When we in the security industry are faced with writing an incident report we are taught to ask who, what, where, when and how. There is one more question that begs asking: WHY. Why did it happen? This question is normally left up to the investigators and lawyers, but I think we need to ask the question. Why is there so much violence in schools?
There have always been fights at schools. These fights happened for various reasons: a girl, sports or just to see who the toughest guy is. But times have changed. We now have reports of children fighting with or killing other children for all kinds of reasons. Gang initiations, just for fun and sometimes for no reason at all. So, why is this happening?
In my opinion, the children that commit these acts are empty inside. They have been numbed to the reality that actions have consequences. I point the finger at Hollywood and the video game producers. Children nowadays play violent video games continuously and watch violent movies. These video games and movies have graphic scenes and encourage killing of both good and bad people. They are mentoring our children NOT to conquer the instinct of killing. I am told that in some of these games you must kill yourself in order to win. Why would anybody allow their children to play these games?
Hollywood glamorizes the criminal and makes the police and other law enforcement to be the bad guys. Just look at the movies The Fast and The Furious and the “classic” The Godfather, and the hit show The Sopranos. In these productions you will see that the one they are calling the “hero” would actually be a bad guy in real life. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that any of these should be banned. What I am saying is that this is part of the problem. We as a society need to let Hollywood and the video game industry know that we want products that represent our standards.
Unfortunately, a large number of kids play, watch, and get addicted to these games and movies just as surely as if they were doing drugs. Like a drug user, over time they need more and more just to feel the same “high” if you will as they did when they started. Some of these children eventually lose their grip on reality and think life is like the games and movies. In an attempt to “feel” something, they act out the scenes they have seen time and time again. Unfortunately, there is not a reset or pause button for real life.
These children no longer have the interaction with other children the way we did growing up. They no longer are allowed to play outside or participate in organized sports because they “might” get hurt. We need to make sure that kids are properly supervised while playing and that inappropriate games and movies are kept away from them until they are more mature. If they are playing these games, parents should make clear the difference between reality and non-reality. The best way to keep your children secure is to be active in their life.
