Violence in a 'world of children': Can video shock Mexico into action?
(Read article summary)A new video that depicts kids living a gritty life in the adult world – including muggings, corruption, and drug violence – has shocked Mexicans who normally are inured to crime, a blogger writes.
Mexico City
The alarm clock beeps, and a small hand reaches over to turn it off. A kid sits up, turns on the morning news and grabs a bathrobe off an exercise machine. At the breakfast table, the front page of his newspaper reads “Alarming increase in violence in the country.”
He looks about 10 years old.
No sooner does the kid leave his house in a suit and tie than two muggers rob him at gunpoint. They take his wallet and cell phone. Despite tough language and angry looks, they, too, have cherub-cheeked baby faces.
In a country where fresh news of drug war massacres and gruesome killings barely registers on the national consciousness, the sight of children living out the daily trials and tribulations of the adult world has grabbed plenty of attention.
These scenes open a shocking 4-minute video titled "Uncomfortable Children," that is making the rounds in Mexico via television, social media, and the Internet. Logging more than 1 million hits on YouTube within the first 48 hours of its debut, and airing on national news programs, the film depicts the country’s most intractable problems – insecurity, poverty, economic disparity, and drug trafficking – in a world made up of children.
