I spend a great deal of time reading and watching the news. Mostly because it’s my job. The news seems to be more and more violent. I’m not referring to the war currently in progress. I wish war didn’t exist. I wish terrorist didn’t exist but they do. This post is not about the war. It’s about what is happening in our own back yards. I think we should all be concerned.
Anyway, back to the news. It seems as if crimes are getting more and more violent here in the United States. I think it’s the type of crimes that disturb me the most. It’s not drug lords killing drug lords or gangs shooting at other gangs. I can stomach hearing about these crimes. After all they did join a gang and gangs shoot each other. It’s entire families being senselessly wiped out. That breaks my heart. Innocent children are being thrown off bridges, suffocated, shot and burned to death. Most recently, the teenage girl who with two friends, stabbed, shot her parents and two younger brother, all because her parents didn’t like her boyfriend. I don’t understand how this sort of thing happens. What makes a person say? “lets kill my family.”
Or the man in the nice suit that decided to shoot the people at Wendys. What purpose did that serve?
This sort of thing seems to be happening more and more. It’s quite depressing especially since I have to watch the news all day long as part of my job. I watch the same horrible stories over and over again. By the end of the day sometimes I want to scream! What are your thoughts?
16 responses so far ↓
1 Keiti // Mar 4, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Marsha,
I haven’t decided if the crime rate is actually going up or if it’s just that we have constant and nearly immediate access to news.
Either way, I *really* can’t wait to get to Scotland. Not that crime isn’t everywhere, but still…
I’m tired.
2 Ricardo // Mar 5, 2008 at 1:12 am
This has indeed been a very disturbing trend. It’s been escalating over the last few months. They say crime usually goes up when the economy goes down. As that a part of it? I simply don’t know. I am growing weary but worried about the frequency of these stories. they seem to be coming out of nowhere. I’m moving to Canada or something.
3 Joe // Mar 5, 2008 at 4:54 am
I think these incidents have to be identified from the root level. Most of the troubled kids seem to have a lack of love and care (or the overdose of it) from their families. The society also has to be more careful on treating people. But these are not the only reasons for what is happening in the world.
4 Marsha Loftis // Mar 5, 2008 at 6:31 am
Keiti- Maybe this much crime as always been around but with the internet it’s just easier to spread and make everyone aware of what is happening. It’s still depressing.
Ricardo- It seems as if more crimes are involving families. I hate seeing parents killing their kids, siblings killing brother and sisters, and teenagers killing entire families. It seems as if this has become a horrible trend.
Joe- This is probably reach but I think that this is all stemming from the violence of video games. Are children are being desensitized. Killing just doesn’t seem like a big deal any more.
5 Keiti // Mar 5, 2008 at 7:26 am
Marsha,
I have to respectfully disagree with you about the video games. It makes me crazy when the arts (and I do consider video games an art, at least in creation) are used as an excuse for bad and / or criminal behavior. While I can’t deny a small influence, if the propensity for violence wasn’t already there, the video games would have no effect.
Like Joe, I think parents spend far too little quality time with their children, far too little time teaching their children right from wrong (not to mention working to counterbalance the “me, me, me” syndrome), and far too little time teaching children respect (for themselves and others), and personal responsibility.
If children were taught these things from the very beginning, the knee-jerk reaction of using violence to deal with their frustrations wouldn’t be so much of an issue.
I’m not saying it would never happen, but I don’t believe it would happen nearly as often.
6 Joe // Mar 5, 2008 at 7:56 am
Violent video games and movies - oh yeah.
7 Joe // Mar 5, 2008 at 7:58 am
I think parents spend far too little quality time with their children, far too little time teaching their children right from wrong (not to mention working to counterbalance the “me, me, me” syndrome), and far too little time teaching children respect (for themselves and others), and personal responsibility.
That is also so true…
8 Marsha Loftis // Mar 5, 2008 at 8:24 am
Keiti- I think you have valid points we shouldn’t solely blame the video games…but I do believe video games are contributing to the bad behavior. I see it all the time as the children in my neighborhood play. It’s not that the children are trying to hurt each other..but I don’t think they realize that sometimes their games can cause serious injury. For example, jumping off a wall and landing on a friend during a sneak attack.. or taking a stick and trying to knock a friend off their feet when play fighting. I realize all children play fight but the play fighting has seemed to get more dangerous and unrestrained.
Joe- My husband and I carefully choose our video selections. A lot of families don’t. I think families spend far too little time doing family activities too!
