1. “I didn’tdo it!”
Russell Grenning
How manyof ushave beenguiltyof sayingthatwhenwe were kids – or evenadults – whenwe have
beenaccusedof some misbehaviour,withorwithoutanyevidence? Andhow manyof us have
heardthat automaticdefence response fromourchildrenandgrandchildren?
Its rightup there with “Arewe there yet?”
How thisishandledina domesticsituation isdifficultrequiringtact,diplomacy,understandingand,
above all,a realisationandacceptance of the factthat a childis notjusta little adult.Childrenare
differentandneedtobe treateddifferently.
I was remindedof thiswhenIreadaboutthe case of a 9 year oldinIdaho(USA) who hasbeen
arrestedandincarceratedina juvenile detentioncentreforfailingtoturnup incourt to face a
charge of stealingchewinggum.The local police chief saidhe wasshockedandthatit isthe first
time inhisthirtyyearsof lawenforcementhe hadseenanarrestwarrant forsomebodythatyoung.
He addedthatthe child’sparentshadnoway of gettinghimto the court.
The prosecutorinthe case defendedthe actionsayingthe childhadtwice failedtoappear.
One celebratedcase of a childcommittingaseriouscrime wasalsointhe USA in 1989 whena9 year
oldboy deliberately shothis7year oldplaymate dead.Theyhadbeenplayingvideogamesatthe
victim’shouse andshe (the victim) hadtoldhimthatshe wasbetterat it than he was.
Enragedby that and alsohisparents’refusal tolethimplayoutside inthe snow withthe girl and
otherkids,he calmlytooka high-poweredhuntingriflefromhisfather’sguncabinet,loadeditand
aimeditout of the windowshootingthe girl inthe back.
As she laydying,the boytoldanotherplaymate, “If you don’tthinkaboutit,you won’t besad.”
If an adulthadsaid thatafter committingasimilarcrime we wouldbe outraged,appalledand
disgustedbutfroma childitdoeshave a certainbrutal logicabout it.If you are capable of not
thinkingaboutanytragedy,thenitsimplywon’taffectyou.
Thisone commentdoggedthe boythrougha seriesof courtappearances – it condemnedhimas
coldand remorseless.The firstrepercussionwasthe questionof whetherornothe shouldhave
beentriedasan adultor a childwhich,inmyview,itincredible.Whateverhe haddone,he wasstill
9 yearsold.
Eventuallyafterapleaagreementhe wasconvictedof the misdemeanourof involuntary
manslaughterandplacedonprobationuntil he turned21.
A leadingAmericanforensicpsychiatristandauthorityon childdevelopment,DrLouisKraus,studied
thiscase.He saidthat childrendonotdevelopasense of remorse until theyare 5 or 6 or evenolder
insome cases.“Many kids havedifficultyexpressing a senseof remorseand many times thatis
becauseof the trauma they haveexperienced,”he said.

2. But Dr Kraus alsosaidthat if children – the street-smartsavvykids –realisedif remorse playsabig
role intheirsentencingtheywould “simply say how sorry they areand try and appearremorseful”
He saidthat the keyto understandingthiswastounderstandbraindevelopment –that part of our
brainthat controlsemotionsdoesn’tfinishgrowinguntilourearly20s. That meanseventeenagers
have difficultyunderstandingorexpressingremorse.
“The reality is thata lot of these kidshavedifficulty with whatthey say and how they say it,” he said.
An Americanlawprofessorwhoalsostudiedthiscase,DrMartha Duncan,saidit showedthat,
“Sometimeskidsare expected to be innocentsbecauseof theromanticarchetypeof the child. In
juvenilecases,and juvenilecases alone,sophistication isconsidered a bad thing.To thedegree that
the child appearssophisticated,thejuvenilejusticesystemis morelikely to treatyou as an adult,”
she said.
Dr Duncan contends thatchildrenare not necessarilyequippedtodeal withfeelingsof guiltor
remorse evenif theyfeelthem. “They areparticularly adeptat using denialto bury strong feelings.
The factthat they showno remorseis, in reality, a strong indication of their immaturity,”she said.
Americanpsychoanalystandauthor,DrMartha Wolfensteinhaswrittenthatchildrenare onlyable
to endure painful emotionsforveryshortsperiodsof time. “Justastheirattention span is shorter
than mostadults,so is their ability to remain in the painfuleffectof sadnessorsorrow notvery long.
When you start thinking aboutit,it’s kind of common sense,” she wrote.
Perhapswe shouldrememberthata characteristicof normal childrenisthattheydon’talwaysact
that way?