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Made "normal" again - or relatively normal, as in making them no danger to society anymore and making them see what they did wrong (and why that was wrong).

 Ahtman wrote:

 trexmeyer wrote:
I don't think their brains have even begun forming...they've planned a murder out over several months, believe a video game character is real, believe said character communes with them, decide they should kill a human in order to become servants of said character, and proceed to actually carry out their plans. They just threw away any chance they've had of normalcy or an emotionally stable life. Even if they do get treatment and manage to "recover", this episode will still be in their past.

I didn't say they were free of repercussions, just that pretending twelve year olds are the same as adults is silly, and to just toss them away completely at this point is premature. They need to be evaluated and spend time away from society for sure, but I don't think locking them up and throwing away the key at this point is the prudent or just thing to do. We can do better, and we should.

Sounds like you're...

.... anyone wanna finish it for me?

You guys realize that Slender was Creepypasta before he was in video games right?

They got the creepy pasta worked into there heads. As far as I know the Slender games don't contain the actual story of Slender. Just google slender creepypasta. There are photos and everything

Creepypasta? WTF?

 kronk wrote:
Creepypasta? WTF?

Deep, dark depths of the internet.

They will have displeased him for not finishing the job...

 Chongara wrote:

 Ahtman wrote:

 trexmeyer wrote:
I don't think their brains have even begun forming...they've planned a murder out over several months, believe a video game character is real, believe said character communes with them, decide they should kill a human in order to become servants of said character, and proceed to actually carry out their plans. They just threw away any chance they've had of normalcy or an emotionally stable life. Even if they do get treatment and manage to "recover", this episode will still be in their past.

I didn't say they were free of repercussions, just that pretending twelve year olds are the same as adults is silly, and to just toss them away completely at this point is premature. They need to be evaluated and spend time away from society for sure, but I don't think locking them up and throwing away the key at this point is the prudent or just thing to do. We can do better, and we should.

Sounds like you're...

.... anyone wanna finish it for me?

SOFT ON CRIME!

I wonder what the rehabillitation rate is for children that commit these crimes? I know the boys that killed James Bulger never really integrated back into society.

Oh. Like an urban legends or monsters of myth wiki page or something?

Saying Bloody Mary 3 times in a mirror kind of thing?

 kronk wrote:
Oh. Like an urban legends or monsters of myth wiki page or something?

Saying Bloody Mary 3 times in a mirror kind of thing?

Pretty much, only it grew and was passed on in the internet. I suppose it was the first Internet Legend? Sort of an urban legend only propagated digitally.

 kronk wrote:
Oh. Like an urban legends or monsters of myth wiki page or something?

Saying Bloody Mary 3 times in a mirror kind of thing?

Basically. Stories that are posted over and over and over again.

"Creepypasta" is like "Copypasta", which is basically Copy/Pasted. Sometimes called "Pasta" by itself.

Oh goody. Yet another atrocity committed by nutters, that people with political agendas will seek to exploit and blame on video games and media.

Probably won't be long till people start demanding that Creepy Pasta and the Slenderman game be banned.

Well one of the favorite punching bags for the media an politicians are video games. If you are in the US I would highly recommend you guys check out the VGVN (video game voter network).

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
Oh goody. Yet another atrocity committed by nutters, that people with political agendas will seek to exploit and blame on video games and media.

Funny thing is, studies show that girls are far less likely to play video games, much less the usual targets of politicians (GTA, Mortal Kombat, and the like). In more recent studies, the number of gamers per gender is nearing more equilibrium, but that's a bit off, because what the more recent study also showed was that while girls/women are increasing in number of "people who play video games", a high majority of those "female gamers" are the ones who play strictly phone/quick games, ie. Candy Crush, Farmville, etc.


Guess that means that Candy Crush is inherently violent, and will lead to murderers running amok on the streets... Time to ban it!!!

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
Oh goody. Yet another atrocity committed by nutters, that people with political agendas will seek to exploit and blame on video games and media.

Probably won't be long till people start demanding that Creepy Pasta and the Slenderman game be banned.

I'm usually against the whole "somebody did something horrible, but they played video games once so there is probably a connection" hysteria.

But if the kids say "We wanted to kill her for Slenderman" then is is usually pretty safe to assume that there was a connection between kids going crazy and some internet thing called Slenderman...

 d-usa wrote:
I'm usually against the whole "somebody did something horrible, but they played video games once so there is probably a connection" hysteria.

But if the kids say "We wanted to kill her for Slenderman" then is is usually pretty safe to assume that there was a connection between kids going crazy and some internet thing called Slenderman...

No, it's not. Charles Manson was inspired by the Beatles, but that's not the Beatles fault. What you are missing is that crazy people are crazy. If there had to be a rational chain of causation behind their actions, they wouldn't be crazy.

 d-usa wrote:

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:
Oh goody. Yet another atrocity committed by nutters, that people with political agendas will seek to exploit and blame on video games and media.

Probably won't be long till people start demanding that Creepy Pasta and the Slenderman game be banned.

I'm usually against the whole "somebody did something horrible, but they played video games once so there is probably a connection" hysteria.

But if the kids say "We wanted to kill her for Slenderman" then is is usually pretty safe to assume that there was a connection between kids going crazy and some internet thing called Slenderman...

The only connection is that crazy people used it to rationalise and justify their own craziness.

That's some hardcore rationalizing going on there guys.

If somebody says "I did it because of X" then X has a very strong connection.

It's not rocket science, and it doesn't make all the other "They said they did it because of A B C but they looked at X once so X must be to blame" talk any more valid.

The whole "blame the internet or video games" crap is BS 99% of the time. That doesn't mean that there isn't the occasional case where the connection is there.

Don't kill them.

