Execution reenactment has tragic end for Webster boy
In a tragic case of television influencing life, the Chronicle reports that a 10-year-old Webster boy apparently accidentally hanged himself while reenacting the hanging of Saddam Hussein. The boy, Sergio Pelico, had reportedly watched TV news reports of Saddam's death — complete with images of him with a noose around his neck — before the incident. "I would think maybe this kid is trying something that he thinks fun to act out without having the emotional and psychological maturity to think the thing through before he acts on it," California clinical psychologist Edward Bischof told the Chronicle. "This is a real case where TV appears to be a stimulant."
Investigators learned Sergio was upset because his father, Celso Sontay, got his little brother a Christmas present but didn't get Sergio one. Still, they don't think that caused him to kill himself — Sergio's uncle said the kid was happy, but very curious, and he was found with a slipknot tied around his neck while on a bunk bed. "I don't think he thought it was real," the uncle, Julio Gustavo, said. "They showed them putting the noose around [Saddam's] neck and everything. Why show that on TV?"
Sergio wasn't the only apparent victim of mimicry after the execution: In Pakistan, a 9-year-old boy died by hanging himself from a ceiling fan while reenacting Saddam's hanging with the help of his sister. Bischof said cases like these point up the importance of parents keeping track of what their kids watch on TV and explaining why they're seeing what they're seeing.
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http://www.houstonist.com/archives/2...ion_reena.php_
[ 01-05-2007, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: Dreamer128 ]