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Media is the Scapegoat for Today’s World I do not believe that violence in video games, movies, and music affects the decisions of the people who play or watch them if they were raised right. I get very frustrated when people cannot take responsibility for their own actions. My whole life people have blamed the actions taken by people on some form of media. If this is true than it means I do not have free will, for the things I watch and interact with will shape the person I will become. That thought greatly disturbs me as I believe I have learned self control as I matured.
I do not believe that just because I like scary and bloody video games that I will someday kill people and destroy cities. I believe that through learning and understanding of today’s cultures and freedoms keep a person balanced. When people commit a horrible crime like the columbine massacre the public looked to blame “Marilyn Manson” and the movie “Natural Born Killers”. The public said that if those teenagers had never watched or listened to those types of media that horrible event might not have happened. I believe if their parents had taken a little more time to pay attention to their children it would have prevented it from happening.
I believe that if the teachers or school staff had paid more attention to the events leading up to the massacre it might not have happened. I do not blame it on those movies and songs. I have listened to Marilyn Manson and I own natural born killers. Does this make your opinion of me seem different? Are you afraid that I will come and murder you because I listen to Death Metal and watch gory movies? I know that I base my beliefs on more than what a person watches on television and the games they play. There are endless amounts of violence in today’s media.
Whether it is movies, games like “Grand Theft Auto” or gangster rap music. I believe these are a conduit to channel the rage and aggression programmed in our minds. We all have instincts and emotions. If someone upsets me at work, sometimes I feel like hitting that person or doing something far worse. I do not act upon those thoughts. If it still bothers me when I get home I can play a shooting game and pretend every bad guy dying is that person at work. I have never felt like going to work the next day to act out those fantasies on a real person.
People today are worried about the children whose younger minds might not be able to tell the difference between good and bad. Children, who are not mature, will act out fantasies while making pretend. Once again, I place responsibility on the parents of these children. If a child is young enough to not understand what is real then the parents should make them wait until they feel the child has matured enough to understand the concepts of reality. Once that time has come let them experience whatever form of entertainment they enjoy. The parents shouldn’t have to worry about this issue if they have raised their children right.
In fact if the child has been raised right they probably wouldn’t even want to experience some of the bigger issues in the world like drugs or gangs. I am an advocate for good education and good home life. If this are instilled in children at a young age they shouldn’t feel a need to escape reality all the time. They should be able to make decisions based on real world experiences and the lessons taught to them during their upbringing. They should not have to look to different forms of fantasy and fiction for answers to life’s questions. People are afraid to take responsibility for bad events.
It is hard to take criticism after a tragedy. I do not believe that all tragedies are based on bad upbringing or an uneducated childhood. Many of these individuals that committed these crimes had a mental illness or experienced a horrible situation that never seems to end. This makes it very difficult to know what is real or even want to deal with the real world. I believe it would be very easy to succumb to fantasy under these circumstances. The problem with tying video games and movies as the spark that started it all is that these people could seek help through other means.
I also understand that certain situations are extremely difficult to escape but there is always another path even if it seems impossible to travel. Movies, games, and music are forms of entertainment. That is all they are. If a parent doesn’t want their teenager to watch a certain movie or listen to a type of music, that is their decision. I know personally that if my mom said no I would still watch it at a friend’s house. This means my mother was not there to experience the events with me. She was not there to share her thoughts of points of view on the subject matter.
Since she had stated she didn’t want me to watch it, I didn’t feel like talking about it after I came home. I felt like I would be in trouble so I just kept my thoughts inside. When I turned fifteen I explained this situation to my mother. Instead of being upset she asked me if there was anything rated mature that I wanted to watch. I ended up watching a very crazy movie called “Kids” with her. After that movie we were able to talk about the subject matter on an equal level. The movie is about a bunch of teenagers that are sexually active and one of them gets HIV. That person ends up spreading it to more than ten of his friends.
After talking with my mother we had both came to an agreement that anything (except adult rated) I wanted to watch or play I could as long as she knew about it. If I watched it a friend’s house she would rent it and watch it also. This also gave us something to talk about even at that point in life when communication between parents and children virtually stops. I may be blessed when it comes to my family and friends. I know some people live in horrible homes and cannot afford a decent education. If we can fix these issues we can solve more issues than placing the blame on movies, games, and music.