In our society today, due to COVID-19 pandemic, there began many unease and crimes. Starting from bullying in schools and corporate bullying at workplaces, in Japan there is a “copycat” attacks following a rampage by a man dressed as ‘The Joker‘. He is only 24. Last month in Korea, police officer accused of fleeing a crime scene and leaving two victims alone with a knife-wielding attacker in Incheon. The issue is not simply the crime but the aftermath of how the society is responding to it. The blame, that it was the policewoman’s failure to intervene in a stabbing incident has re-ignited a debate over passive policing in South Korea.
I started to recall when was the first time in my life to begin to be aware about dangers that could be imposed on me as a person. It was during a trip to Hong Kong, when I was on my headsets, traveling on a tourist coach and a local resident tapped on my shoulders and said “Don’t you know? There is a bomb nearby!” All said in the localised Cantonese. I couldn’t speak too much Cantonese at that time.
Now I rewind back to the time when I was in the first years living in Budapest Hungary, there was a big commotion about the life of an American exchange student in Italy, who spent almost four years in an Italian prison following her wrongful conviction of the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, whom she shared an apartment in Perugia.
Now she became what is known as Exoneree, a person who was convicted of a crime and later officially declared innocent of that crime, or relieved of all legal consequences of the conviction because evidence of innocence that was not presented at trial required reconsideration of the case. She is married now and using Podcasts, Labyrinths, Amanda Knox and her partner Christopher Robinson delve into stories of getting lost and found again through compassionate interviews.
Many times, I feel there is this underestimation of what someone did could be as small as an act of ‘sneering’, or a force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. I am a person who deems PARENTING as a very important role and responsibility. That said, teachers and adults (seniors or mentors), anyone in the guardian or leadership roles is also very important. The result of our youths and next generations, their quality greatly depends on how we act on what we should do.
We need to teach our children the right thing to do.
Jodee 