9 Keiti // Mar 5, 2008 at 9:23 am
Marsha,
I agree with you that the video games are contributing to the bad behavior to some extent. However, the bad behavior, and inability to differentiate between game and reality, does go back to parents not teaching their children the difference more than it does the video game. You’re right in that play fighting does seem to be more dangerous and unrestrained, but that’s hardly the fault of video games.
The funny thing is that we consistently send mixed messages to children in this sense - if you think back to our own respective childhoods, we rode our bikes without helmets, we climbed trees without protective gear, we were taught that actions had consequences - if we roughhoused and got hurt, it was made very clear that if we did something stupid we were going to have to make to correlation between our actions and the result and remember not to do it again.
These days children are so over-protected - bikes must be ridden wearing helmets, knee and elbow pads required for skateboarding, etc. - when something bad happens it’s *always* someone else’s fault - the bike was faulty or the skateboard wasn’t put together well rather than recognizing the consequences were a result of of a child’s actions. (That’s not to say there aren’t times when a child isn’t at fault, but I think overall this sense of personal responsibility is sorely lacking.)
Keiti
10 Marsha Loftis // Mar 5, 2008 at 10:56 am
Keiti- I totally enjoy talking to people that speak their minds. Thank you for replying. It may not be the video games fault but the video games are influencing children’s behaviors. The fault lies with the parents that find it perfectly OK to allow children to play these violent games hour after hour and day after day. Children like to imitate. They imitate the good as well as the bad. When they are constantly allowed to view and play violent games they act accordingly.
11 joey // Mar 5, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Lots of good points here. I definitely lean towards Keiti’s feelings on video games. Before video games kids played cowboys and indians, then cops and robbers, now red team and blue team? I don’t know. But exposing your children to violent, realistic games definitely doesn’t sound appealing to me. So I guess I’m a little conflicted on that issue.
I do think the media is playing a huge part in us being bombarded with this horrible information day after day and having it feel like this is a new trend. Though, I don’t think these tragedies are new, I do think it may be happening more.
Perhaps it’s happening more because of the media’s coverage. You see the killer, the note or video they left behind. They see the news as well, they see what is being reported. The media is not only a source of information but it’s a venue for these killer’s missions.
12 Dawn // Mar 5, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Yes, all good points and all reasons why I try to read my news rather than watch it so I can filter it a bit.
13 Marsha Loftis // Mar 5, 2008 at 1:27 pm
JOey- I think a lot of the crimes happening on the TV are for the shock factor. What can I do that would bring the most attention to myself. In a sick way, I think the people committing these crimes are looking for sympathy? maybe? It’s the “oh, woe is me!” or the “I’ll show you, I’m not someone people can mess with”…and then others copycat.
Anyway, kids lack supervision,responsibility and respect.
Families need to get back to eating around a table.
Dawn, If I didn’t have to watch the news as part of my job. I wouldn’t.
14 Keiti // Mar 5, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Marsha,
I think you and I can both agree that while the video games do contribute to children’s behavior, the fault truly lies with the parents for not having enough sense to teach their children the difference between right and wrong and what’s real and what’s not. AND using video games (as well as TV) as babysitters.
I just bristle when people solely blame video games (or books, or movies, or tv, et al) for poor choices in behavior. (And I don’t mean to imply that you did that - because you didn’t - I’m at home sick, and a bit cranky. :-))
I agree with Joey that exposing children to violent video games doesn’t sound appealing - and that definitely comes down to parents not…well, parenting.
It makes me think of something I read years ago - I think it was in The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. If I recall correctly, she and her father were taking a train somewhere and she kept inquiring information about something or another and her father asked her to pick up the suitcase. Of course, she’s unable to because she’s a young girl and the suitcase is very heavy. Her father tells her something to the effect of he wouldn’t ask her to carry the suitcase because it is beyond something that she’s capable of - and so is the case with information - some things are just too heavy for children to have to contend with.
It’s up to the parents to decide what is appropriate for their children and what isn’t. Of course, we’ve all done things as children we were told not to do; that is part of growing up. But to have adult-themed situations constantly front and center can’t be healthy.
I’m going back to lie on the couch in misery, now.
15 Marsha Loftis // Mar 5, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Keiti- I’m glad you have an opinion and I am glad that you share your opinion. Don’t worry about me taking things personally. I know the difference between a personal attack and someone just voicing an opinion.
I am not a perfect parent there are things I could have done better. My children have for the most part grown to be well adjusted people. I take pride in that…so much that I post it all over this blog.
16 Keiti // Mar 5, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Marsha,
I always try not to make disagreements personal - just because we don’t necessarily agree doesn’t mean anything beyond that - I only wanted to make that clear…I get way cranky when I’m sick.
I don’t think there are perfect parents anywhere. I don’t even have children, so…
Leave a Comment