How far is too far? Violence that crosses the line
By Bekah SipesSports Reporter, The VOICE
On Sunday, September 20, 2009, neighbors, students, teachers, family and friends gathered around a makeshift memorial to remember fellow classmates, students, friends and family.
The tragic and untimely deaths of two teenage boys at the hands of their mother have shaken the community of Mesa this past week. Nick and Ryan Mullaly were allegedly shot to death by their mother, Susan Mullaly, who then turned the gun on herself.
This kind of tragedy is called familicide in which a parent, more frequent in men than women, decides to wipe out their entire family mainly because they feel that they have failed their children; possibly because of financial burdens or recent loss of their jobs.
Familicide usually goes on the rise during an economic recession but there is no excuse for this route taken. Many of them believe that their family is better off dead than living without them and that is why leading forensic researchers believe they take their kids and family with them.
Though familicide is rare, it usually happens in clusters. Usually people who decide to take their family's lives; they see it happen before, like in the news.
In June of 2007 a similar tragedy occurred when Kevin Morrisey, 51, felt the only way out of his money troubles was to turn the gun on his children, wife, and then himself.
Experts who have studied familicide say that money is usually a trigger for tragedies like these and the parent probably feels that their misery is affecting their families and they cannot deal with the thought of their family being miserable.
Whatever the motive, it is never alright to murder your family and there are many other alternatives to rough situations. What people need to realize is that everybody goes through rough times in their lives and that is what family is for is to create a support system for each other during those tough times.
They have to know that their kids, their wife/husband have their lives ahead of them and it is just not fair to take that away from them.
Please send comments to rdsipes@gccvoice.com
