Letter: Jonesboro shootings

IN the wake of the horrific events in Arkansas, it once again seems as if everyone is qualified to psychoanalyse the two adolescents and understand their every motivation. This forms a convenient channel through which they can expound their own theories about the collapse of society.

Despite the fact that dozens of studies have shown no quantifiable link between screen violence and real-life crime, David Usborne (report, 27 March) still assumes that videos have a comparable influence to that of the boys' fathers, who have spent years training them to fire semi-automatic weapons at other living creatures.

DANIEL SMITH

Aberdeen