Hi Write:
Sorry you're feeling so upset. This kind of thing is extemely upsetting, I think, for lot's of people. Me included. I don't understand such behaviour and it's hard to even want to understand it. On the other hand, maybe that's the only way to find a way to stop it or treat it or somehow......end it??? I don't know. I'm glad I don't have to do that kind of studying for a living. I'm lucky there.
Reading this story brings many feelings to the surface. I feel immense pain for the poor victim...what he must have suffered. For the family and the struggles they must now face and the feelings they must have to contend with. I feel complete horror for the parents of the perps and I think:
"Those boys are !7. !8. They're just kids. How can their brains be so messed up? What happened to cause that? How does one behave like that and ever get another nights sleep??

"
But those are my thoughts. My guess at people's feelings. My reaction to their behaviour. My confusion and frustration grow. It is upsetting (((((((((Write)))))))))). The violence. The evilness. This stuff really happens.
And as others have suggested here, I think it's important to take a deep breath, smell the roses, wipe the tears away and remember that there is a ton, a million times, a zillion times more good that goes on in the world......every single day. People give money to charity when they really don't have much for themselves. People work an extra shift because someone else can't make it in. People hold the door open for little old ladies. People return other people's lost wallets. People stop at accident scenes, make phone calls, do first aid, hold onto a stranger's hand. People even risk their lives for those they don't know.....and sometimes.....save others from danger....even death.
It's not always sensational. It's not even really spectacular. It's just simple, plain, small good works, or people doing their jobs, or making sacrifices in reaction to seeing need and all of those acts add up in my head........to a much bigger, more powerful package, than anything a couple of really screwed up kids can ever do. Not saying what they did is not awful or unimportant or in any way small.......just that I guess I refuse to allow such behaviour to distress me to a point where I forget to think of all the good stuff that goes on in this world too and be thankful and glad for it.
And so what helps me is to hold tight onto those good examples......and to really look for them, when I forget, or when some horror seems overwhelming. It is ovewhelming, what those boys did. It is horrible. It is upsetting and so very hard to understand.
And there are many, many more who are not like them at all. That is what helps me believe that somehow, understanding will eventually come about and maybe.......a way to scoop up kids like this......before they get to such of point of acting like monsters. But until that time, I'm with you Write. It's real. It happens to nice people. And it's so very sick to hear of, see portrayed in the media, and know about.
I can only pray for their poor souls. All involved. But I won't forget to pray for those whose good works help.
They deserve my prayers too, I think.
Hope you're feeling a little better Write.
Sela