Backlash

Well, needless to say, there was some disagreement with the views expressed in my previous post.  Several people have suggested that the problem stems more from a sense of entitlement, lack of consequences, and a general loss of public shame.  Below is just one (negligbly edited) example of an alternative but, I'll maintain, not oppositve view:

My son spent the better part of his childhood collecting, hiding, and revering his arsenal of plastic guns.  He has long been a fan of action films, violent movies, good guys over bad guys, just as my brother and I were. He would never ever, ever, ever shoot anyone with a gun, real or plastic, because he has been brought up a sensitive, life-loving, giving, wonderful man. Even if I were being attacked, I know for sure that he could never pull a trigger.  An individual's anger manifests because of those around him -- i.e., SOMEONE or SOMETHING triggers the violence, not our laws, not our way of life, but the Liberal Democratic bulls**t that has people thinking that they can do anything they want, anytime they want, to anyONE they want, with no retribution.  All we need to do is to teach our kids that they can't do whatever the f*** they want.  Then, you'll see change.  When I was a kid, this s*** was UNHEARD of. 

Again, I don't think we are entirely in disagreement.  Ultimately, it is up to parents to teach their kids the difference between right and wrong, especially in the face of so much wrongdoing.  However, it's up to everyone to change the environment, the culture of violence, that surrounds them.  I'll say the same thing about our kids' health: Yes, parents need to do more to keep their kids eating right and getting enough physical activity, but its up to all of us to demand that we live in a society where it's not so hard for parents to do the right thing.

Someone else had a different view, basically that is the fault of movies and video games, but perhaps not in the way you would expect.  I've paraphrased these comments below:

Action movies are a lot different than they used to be, and so are video games.  The special effects have become so advanced that it's hard for us to distinguish fantasy from reality.  We see "real-life" violence and engage in "life-like" killing all the time now, making what was once only a fantasy into a potential reality, and leading to the kinds of horrific things we are seeing. 

I agree that movies are a lot more realistic.  For example, I watched the first ten minutes of Batman & Robin with George Clooney, produced over a decade and a half ago.  It was laughably simplistic in comparison.  I never had any interest in games with guns (although I loved Mortal Kombat), so I can't really comment on that. I don't know about the rest of the argument, but perhaps there is something to it.  I'm sure if I start digging in the Yale Psychology database, I'll find something.

The response suggests that people really do care about this.  And I think that there is at least some merit to most of the arguments, except the "we need more guns" one, which is just insulting, and which I mention only to ridicule.  It's like suggesting we all smoke to prevent dying from second-hand smoke.

If you think you've a better suggestion than that, I'd love to hear it.