Is this a good reason to keep children off the internet?

[DubiousIntentions]

A 12-year-old girl from Texas shot her father as part of a murder-pact she made with her friend, officials said.

According to the Parker County Sheriff's Office, the girls spent weeks plotting to kill their families - and their pets - then drive off together to Georgia.

But the friend didn't come through on her end of the bargain, and the 12-year-old girl ended up turning the gun on herself in the street just outside her home after she fired on her father.

'Sheriff's investigators said the juvenile is believed to have shot her father, fled the scene, and later shot herself. A handgun was located lying underneath the juvenile suspect,' police said in a press release.

According to the Parker County Sheriff's Office, the girls spent weeks plotting to kill their families - and their pets - then drive off together to Georgia© Provided by Daily Mail
Cops said they responded to reports of a shooting around 11:30pm last Tuesday in Weatherford, Texas, a small city about 30 miles west of Fort Worth.

When they arrived they found the girl lying in the street in front of the home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Inside the house cops found her 38-year-old father with a gunshot to the abdomen.

Both were airlifted to a nearby hospital, and their conditions remains unknown.

Cops said after shooting her father, the girl planned to drive about 230 miles to the town of Lufkin, Texas, where she intended to pick up her friend on and begin their runaway.

It remains unclear why the girls wanted to kill their families and runaway.

'I will say that this case is definitely a time to remind parents that it's very important to know who your children are friends with, whether that's in the classroom, social media apps, Snapchat, TikTok and then also gaming platforms.'

[genericname85]

i think keeping children off the internet is bad. i think the appropriate approach is to do your best to educate them and supervise them as they use the internet so they can grow up to use the internet responsibly. i do believe that trying to keep your children away from something will cause problems. your goal should always be to teach them how to act responsibly. not to hide the world away from them as if they would never have to encounter it anyway.

[DubiousIntentions]

You must love TikTok then.

[genericname85]

no, i hate it. that's exactly what i mean. you gotta educate your child about the harmfull nature of these apps. it has been scientifically proven that there's a significant correlation between the use of tiktok and a huge variety of mental health problems. i mean you gotta be 13 to be on the app at least, which i think is too young but i wouldn't let my kid install that app untill then, cause it's litterally illegal. but i will do my best to prepare my child to handle what it will find on there somehow... cause that is the shit our children see today. you can only do so much to shield them. they will see it one way or another so best prepare them.

[DubiousIntentions]

Well anyone can be any age they say they are on the internet, so age limits mean nothing.

[genericname85]

Yeah. Exactly. That's why our job as parents is to prepare and educate. Not to shield them from the reality that they will inevitably stumble across.

[DubiousIntentions]

I somewhat agree.

[Luopio27]

This could also be result of abusive parenting. Based on tour text, there was no detail of the girls reasons or what was the families like.


What goes on in the lives of kids in school, on the net and elsehere is just as important as to monitor suspicipus activities from home.

[misfittoy]

you cannot keep your children from the world and the internet, but you can see what they are doing and monitor at 12 thats a child. parents need to act like parent snot like friends or be on auto pilot lost in their own devices.

[DubiousIntentions]

Totally agree. :)

[melanieeeB]

No, not in today's world, it's important that kids learn a healthy and right way to use the internet and deal with it.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Yes, I agree 100 % with you, people need to know what their kids are doing on the internet also some are online changing their age to appear much older than what they are in real life yes it's happening. Yes, this is a sad story now that girl may die and her dad might die too you just never know from time to time what will happen.

[exitseven]

The internet was an idea that was supposed to connect people and allow them to share ideas easily and to communicate. It was supposed to be a positive force in uniting mankind. Somehow it became just the opposite. I think it speaks more about the nature of humanity than it does the technology used for the internet.

[Dinosaursandanime65]

It’s just a vessel like many things, what they need is.

[DubiousIntentions]

Oh God! Another from DA. I agree with you though. And by the way, there is no link to your account. It must have been removed as SPAM.

[Dinosaursandanime65]

DA? What is that? I do troll a lot, it’s fun and funny. Everyone is always confused. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH HAAAAAAAAAA

[DubiousIntentions]

Really? You do not know DA is Deviant Art? Are you trolling?

[Dinosaursandanime65]

Oh, I know what that is, I post my art in there. Here’s my account https://www.deviantart.com/yvridiovaseilio

[letuswaltzforthedead]

It's a decent enough reason to be concerned, kids do a lot of dumb stuff, worse when their interactions aren't being monitored by their parents.

[Anonymous]

nope. Sheltering kids from the world, only makes things worse for them when they eventually have to face the world as an unprepared adult. Kids need to learn about the internet and technology because it's becoming used more in our daily lives all the time. This, however IS a good reason for parents to be more involved in their kid's lives.

[AviatorTom]

It's a sad story but don't blame the internet. If there was no internet, the girls would have planned things in person.

[DubiousIntentions]

No, because they would have no contact with each other or be influenced by lame sites like Tik Toc.

[Anonymous]

That’s crazy, probably influenced by some sicko that was posing as a 12 year old online and formed the pact

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Easy to blame the internet; this girl is old enough to know right from wrong. She's pure evil.

[DubiousIntentions]

Well she had something wrong with her head for sure. But who is to say that maybe her parents weren't abusive and the evil ones?

[Aiko_E_Lara]

No and it's BS when people blame an inanimate object such as the internet when they themselves could've been the responsibile one guiding childern

[MiseriaCantareAFI]

It reminds me that guns kill

[jjj101010]

How does a 12 year old get a gun? Madness

[DubiousIntentions]

Good question.

[xJayleenx]

My goodness :(

[EaterPeter]

Yes.