Putting Out The Fires Of Violence
According to a report on National Public Radio, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee smelled smoke in 1954. They looked for a connection between television viewing and violent behavior but concluded that "more research" was needed. So nothing happened. But ignoring the smoke doesn't put out the fire.
In the wake of the slayings of President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Johnson smelled smoke again. More research with another hazy conclusion: extended television exposure might lead SOME to be more likely to engage in violence.
The smoke thickened again in 1972 when U.S. Surgeon General Jesse Steinfeld noted a "relationship" between violence viewing and aggression. Subsequent reports point to an accumulation of 30 years of research suggesting a "connection" between exposing children to "violent images" and displays of violent behavior.
No longer 1954's infants, "violent images" are now hulking, aggressive giants that haunt television, movies, music, video games, and the Internet. Fattened and encouraged by the time -- and dollars -- that we feed them, their persuasions as entertainers, babysitters, and heroes have become irresistible.
Years of steeping our children in the smoke of violence has tarnished their armor of innocence. Thus left vulnerable to strong-armed giants, some will react in like fashion. some, like meat over hickory, will absorb the smoke's flavor and character. The unfathomable, tragic disaster at Colombine High School should be yet another clanging alarm. A fire is out of control ... and the giants are stepping from the shadows.
No connection you say? Then consider this irony. When teenager Luke Woodham was on trial for gunning down his peers at Pearl High School (Hattiesburg, Miss.) in October 1997, eyewitness testimony described the slaughter as "like a horror movie." An all-too-familiar violent image to describe a violent act, a grisly foreshadowing of Columbine.
Pearl principal Roy Ballentine recently spoke at the National Association of Attorneys General conference on youth and school violence and proposed one way to prevent youth violence. Increase parental involvement in children's lives -- by spending time with them. At a White House confab on youth violence, Hillary Clinton had her own proposal: a new agency to come up with solutions. Protecting children her way must now take more than a village; it takes an agency. Mr. Ballentine gets my vote.
Do you smell the smoke? Then start putting out the fire. Spend personal time with your children and get to know their needs and where they're headed. Otherwise, they'll turn elsewhere ... and the giants of violence will eventually consume them. The evidence is clear enough, and neither studies nor agencies have helped.
Start today. Tomorrow may be too late.
Copyright 1999 James McAlister
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