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Story · Ajahn Brahm

Two child killings, two societies

As told by Ajahn Brahm in Freedom: The Path To Happiness | Ajahn Brahm | 11-05-2007

3 min read

Content note: child murder; names a real child victim (James Bulger); factual details from memory and hedged ("I think"): e.g. the Bulger killers were 10, and the 1994 Trondheim case (Silje Redergård) involved boys of about 6 — check before publishing

The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

Some few years ago, I should've kept this article because there was a brilliant article, it was concerning the killers of Jamie Bulger, (whatever his name was) this young -- was it two or three year old -- who was abducted in the shopping center in Liverpool tortured and killed on the railway track by some, was it, eight or nine year old children. And the whole culture of England at the time especially driven by the tabloid press, was wanting the blood of those two killers even though they were very, very young and they'd done a terrible terrible thing. To take the life of a two year old, and it's not just one person's death it's all the tears and the anxiety and the stress and the devastation of all of the people who knew that child, let alone the parents. But what I never knew at the time was pointed out in this article was that at about the same time a similar event happened in Norway in the town of Trondheim, north of Oslo where I think, two boys lured (I think) a girl into the snowfields, and had similarly killed her. And the similarities between the crimes were very close. But what was very dissimilar was the way those two societies dealt with the problem. As many of you know, the Jamie Bulger case, those two kids were put into some detention center, and the tabloid press just wanted them to be really punished hard and the parents were just waiting for them to be released so they could kill them. And even the public did not want them to be released. I read in the newspapers there was some idea of sending them to Australia where they wouldn't be known, new identities so they could live their life and the British public was saying, "No they don't deserve any freedom." That's what I read. With those other two kids the following day after they were caught they both went to school accompanied by psychiatrists and a social worker. They were not put into any punitive institution. Very, very soon, the mother and father of the child who died came to a closure, came to forgiveness and moved on in their life. Whereas the parents of Jamie Bulger never moved on as far as I know. The whole town of Trondheim came to a closure. They realized a terrible act, but the only way to move forward is not to wish harm on the killers. So many years later, one of the killers of that (I think it was a) little girl in Trondheim is perfectly well adjusted having a successful life completed the education, had really moved on, and so did the family and the rest of town. There's one of the killers still has social problems and some psychological problems, but nowhere near like the pain which was spread around England because of the Jamie Bulger case. To see those two separate accounts of a similar tragedy, one where there were many victims and their victimhood was, I dare to say, cherished and attached to and made much of. And the other one, where rehabilitation was the main aim and goal, to see the effects of those two cases I sure wish I'd lived in Norway than in England.

▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 40:09 (to 44:23)

A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

Ajahn Brahm compares two child killings by young boys: one country demanded vengeance for years, the other chose rehabilitation, and the family forgave and the town healed. He'd rather live in the second. Most of us will never face such pain. If they could move on, maybe we can forgive our smaller hurts.

In brief (our summary)

Ajahn Brahm recalls an article comparing two similar tragedies. In England, a toddler (Jamie Bulger) was abducted from a Liverpool shopping centre and killed on a railway line by two young boys; the tabloid press and public wanted them punished, and the parents waited for their release to take revenge. At about the same time in Trondheim, Norway, two boys lured a little girl into the snowfields and killed her — but the day after they were caught they went to school accompanied by psychiatrists and a social worker. The girl's parents soon forgave, the town came to closure, and years later one of the killers was living a well-adjusted, successful life. He would rather have lived in Norway.

Teaching point

Forgiveness and rehabilitation heal everyone more than punishment and cherished victimhood.

When this story may help

Themes

Source & credit

Told by Ajahn Brahm in Freedom: The Path To Happiness | Ajahn Brahm | 11-05-2007 · 2007-05-14 · ▶ watch from 40:09 to 44:23 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia

1 other telling of this story

Caption notes: Manual (volunteer) captions; occasional misspellings kept as is. 'Jamie Bulger' as captioned (James Bulger).

The narrative is Ajahn Brahm's own telling, quoted from the talk captions. The summary and reflection are Being Mindful Stories's editorial notes. Please credit the teacher and link the original talk. Markdown version

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