Something went really badly in the past, but what was it, and how do we fix it?

[Savage99]

Children are being taught violence against others by video games, movies and other media.

They become insensitive to blasting and blowing each other up.

This goes for adults also. We have glorified the man with the weapon who blasts others.

When I was a kid we played Cowboys and Indians and shot each other.

That makes one used to doing that!

 

[Webleymkv]

I sincerely hope that Glenn E. Meyer will post in this thread because his insight and experience into this issue is far more extensive than mine.

In my layman's opinion, it seems as though emulation of violent media is probably a symptom rather than the problem. While violent media may desensitize people somewhat, it seems to me that acting out by emulating violent media is probably a symptom rather than the problem itself. While cases of people who act out violently after being exposed to violent media are highly publicized, the fact remains that millions upon millions of people are exposed to the exact same media and never act out in such a way.

It would seem to me that the true problem is some peoples' inability to discern the difference between the fantasy of a video game, film, or child's game and the reality of violent acts. If a person believes that it's OK to act out violently because of what they've seen on a television screen, it tells me that there are probably far deeper psychological and environmental problems than what the media itself.

 

[drail]

Games only become a "problem" when the players become unable to distinguish fantasy from reality. And we seem to have a lot of young people who fall into that category today.

 

[noelf2]

And we seem to have a lot of young people who fall into that category today.

Can you back that up? Provide resources that suggest "a lot" fall into that category? What percentage is "a lot"? Not trying to be hyper critical, but these types of personal beliefs get repeated, and they usually are not justified or proven. They are mostly hyperbole.

 

[Silent Bob]

Ah, jeez. I remember when the media was swearing that kids playing Dungeons & Dragons was turning them into human-sacrificing Satanists.

 

[Come and take it.]

Violent video games are a bit of a higher step toward violent acts of mass murder than playing cowboys and indians, and bugs bunny.

Also intense violence flics such as the "Dark Knight" or even "Terminator" are a bit of an increase over say "To hell and back".

The idea of going into a police department and shooting up the entire police force while being bullet proof was quite appealing to people already having anti-social thoughts.

Or blowing up a hospital for instance. That actor was driven to kill himself due to the trauma he suffered playing the role of the joker.

Why do first person shooters show a cloud of blood when someone is hit? They want it to shock the player and get the adrenaline flowing. The player gets desensatized to the death of people. They get a desire to commit homocide if they already have anti-social traits to begin with.

Banning guns however will never solve this problem. So long as Hollywood and the game industry continue to push mass carnage there will be incidences like this.

However consider this. Before the age of media the worst school massacre in American history, which took place in 1927, killed nearly 40 people (mostly elementary age children) and wounded more than 50.

google up Bath, Michigan disaster. An excellent read to give perspective to the evets in the modern era.

 

[ZeroJunk]

You can read anything on the internet, but if reports are accurate youths involved in most if not all of these killing had mental health issues.

I don't know whether violence in games or media contributes to someone with issues going over the brink or not.

But, I don't think it is going to turn a normal kid in to anything else.

 

[KMAX]

Desensitized?

When I was growing up almost everyone in the area either hunted or was at least familiar with it and had seen what guns could do to animals. When we kids and some adults got into a disagreement with someone else and it got really bad we had fistfight or scuffling matches after which we quite often became friends. We did not try to shoot, stab, bludgeon, or otherwise kill each other. I think maybe the effort to teach kids that fighting is bad and to shelter them from the damage a gun can do may be responsible in part for the desensitization of our youth. To see a person get shot on tv or movies is "cool" but it hardly shows that that person is not going to get up and go about living. To see an animal get shot in real life and looking at its lifeless body and its wounds is much more profound. I think our efforts to "civilize" our society have backfired to some extent. Also placing blame other than where it actually belongs has taken a lot of the responsibility out of people's nature. Granted this doesn't explain it all. Just my opinion.

 

[Woody55]

Let me throw another element into this mix. I'll do it by example.

Old westerns were violent. Not as graphic as what is depicted in TV, movies and video games today, but they were violent.

However, they also tended to be morality plays. Good triumphs over evil. Someone (usually the sidekick of the hero) could do bad, but he could be redeemed by good acts (albeit he still had to be punished). The good guy doesn't draw first.

They taught right and wrong.

I'm don't watch much TV etc., but I don't think there is that emphasis anymore. I have to wonder if that is a factor.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

We don't have the answers or agreement on the causes and this isn't a firearms topic.