Is it in the water? Or maybe it the air.

         Today, we ran a story about a 9-year-old boy who beat an 11-month-old baby to death. The two attended the same Middlesex County, NJ day care center.

         We wrote a similar story four years ago. A 10-year-old Middlesex County boy beat his 3-year-old neighbor to death. He's now serving an 18 year sentence in juvenile custody.

         The reporter who wrote today's story also cited a 20-year-old case in which another 9-year-old Middlesex kid killed his babysitter. He stabbed her in the chest because she wouldn't let him watch his favorite cartoon.

        We tend to think of kids as redeemable. They are our future, we tell ourselves, and deserve our protection -- even if we are protecting them from themselves and their own actions. I remember, back in 2003, how we debated over whether to shield young Aaron Kean's identity, as is custom, but not law as many people think, when dealing with juvenile offenders. And I remember worrying that printing his name might ruin any chance he had at future happiness. A friend from outside the paper pointed out that 3-year-old Amir Beeks had definitely lost all chances of future happiness on March 27, 2003.

        Back then, I was shocked, horrified, shaking when I heard the news. Now, though disturbed, I am not even surprised. Three of the men who allegedly killed three college students on a Newark, NJ playground were chronologically younger than my eldest nephew, though perhaps, years ahead of him in life experience. I didn't raise an eyebrow.

       I'm afraid I've become inured to violence and to those who are supposed to be our "innocents" committing unspeakable acts. I don't know what this means about our society, or what means about me. But it's a frightening evolution.