Werribee sex DVD ringleader's hate-filled rap song on web

Of all the cases of young male violence that appear regularly in the media the Werribee incident stands out for me. The merciless sexual and physical abuse of a developmentally delayed girl by a group of teenage boys showed a depravity and callousness that is difficult to understand, difficult to understand in young people brought up in the outwardly civilised environment of an Australian suburb.

Although I firmly believe that harsh punitive measures should be taken with such violent young men, I agree with adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg that the "system" has failed those boys, particularly the boy who shows in a hate-filled rap song that he is totally unrepentant about what he and his mates did to that defenceless girl. But what I have in mind about the failed system might not be exactly what Carr-Gregg is thinking.

I have said before that the benefits established by a civil society are in fact the civil rights of that society. This is a claim that comes straight from Edmund Burke writing against the materialist theories of the French Revolution. If a society fails in its duty to educate its citizens so that they can enjoy its benefits, then that amounts to a denial of civil rights. If, for example, a person cannot read - which can only be the outcome of a deficient school and home education - then one is severely limited in employment and social interaction. That person is blocked from enjoying much of what civil society provides for its citizens. But there is more than material considerations.

Social interaction is not only limited by an inability to read and communicate. Indeed, it seems more drastically limited if one does not understand the crucial importance of community solidarity, of thinking of others. This is more than a question of formal education in the school desk. It is the moral education that should take place during one's upbringing. The Werribee boys show what happens if it is missing. They show how they isolate themselves - make themselves outcasts - if they fail in basic common decency and respect for others.

The duty of parent and school educators ends when a person reaches adulthood. If the lessons are not leaned and understood by then, no amount of external manipulation by psychologists and other types of soft scientists will have an effect. There will be no effect when the person does not see or accept the moral values that make society work. The way ahead for that hate-filled rapper is bleak, and it began when schools and parents shut off the pathway to the benefits of civil society.

The present system of educating of young males has totally failed. The people responsible for the failure should get out of the way and let those who understand what moral values are and what educating boys entails reconstruct male education.

Comment: gerard@gerardcharleswilson.com