In this deranged modern society, children sometimes face appalling obstacles.
On Monday, the Philadelphia Police Department in Pennsylvania announced an investigation into four recent armed carjacking incidents.
Tragically, the PPD identified the two suspects as a 17-year-old black male and another black male aged 10-12.
The four carjacking incidents occurred between Aug. 16 and Aug. 22. Each incident took place under cover of darkness, either at night or very early in the morning.
In each case, the suspects approached on foot and stole the vehicles at gunpoint.
Victims included three men and a 74-year-old woman.
In the case of the three male victims, the suspects reportedly used a handgun to steal the vehicles.
When robbing the 74-year-old woman, however, the suspects allegedly pushed the victim to the ground and took her keys and wallet along with her vehicle. They did this while toting a handgun.
Furthermore, three days after stealing their second vehicle, the suspects got into an accident involving that vehicle. Then, they immediately stole the third vehicle.
Should crime be punished more harshly as a deterrent to would-be perpetrators?
In other words, they seem to have grown more brazen and violent with each successive theft.
You can watch one of the carjackings below:
Thus, the PPD investigation involves both the Central Detective Division and the Major Crimes Carjacking Task Force.
One shudders, of course, at the idea that a child as young as 10 could have any involvement in such crimes.
To those whose thoughts tend in a historical direction, such incidents might call to mind the great reformers of the 19th century who fought tirelessly to keep children out of factories or any other setting in which the depravity of the adult world forced them to grow up too quickly.
Many of those reformers were Christians. Thus, they expected the hitherto-exploited children to find security in schools and stable homes.
Today, however, a 10-year-old who otherwise lacks the maturity to make any meaningful decisions might nonetheless receive attention from adults who have an unhealthy interest in the child’s sexual identity.
Furthermore, today’s 10-year-old faces the dire prospect of growing up with an absent father. That might or might not apply to the young carjacking suspect in question. But one cannot ignore the possibility.
In fact, the absence of fear over potential consequences could also explain the suspects’ mounting audacity and escalating violence. Fathers instill that very healthy fear.
Meanwhile, the 17-year-old suspect himself can barely make decisions. But he knows right from wrong and chooses to ignore it, so one can easily imagine the influence he has had on the younger suspect.
In the end, one hopes that the police will track down these two lost boys before they hurt someone irrevocably.
