When a 14-year-old Kobe boy shocked the nation three years ago by killing an elementary school boy and placing his severed head in front of a school gate, Masatoshi Taguchi said he was afraid similar crimes would follow.
Taguchi, a biologist-turned-education critic, believes the social environment, including the home and school, is key to explaining the recent heinous crimes for which youths stand accused, including the Golden Week fatal bus hijacking and the slaying of an elderly woman in Aichi Prefecture, both allegedly at the hands of 17-year-old boys.
"Today's youngsters are surrounded by games, magazines, videos and computers -- things that they can play by themselves," Taguchi said.