Tragedy in Texas: 10-Year-Old Boy Accidently Hangs Himself After Watching Saddam Hussein Hanging Video

The start of the new year should mean prosperous new beginnings. Yet for a family in Webster, Tx., the first week of the new year has ended in a tragedy. A 10-year old boy accidentally hanged himself in his home in Webster, Tx. apparently in an attempt to mimic the hanging of Saddam Hussein. Relatives told police on Wednesday that Sergio Pelico had been watching the news coverage of the hanging with his uncle and other siblings over the weekend and asked about it.

His uncle responded that Saddam was a bad man and that's why he was hanged. Sergio later went into his bedroom, tied some clothes to the top bunk of his bed, and around his neck accidentally hanging himself. Sergio was described as being like any other normal 10-year old boy and police have no reason to suspect that his death was anything more than a tragic accident.

This is a terrible tragedy but who is to blame? The media for bringing such events into living rooms every night? The relatives who weren't supervising the child closely enough? The parents for leaving the children in the hands of other people? In this situation it is easy to point fingers but in the end the result is still the same; a 10-year old child died. This is not the first time a child has been hurt or killed trying to do something he has seen on TV.

Newsrooms and police reports abound with stories of children watching Jackass and trying out some of the stunts. They watch WWF and then wrestle with other kids causing themselves and others injury or possibly death. Such was the case in 2001 when Lionel Tate, then 12, was convicted of first-degree murder for the battering death of 6-year old Tiffany Eunick. His defense team claimed that Tate was "playing around" trying to show Eunick some wrestling moves he had seen on TV.

Children are impressionable and often act out stunts they watch on TV. They do not know nor are taught that many of those stunts are either not real or strictly done by professionals. It is because of such past tragedies that many television programs now have disclaimers specifically advising viewers that what they are watching is done by professional actors and should not be tried out at home. However, this will not do any good if parents and guardians do not do their part in supervising what their children are watching.

But these same disclaimers aren't on news reports. No one ever thinks that children watching the 5 or 10pm news might actually be influenced by what they are seeing. Again, this is where parents and guardians must do their part to educate their children about what they are watching. They should be made aware what the news is for and that violent events happening around the world are real. Children should be told that those events are dangerous and should never be acted out not even in fun.

Could Sergio Pelico's death have been prevented? Absolutely, but this was a tragic accident that resulted from a child playing around and the boy's relatives could have had no way of knowing what he was going to do. He was a normal 10-year old playing around and did not think that what he was doing could ever hurt him.

Information on news item taken from KPRC-Channel 2 News, Houston, Tx.
Reuters

Information on Lionel Tate case taken from Wikipedia