Sometimes a sword is just a sword . . .

And when thrust into a body of a human being it may maim or kill. By the time one gets to around age 10, one becomes socialised to understand the effect a fast moving sword will have if it were to collide with a human body.

Now, sometimes in a fit of rage, stupidity or callous selfishness we tend to forget these basic truths. Forget yes, but these truths are never "unlearned" they remain known to us. It is with this in mind that I watched all sorts of media reports which set out to prepare South Africa for a disclosure of an unusual murder. This was no ordinary murder, at least that is what we were being prepared to believe. I am unable to find another explanation of how the murder of a 16 year old boy at a school in the west of Gauteng, was treated by the media and how the report was run. For two days the reports did not even mention much of the victim. By the time the perpetrator was disclosed, there was a variety of excuses already lined up; from satanism, to rock music, to drugs.

This reminds me of another school stabbing, this time the weapon of choice was a pair of scissors. Admittedly it was not half as mythical as a samurai sword, in fact most classrooms have these lying in many pencil cases and chair-bags. Those who remember that report will remember how the young man involved was made to bear all responsibility for his actions, correctly so. And of course there were those who were baying for his blood and the blood of his ilk. You see, black people just kill out of primitive passion, they do not need the devil, rock music or drugs to cleave the skull of another.

Another useless trivia about how these events were reported is how long it took for the identity of the perpetrator to be revealed. The young man from the far end of the north-west province was revealed immediately, face and name. The young man from western Gauteng was revealed, name only as far as I know, some 2 days after his rampage.

These are young people caught up in the turbulence of their time. They are indicating to us the trouble that is coming if we do not reach out to them. Their actions are abominable and for that they should bear all responsibility. You will also find that these violent children come in all hues, shapes and sizes.

Maybe all this much ado about nothing is because there are very few journalists among the electronic media news reporters; I don't know maybe the news are scripted badly or maybe there is no script and they are made up as the report goes along. Whatever the case may be, we rely on the news reports, especially electronic news to find out what is going on and what it is that we should read further on, on a given day. We therefore hope for accuracy and abscence of bias.

But then again, maybe we were meant to be kept in suspense, guessing and wondering. Maybe we were meant to consider the influence of satanism, rock music and drugs on our youth, maybe the news reports are just news reports that one should not pay much attention to.

A sword through your gut though, will kill you every time . . .