Word: youngster
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...quiet evening just before New Year's, Dwyane Carson and his friend Arthur DeWitt, both 9, were playing in Dwyane's Northeast Houston home, when they found a loaded .22-cal. rifle in the youngster's bedroom closet. Dwyane's father, a hunting enthusiast, had never shown the boy how to handle firearms. Toying with the rifle, Dwyane accidentally shot and killed Arthur...
Ordinarily, such an occurrence, however regrettable, would not attract much attention (in 1983, the latest year for which such figures are available, 261 youngsters under age 18 were killed in shooting mishaps). But the next day another Houston boy, 12, shot and killed his eight-year-old half brother. Two days later, a third local youngster was fatally shot with a pistol. By last week the Houston area had recorded 13 accidental shootings in nine weeks, six of them fatal, all of them involving victims under 18 years...
Township leaders, appalled by the display of military muscle, called on the government to guarantee that the forces were supervised by experienced officers. "Obviously, give any youngster a gun," warned Michael Beea of the Alexandra Civic Association, "and he will enjoy shooting at people, particularly when he has satisfied himself that the law will be on his side." Snapped a police spokesman: "Our men are well trained and don't just patrol the streets at their own discretion...
...three knew one another only vaguely. They were ordinary youngsters with no apparent problems who lived in a predominantly Roman Catholic, blue-collar community. Michele Money, 16, described by friends as a positive, dependable person, had had problems with her boyfriend and talked about dropping out of school. She died of an overdose of Elavil, her mother's antidepressant. Mark Walpus, 15, was a popular, athletic youngster who had recently spent a lot of time by himself building a drill press. He shot himself in the chest. Tom Wacha, 18, a loner who planned to go to trade school, also...
...Jersey newspaper asks, IS YOUR CHILD CAUGHT IN A FAILURE CHAIN? Another in California urges, GIVE YOUR KIDS AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE. Both pitches are aimed at the same customers: parents with the cash and the desire to bring a lagging schoolchild up to speed or to put a bright youngster ahead of his classmates. In the past few years such appeals have been pulling thousands of pupils (including a smattering of adults) into private, for- profit learning chains, which are spreading across the country...