Every school going child likes a bonus holiday and a group of 12-13 year old children of Jalna thought out a unique plan to ensure a holiday. Their school used to declare a holiday if any student died. This trio killed two other students, brothers, aged five and eight. Their school has declared a fifteen day holiday. I don't know what will happen to these young killers, or to the poor family that lost the two boys. I can't even begin to imagine what this kind of a loss feels like. I don't want to know, ever.

These killings were preceded by the kidnapping and subsequent killing of Adnan Patrawala in Mumbai, supposedly by youngsters he befriended on Orkut. He was driving a car, for which he had a license even though he was too young. They say he loved cars and one conjures images of fast cars, indulgent parents, indulgent law enforcement, and a tragic end. An avoidable tragedy.

We all need to see these deaths beyond the immediate obvious context and try to seriously examine the causes. I know media bashing is a favorite with people these days but anyone even surfing through the news channels has to agree that in the mad race for eyeball capture, they have started flashing gory, disturbing visuals without any restraint. For instance, last week some channel dug up footage of an encounter killing. While no one denies that it is a matter that needs to be brought to public notice, what is the point in playing this clip as a loop, over and over, across all channels? Doesn't the media require to handle such footage with more sensitivity?

I know there are many more reasons for the trend of violence amongst youngsters and we need to examine them all. But to begin with, we need a more responsible and sensitive media.