Jack & Jill and Why They Kill: Saving Our Children, Saving Ourselves

Abstract

& And Why They Kill: Saving Our Children, Saving Ourselves, by James A. Shaw. Seattle, WA: Onjinjinkta Publishing, 2000. 235 pp. $24.95, cloth. Reviewed by Beverly D. Epps, Virginia Commonwealth University. James Shaw amplifies voices of youth incarcerated for homicide against backdrop of recent carnage of children at hands of children. Prompted by national statistics, which show alarming numbers of juveniles convicted of homicide, he sought out voices of Jack and Jill in an effort to understand their perceptions of how they ended up taking life of someone else. As an experienced teacher, parent, and researcher he searched for answer to how we, as significant adults in lives of can intervene or divert children from self-destructive paths. Shaw spent four years conducting multiple interviews with 103 between ages of 13 and 20, who were confined for crime of murder. This book is a narrative presentation of 13 of stories told in interviews, combined with his accounts of tragedies at Columbine and other high schools. Using stories as foundation for this book, Shaw provides insight, for mostly parents but also teachers and counselors, into development of adolescent child and missed opportunities for intervention. The stories depict fraying of fabric of American society, but author offers seemingly commonplace advice that gives reader reason to believe that it may be possible to slow fraying or better yet repair damage. Each chapter begins with a quote from a child interviewed by Shaw and quote foreshadows chilling reality of crimes committed by adolescents. Chapter 1 provides statistics from National Education Association, U.S. Department of Justice National Center for Juvenile Justice, FBI Crime Index, and other sources that indicate number of children killed every 24 hours, number of children confined for homicide, and number of children who brought guns to school. Based on statistics and demographics of children interviewed, Shaw concludes that adolescentcide, which he defines as the phenomenon of children killing children, knows no race, gender, or socioeconomic status. Adolescenticide is a public health problem that affects entire society. Shaw relays children's explanations of their pathways to violence. In explanations, children speak of their feelings of loneliness, alienation, and being unloved. Some speak of being bullied while others speak of their feelings of worthlessness. According to author, many of children lacked moral intelligence and felt they did not have unconditional guiding love from their parents during times they were most in need. Unfortunately, voices of children were unheard by significant adults in their lives. …