Elliott Fletcher was stabbed by a 13 year old fellow student at this Catholic boy's school in Brisbane.
This is how our society in Oz has sunk down low to these abyssal depths.
Posted on 02/15/2010 5:29:18 PM PST by myknowledge
A 13-year-old boy has been charged with murder after the stabbing death of a student at a Brisbane bayside school.
Elliot Fletcher, 12, was stabbed in the chest at St Patrick's College at Shorncliffe about 8:00am AEST yesterday.
He was taken to Brisbane's Royal Children's Hospital in a serious condition but later died.
Police allege the boy was stabbed with a knife by a 13-year-old fellow student.
The 13-year-old was found nearby with minor wounds and has been charged with murder.
The accused boy is due to appear in the Brisbane Children's Court today.
It is not clear what sparked the incident.
The school was put in lockdown yesterday morning after the stabbing but the restrictions have now been lifted.
It is the second stabbing involving students at a Catholic boys' school in Brisbane in the past 10 days.
But criminologist Professor Paul Wilson says it does not mean there is a trend.
"I don't think that the fact that it occurred in a Catholic school necessarily points to more problems in Catholic schools at all," he said.
"But I do think that school, and other schools where there have been serious assaults, have to be analysed very carefully."
Tributes
Scores of condolence messages have been left on a Facebook page dedicated to the dead boy.
"Devastating. A dark day for the family and all St Patrick's College Old Boys.....RIP brother," one post said.
Many more messages lamented the loss of such a young boy.
One person wrote: "soooooooooo sad 2 young to die."
"My thoughts are with his family and friends," wrote another. "May you rest in peace. No child's life should end this way."
'Unbelievable grief'
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh also offered her condolences, saying Elliot's parents were naturally "heartbroken with grief".
"We've seen a terrible tragedy in a Queensland school this morning with the terrible loss of life of a young 12-year-old boy," she said.
"My thoughts are with the family as they come to grips with what must be unbelievable grief.
"I think I speak for every other Queensland mum and dad when I say we know what it's like to send our children off to school. For this sort of tragedy to happen is just unimaginable."
Ms Bligh says that while the events are extremely tragic, it should be remembered that Australian schools are relatively safe.
"I do think it's important to remember that Australian schools by international standards are very safe places," she said.
"But when something like this happens we'll certainly be taking any lessons that there are to learn.
"It's a terrible, shocking tragedy involving two very young students. As a parent with children in school myself, I can't even begin to think what this family must be going through."
Increasing violence
The Foundation for Young Australians says there is no doubt violence is increasing amongst the nation's youth.
The foundation has addressed a Melbourne hearing of the Federal Government's long-running inquiry into youth violence.
Its primary recommendation was that funding be increased to school-based programs targeting youth violence.
The foundation's Sharby Ibrahim says the Brisbane tragedy only highlights the need for classroom-based education about violence.
"I think what's extremely aggravating is that we've had so many of these wake-up calls," he said.
"The fact that another young person has died ... through this kind of behaviour just shouts about the fact that there needs to be action and it needs to be taken drastically.
"It's been shown that there has been a significant increase not only in the amount of violence but also in the severity of violence.
"That means more knives are involved, there have been more deaths, there are more guns involved and sometimes these attacks are perpetrated by groups of young people."
Elliott Fletcher was stabbed by a 13 year old fellow student at this Catholic boy's school in Brisbane.
This is how our society in Oz has sunk down low to these abyssal depths.
“Its primary recommendation was that funding be increased to school-based programs targeting youth violence. “
They don’t have a clue. Give the little rat ba$tard the death penalty. Then watch the violence go down.
You'd think the 'progressives' who lead us would've taken note by now.
Welcome to everyday in urban America.
i’m making a prediction that the boy who was killed was bullying the crap out of the other kid.
There is no death penalty in Queensland, and certainly no death penalty in Australia.
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