Monday, October 8, 2007

Torture is Not Only a War Offense

In class we were talking about whitewashing and the consequences of doing so. There are horrifying stories of torture during all wars in history, including the war in Iraq. But before thinking about all the atrocities that are faced away from America, it is necessary to understand what is happening here, in our backyards.


Today on Cnn.com, there was an article entitled "Prosecutor: Captive boy endured torture", being so relevent to our discussions, I decided to investigate. The article was all about this man who was to serve about 30 life sentances in prison for the kidnap, sexual assault, and torture of two boys. The first, Shawn, was kidnapped in 2002, when he was 11, and the other, Ben, was kidnapped on January 8. Four days later, the boys were rescued, but horrors will infect them forever. Childrens' minds can be manipulated very easily. These boys had access to the internet and to phones, but something the kidnapper did or said "persuaded" them to remain in the dark.
Shawn Hornbeck:
Above- 11 Years Old
Below- 16 Years Old
This should be a priority on America's list- not only protecting our children, but teaching them that reaching out to the police or their families in these types of crisis is a must in survival.



If you want to check out the article, the website is: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/10/09/boysfound.devlin.ap/index.html


Also, are these boys candidates for the memory loss drug? All this being done at such a young age, would it be better for their future if they forgot (or if the emotion was taken out) of these memories?

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