© 2017 Michael
Swickard, Ph.D. Every year
for decades there have been students bringing guns to school to “fix a problem.”
In the days after the school shooting many people speculate on how the kid
obtained the gun and got it to school along with many more how-it-was-done
questions.
I never
hear the question: why did this kid think using a gun would solve any problems?
Rather, it causes more problems than can be imagined. So where did that student
get the notion that bringing a gun would make things better?
What this
something the child learned in school? Of course not. It is not part of the public
school curriculum. Further, it is not modeled behavior by teachers to shoot
problem students, regardless of how irritating students can be.
Yet, students
are bringing guns to school apparently with the belief that the guns will solve
their problems. If they do not learn that notion in public school, they must
learn it somewhere else. Is it in the home?
Most
parents reject that premise. “I certainly do not teach my children that
shooting someone will solve problems.” But they do. The message is transmitted
repeatedly to their children. Under their supervision kids watch hour after
hour of television and movies where the solution to problems is to shoot
someone.
The
average school age student watches hundreds of “shootings to solve a problem” a
week. Heroes as well as bad people, all larger than life, solve their problems
with guns.
Research strongly
suggests a correlation of behavior in children exposed to violence. Kids in one
research project were observed with fellow students for an hour. Then they
watched violent cartoons for an hour and were observed with students for the
hour afterwards.
In the
second and third hours, the incidence of aggressive behavior increased
dramatically. The research is compelling that watching television influences behavior.
That is why advertisers spend millions on commercials. It influences behavior.
The
responsibility lies with the parents to protect their children from these
influences. The copycat syndrome has been established by the police in some
types of crimes. It is seen on television and then replicated in society.
Television
and movie violence is so pervasive because it is the most easily created form
of drama, “Is someone going to die or not?” I’m not saying kids should be kept
completely away from all television, but it should be screened.
The issue
is not to stop television from showing the use of guns as a solution to a
person's problems, rather, the issue is that parents must stop letting
impressionable kids watch hour after hour of this guns will solve problems
message.
It is like
planting a tree. The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, the next best
time to plant a tree is now. The best time to screen television programs was ten
years ago. The next best time is now. No, we do not need a law, we need a culture
that understands the influences on children.
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