In the spring of 2014, two 12-year-old girls were arrested for allegedly luring a third girl, also 12, into the woods and then brutally stabbing her 19 times. All three girls were friends, and the attack does not appear to be maliciously motivated. What, then happened?
It appears that this incident seems to be inspired by Slenderman, an internet comic book character that stars in horror genre. Authorities alleged that the girls were trying to impress Slenderman with their abilities, as if he were real and watching them.
Thankfully, the girl who was stabbed survived. She was able to crawl away to a nearby road, where she was discovered by a biker and taken to a nearby hospital, where they said she would survive her wounds.
This is a disturbing incident in more ways than one. Not only for the creepiness of 2 young girls aspiring to murder a friend to fulfill a horror fantasy; but the fact that the victim was stabbed so many times. Unlike firearm assaults, stabbings are up-close and personal, and to stab someone repeatedly, thrusting the knife in again after the victim cries out, requires at least a temporary absence of empathy. Usually its rage that shuts down empathy, but it can also be abandoned out of group affiliation or various beliefs. This is why bullying is such a problem. Even otherwise nice kids can do horrifically cruel things when either armed with why the victim deserves it, or cloaked in group affiliations that promote an "us versus them" mentality.
By 12, all three of these girls can distinguish between real consequences and make believe. That isn't the problem as some pundits have suggested. If what these girls have said can be believed, it's the strong identification with this character that is at issue. A character that is somewhat odd, but also clever, witty and especially powerful -- exerting his will over others -- can be an alluring archetype for youths this age.
Another problem is even for kids perfectly capable of distinguishing between real and fantasy; fantasy can seem so much more appealing than reality. Especially in today's sensationalized society, many kids run into problems when they compare their own relatively dull lives to the drama they are exposed to through reality TV or other types of media. They feel that there is something missing, or that their life should be something more. They get the idea that every persons reality should resemble a TV script. It is this confusion about what a normal life should entail that causes problems.
Most adolescents will not try to murder someone in an attempt to fit their life into an exciting script. All teens do, however, bring the necessary conflict into their lives (both internal and external) by confusing media normal for their own normal; it's something every parent should be aware of.
As the details of the Wisconsin Slenderman case start to emerge, it keeps getting more disturbing. It turns out one girl was only eleven, not twelve. Statements allegedly made to the police are downright chilling. One girl is reported to have said that she knows she should have felt something, and that something should have been sympathy, during the attack, but that she didn't really feel anything as the victim screamed bloody murder.
Her sidekick allegedly said, "The good part of me wanted her to live, but the bad part of me wanted her to die." Both statements exhibit a certain amount of sociopathic behavior. Furthermore, a rather eccentric interest of one girl's father (pictures of skulls around the house, heavy immersion into horror) has added plenty of fodder for the finger pointers and media hounds. Its also been reported that the ringleader of the pair believed she was communicating telepathically to Slenderman, and stated that if she didn't commit this murder, Slenderman would come and murder her entire family. The pair thought they were being called upon to be proxy's of Slenderman.
Belief in the Supernatural, and the Shady Line Between Reality and Fantasy.
When psychologists talk about how silly children are when they engage in magical thinking . . . say by assuming their own bad thoughts can cause someone else to die, they are ignoring some of societies facts. These same psychologists will go home and pray at night -- believing (with not hint of irony) that mere thoughts will bring about a change in the physical world. The only difference between kids and adults is the sophistication of the idea. One we give validity too, the other we dismiss as silly. It's all magical thinking in one form or another, in that it all professes a faith in things beyond the physical realm.
The Slenderman phenomenon presents a similar situation. People act shocked and intrigued that two young girls could believe in a comic book character. Yet most of these same people, if you interviewed them, would profess a belief in one or many of the following: Big Foot, alien visitation, ghosts, spirit people, communication with the dead, shadow people, guardian angles, horoscopes, werewolves, or any of the other proof-less phenomenon out there. Looked at in that light, it suddenly doesn't seem so extraordinary that these girls might believe that Slenderman was real and was talking to them. In fact, it's telling that since the story broke, people everywhere have been seeing glimpses of Slendeman -- their brain assigning his form to dark shadows.
Humans are magical thinkers by nature, and beliefs can kill. Carl Jung once remarked that hostile beliefs have caused more death and destruction in this world than all the plagues and natural disasters combined. Cases like this should be a sober reminder of the power of belief. This doesn't just apply to the occasional psychopath -- it's true for all of us.
Beliefs can take hold of our psyche and transform our reality, and sometimes disappear just as quickly, leaving us wondering how we could have acted so foolish. Lets hope that's the case with these girls, and that they someday get the chance to atone for their mistake.
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