Entertainment Industry Does Not Create Teen Killers

By Jason Vines

Whenever an idiot teen with anger control problems decides that shooting people in the proper way to express rage, politicians of all political stripes say violence in the media is the cause. After the March 22 school shooting in El Cajon, California, Attorney General John Ashcroft proclaimed that movies and video games foster an "ethic of violence" that results in juvenile killing.

People always need convenient scapegoats to blame for society's problems. The practice of deflecting responsibility is certainly nothing new. Before the advent of television, culture critics assailed books as the cause of juvenile corruption. Now, software developers and movie studios are the ubiquitous demons supposedly debauching the youth of America.

The focus on and criticism of violent forms of media is entirely misplaced. Thousands of people watch violent movies and play bloody video games each year without going on rampages of death and destruction. A relatively mature individual who is sound of mind will not kill or maim someone because of a brutal act the individual has seen in a motion picture or a video game.

Few people will admit the real problem: oblivious and naive parents. These parents, instead of spending time with their children to impart to them the standards of civilized behavior, simply rely on the television or the computer to teach life lessons. These parents think nothing of it when their little kids (who certainly are impressionable, unlike mature people) play violent video games or see blood-soaked movies. Therefore, these children grow up thinking of violence as an acceptable solution to life's problems. They don't know any better because their parents didn't act as a force to counteract the messages from violent media.

Some people, such as Mr. Ashcroft, believe the entertainment and gaming industries should refrain from making violent products. But the thousands of people who can enjoy such things without hurting or killing people should not be punished for the insane acts of a deranged few. Parents have the responsibility to make sure their impressionable young children are not exposed to violent media. The time has come for them to live up to that responsibility.