's heads being chopped off and entrails hanging out.

People are desensitized to the point that mass shootings and murders don't even raise an eyebrow.

I know 40 years ago every kid on the play grounds and at school had a knife and it was no big deal.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

It can happen anywhere, even in places you wouldn't expect. I went to a fancy-schmancy day school as a child, where the children of the rich and well-heeled were sent. (I was neither of these things.) In fourth grade, one of these privileged, intelligent children pulled a knife on me in a game of "boys chase girls." He caught me, pushed me up against a tree, and when I play struggled with him (I wasn't in fear), he pulled out a pen knife. It wasn't large, but it scared me. I didn't report it, and no one saw it. He never did anything like this again, and I think we were both surprised it happened.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Man, that's crazy. At my schools, I never heard of anything like that happening. Not until high school, now that was nuts...

[Teddy B 17,252]

Ban Knives

Now that this is out of the way. Is society sicker than before, or do we have so much ability to disseminate information rapidly, that we are more aware of things like this . 50 years ago this probably would have been a regional event.

I think it's a combination of moral decay and the ability and willingness to report it with the push of a button.

There's a plug for Darnell.

[Sousuke 1,214]

IMO the notion of moral decay is a myth. Societies ebb and flow in terms of safety and pregnancies and other occurances. Most of us here are looking at a very small time span in human history as our context. In that time period, society was peaking in its puritanical philosophies.