Saturday, January 13, 2007

Boys To Men.

Channel 4's website reports that:
Two boys suspected of spraying graffiti have been killed by a London Underground train.
Police said the pair, aged 19 and 21, ran in front of an oncoming train at Barking tube station, in east London, moments after a gang was seen spraying graffiti.
The use of the word 'boys' to describe a 19 year old and a 21 year old comes across a being a very deliberate choice. When a child is killed or maimed on public property then it is legitimate to ask whether some of the blame lies with the operators of the site for not preventing access, because the natural irresponsibility of children has to be taken into account. When Channel 4 describe a 21 year old man as a 'boy' it subtlely misapportions the responsibility for this tragedy on to the owners of the railway station.

No comments: