Comment: Bloody price of TV fantasy.

TEMPER tantrums from a nine-year-old are something that every parent has to cope with.

But they don't end up in violent death.

The horrifying episode in Wicklow poses more questions about the society we live in than it does about the actions of a nine-year-old boy.

There are plenty of psychologists around who would argue that film and television violence does not have a harmful effect on young minds.

But the constant stream of blood and mayhem must leave a mark.

Kids have always loved violence.

They revel in the unbelievable injuries that cartoon characters inflict on each other.

Since the days when the first silent movies flickered across the screen, a good bar-room brawl has always been an audience favourite.

But all of that has mushroomed into a society that accepts bloody action as a way of life.

Playground scuffles degenerate into fights where feet fly.

That didn't happen until martial arts followers made it look noble.

A school of fiction that portrays the use of weapons as an everyday occurrence will eventually leave its mark on the real world.

That's when nine-year-olds begin to reach for knives when they lose their temper.