Violence in Schools

[coralvalley]

Blaming television and video games is surely a copout in my opinion because a lot of what goes down happens within a home. That it not to say that parents are necessarily bad parents, but with the way that the world is run we see a lot of children who are essentially growing up on their own and teaching themselves how life should be. With the way the economy is we have parents that are both working within a home most of the time and children are on their own without supervision or even in a situation where parents who are not readily available with giving time to a child who is desperately in need of it try to overcompensate for not being around in other areas of a child's life by simply turning the cheek and not cracking down on disciplining a child when they do something that simply is not right. Sure, I know full well that the entire blame is not on the parents, but with children when they are on their own with no support system or nothing to do, their boredom leads to them branching out in some cases with peers or situations where they feel some kind of association and that often leads to some of this negative identification that a lot of them enter into with hating the world and feeling like they need to lash out.

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times in the last couple of months alone I have heard stories about hazing and various other forms of violence that have lead to something bigger. There was an incident not that long ago about a child threatening to blow up the school because he was hazed by fellow members of the football team, but the school rather than taking action against both parties, turned the other cheek about the athletes because the school was up for a championship, so they players were informed to keep tight lipped about their role in the other child lashing out. Granted the other child should not have threatened to lash out in violence against the school, but it makes you wonder if perhaps the school plays a hand in bringing violence into a situation. If there are no repercussions for an action that one group of children does against another simply because of athletic ability or other superficial reasons, I would imagine it would only breed contempt with other individuals that feel that they are being discriminated against. Again, I do not feel that is right, but it does tie into the whole need of discipline situation. If problems are taking care of when they first begin and someone is around to keep an eye on them whether it be a parent or a school administrator, then I would imagine that there would be less violence in schools. Sure, some could say that it ties into video games and television, but I think the real problems stem from the lack of support and guidance in the world so to speak.

[Xtreme $niper]

Well before I get into the topic of violent video games, I wanted to say something else. Right off the bat when I read "Violence in Schools" the first thought that came to mind was the fact that these incidents with school shootings get so much media attention across the nation (and even the continent or the world) that it becomes a simple way of getting your suicidal message out to the world.

In Toronto, the TTC (transit commission) actually has a ban on media publications regarding any suicides or suicide attempts to discourage would-be track jumpers. I think this is effective because most people publicly kill themselves so that they can get their 15 minutes of fame.

On the topic of video games, I think if the child has no psychological issues that may hamper their ability to separate reality from virtual worlds, then I believe that there is a very slim chance that the video games would have any negative effect on them. A bad combination of this potential psychological issue and bad parenting (if the parent knows the child has issues, but still allows them to immerse themselves in games) can develop into a situation where video games might be the cause of some violent situation.

I don't ever believe that video games are the direct or only cause for someone to shoot up a school or a mall, or any other incident. I believe that there is always a true reason behind that excuse, such as depression, bad parenting that may involve lack of attention to the kid, or driving the kid insane with abnormal restrictions on social life events (as examples).

In the end, while games and television and movies may play a part in the violent nature of some people, I think that the true reason for such behavior falls back into the hands of the quality of life that person has been having recently. A guy can go from happy-go-lucky to suicidal depressed in a matter of weeks or even days, and all it takes is that kind of mood swing to trigger something bad to happen.
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[Scar]

I don't blame tv or shows, or games or movies or anything. None of that crap has any affect on anyone. Has a movie or game ever made you wanna do something in real life? I doubt it.
Reading stuff on this forum doesn't make me wanna go read a book or anthing.. (lame metaphor or whatever ha)

I think the problem is being alone and actually being able to sit there and play the games and watch tv all the time. You get lonely, and start getting all weird, and then the people at school making fun of you just makes you build up hate. You can't let out any steam because you don't do anything really but stay in your room so it just builds.

I think the problem is not enough interactivity with others, and others not embracing the depressed and others. Love cures all. We need to start looking out for eachother, and forcing out kids to go out and play instead of staying inside all the time and becoming weirdos.

Blaming games, and other things like that are just excuses. Parents need to do more with their children.

Back in columbine, their parents didnt even know that they were building bombs in the basement. If their parents spent time with them and paid them attention then they most likely would've noticed bombs being created in the basement, and the shooter videos and everything.
Lack of parenting is a big cause i think also.
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[spock]

[Maneechan]

Talking about the media effect, I just finished watching this movie where a man use a long blade and pierce it into his head in full bloody gory view.

If impressionable young kids saw this, I really wonder what they will do since the movie portray this actor as a "cool guy."

[clpo13]

They'd have to be pretty stupid to think that sticking sharp objects into their heads is cool.
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[Xtreme $niper]