Get burned for a while, you know all about it. When I consider the 4.9 million people who, according to MTV, viewed Episode 103 of Jackass without harm, and when I see how lovingly Jason Lind's parents are nursing their son, I think my parents have the right idea. Blaming parents and attacking the media will not stop children from making mistakes. As the psychologist groping to understand a troubled youngster in Peter Shaffer's play Equus says, A child is born into a world of phenomena, all equal in their power to enslave. Suddenly one strikes.
Moments snap together like magnets, forging a chain of shackles.
I can trace them. I can even, with time, pull them apart again. I don't know. And nor does anyone else. All rights reserved.