Keep them locked up, trying to rehabilitate them, but also studying them, and figuring out what it was that lead them to do what they did.

Use that knowledge to try and make similar crimes less likely.

Killing is a waste.

 AlexHolker wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
I'm usually against the whole "somebody did something horrible, but they played video games once so there is probably a connection" hysteria.

But if the kids say "We wanted to kill her for Slenderman" then is is usually pretty safe to assume that there was a connection between kids going crazy and some internet thing called Slenderman...

No, it's not. Charles Manson was inspired by the Beatles, but that's not the Beatles fault. .

It just proves that Beatles fans are insane. thats sounds right.

Huh. Slenderman. I have heard of it but am not totally familiar with his schtick. I would look it up, but I'm afraid I would fall under his dark spell and start killing my friends to appease him.

 Easy E wrote:
Huh. Slenderman. I have heard of it but am not totally familiar with his schtick. I would look it up, but I'm afraid I would fall under his dark spell and start killing my friends to appease him.

You wouldn't so much fall under his dark spell, but rather find your self trapped in a Dark Dungeon.

Ask and global media shall provide

You can't blame a ghost story or these kids killing. Was there no supervision? Did the parents not notice the obsession?

 d-usa wrote:
That's some hardcore rationalizing going on there guys.

If somebody says "I did it because of X" then X has a very strong connection.

So, do you mean the Beatles have a strong connection Charles' family crimes ?

Manson wrote:Is it a conspiracy that the music is telling the youth to rise up against the establishment because the establishment is rapidly destroying things? Is that a conspiracy? The music speaks to you every day, but you are too deaf, dumb, and blind to even listen to the music. . . It is not my conspiracy. It is not my music. I hear what it relates. It says "Rise," it says "Kill." Why blame it on me? I didn't write the music.

That was actually a surprisingly rational assessment of Slenderman and his role in this attempted murder. I salute the levelheaded journalist who acknowledged the influence without tossing blame on it, or the websites that propagate it.

Bravo, Mr. Gross!

 gunslingerpro wrote:
Ask and global media shall provide

You can't blame a ghost story or these kids killing. Was there no supervision? Did the parents not notice the obsession?

Based on aspects of that description... it sounds like they were making a sacrifice to our true overlord, Cthulhu....



In which case, we should give them a medal and a seat of high power in the coming government

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:


In which case, we should give them a medal and a seat of high power in the coming government

Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos.

 Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
That's some hardcore rationalizing going on there guys.

If somebody says "I did it because of X" then X has a very strong connection.

So, do you mean the Beatles have a strong connection Charles' family crimes ?

Manson wrote:Is it a conspiracy that the music is telling the youth to rise up against the establishment because the establishment is rapidly destroying things? Is that a conspiracy? The music speaks to you every day, but you are too deaf, dumb, and blind to even listen to the music. . . It is not my conspiracy. It is not my music. I hear what it relates. It says "Rise," it says "Kill." Why blame it on me? I didn't write the music.

In Manson's case, yes there was a strong connection. It is as much about the influence as it is about the perception of that influence. Now the Beatles are a pretty far-out influence for murder, so the problem is clearly on Manson's side. But that doesn't mean that his motivation was not influenced by the Beatles.

Remember that connection =/= blame.

There was something about Slenderman that spoke to those kids. Something that fit in with the issues and problems that they already had. It's nothing unusual, it happens to many people and happens with many different subjects. In this case or was Slenderman and those kids.

People saying "Reading about Slenderman drives kids to murder" are equally as wrong as people saying "Slenderman didn't have anything to do with this". You can admit that a random creepypasta internet story gave the underlying problems these kids had something to latch on to and that it possibly helped to grow those issues and contributed to the final result. It could have just as easily been a sacrifice to the big bad wolf, Jesus, Obama, Zelda, whatever.

That doesn't mean that any of these things will cause children to murder. It just means that for these kids, in this case, there was something about Slenderman that influenced them. That's not a attack on the Internet.

I wouldn't execute them, it's wrong to execute the mentally disabled.

...These girls are mentally disabled, right? That's the only reasonable explanation.

In all the cases I'm aware of where someone killed someone "because of X" (Charles Manson, Mark David Chapman, what have you) it becomes clear in hindsight that these guys were GOING to try to kill someone, and the "reason" they have is just an excuse. If you look at a study of Chapman, it becomes pretty clear that he was on the path to doing something very violent and drastic. The Catcher in the Rye did not provoke him to kill, it only provided the flimsiest of excuses he needed to justify his rampage.

Games like Doom, Grand Theft Auto, and Postal, books like Stephen King's Rage, the Bible, and The Catcher in the Rye, shows like Tales from the Crypt, Dexter, and Sons of Anarchy, the music of Marilyn Manson, the Beatles, and KISS, not to mention past times from sling shots to D&D and everything in between, have all taken the wrap for violent behavior or specific violent crimes. Trying to attribute a causal link between these things and the events themselves are another matter entirely, and almost always beyond the realm of reason.

There IS a "connection" between Slenderman and this crime. There's also a "connection" between this crime and the company that manufactured the cutlery. Neither factor is really relevant, however.

On a different note, have we heard anything about what the deal is with these two? Has any kind of trauma, abuse, or evidence of medical condition(s) surfaced?

And on a humanitarian note, is there any word on the recovery of the victim?

What are they watching on TV....

 Jihadin wrote:
What are they watching on TV....

More appropriately, why weren't their parents monitoring their internet activity?

Yes, it's a mental illness, but sociopaths (psychopaths, too) can't be cured. They're hardwired that way. Had they not been discovered, the victim would have been just the first. I'm not an advocate for executing these girls, but they really do need to be locked away for the full 65 years.