Acquired Death Aversion Deficiency syndrome

Acquired Death Aversion Deficiency syndrome (ADADS) is a worldwide phenomenon of increasing death-related crimes and suicidal activities wherein children are directly involved. The term was coined by a Filipino educational psychologist Jose Fadul who first expounded on his compilation of relatively recent increasing accounts of suicides and murders committed by minors, during the public presentation of his Ph.D. dissertation at the College of Education of the University of the Philippines in 1999. Earlier in his paper proposal he quoted much from William Golding's Lord of the Flies and Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's "killology" theories, but went a step further by predicting that "in some peaceful, rural town somewhere in the United States, or Canada, or even in Australia, violent crimes and/or suicidal activities are being planned--not by adult terrorists--but by some children who appear to be deficient in their aversion for death ... and many are in danger of getting killed. Many, many children and adults alike, will unexpectedly get killed ... by these young children."
Soon after, a series of violent crimes were read in headlines around the world, starting with the infamous Columbine High School Massacre in Littleton, Colorado; together with suicidal activities of some children.
Fadul argues that neither extreme murderous aggressions in children nor suicidal attempts are innate, as much earlier explained by Sigmund Freud, but are acquired through watching violence and misconceptions in mass media presented as entertainment to children. Fadul challenged schools, educational institutions, and orphanages to have concrete programs, classroom lessons and curricular designs (including print and non-print materials) to counteract the emergent syndrome.

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