Glad I don't... - Page 2

I dont think the media is to blame. If we hide the problem, the problem still exists. I did however, make certain that we didnt watch the news that evening. I got to see a little bit of coverage during the day, and I didnt like the way reporters were searching for friends of the shooter. Almost looking for the most bizzar angle to exploit. A bit too much "dirty laundry".

Dear Friends:

The media is to blame to the extent that journalism has become "tabloidy" and unreliable in its effort to become more profitable. Even my favor CNN has fallen into that category lately.

The media is not, however, to blame for the violence in our society. It is like blaming the messenger for the bad news he/she brings. Many ancient Greek tragedies already addressed this issue centuries ago. The problem is that in our effort to improve our society to compete with others, we have raised individualism and competitiveness to a level that is suseptible to almost turning violent. This is the root of the problem. The rest are simply symptoms of that cultural disease. This is my opinion.

Papa,
I see your point and I agree that the quality of the news is not always what it should be. On the other hand, one cannot blame the media for feeding people what they want to hear. If the media suddently started transmitting the news responsibly, and give a true balanced and educated view of things, no one would watch. I fno one watches, they go off the air. Once again, it's a pull rather than a push phenomenon.
People want reporters to give them as much dirt as possible; when they give facts, they want to be told whether they should be happy or upset about them. I guess that's a result of being bombarded with so much info everyday. Although frankly, I'm glad that all this info is available and would never want to go backwards in that respect.

I would agree that you can't blame the media alone for the occurence of tragic events such as these. I do believe that they should be held accountable for the way they report events and the lengths they will go to in order to do so. Remember the death of Princess Di in a car travelling at high speeds trying to escape the media? If I were to serve someone chicken and they were to contract salmonella poisoning, I don't blame the chicken and I'm definitely not allowed the luxury of saying I was just doing my job. Why shouldn't the press be held accountable in the same way I am? Certainly, freedom of the press is a right, but everything comes with a price. The price here is professional responsibility. A little less sensationalism and melodrama would be nice. Were I a journalist and I thought the way I was reporting events was even by a slight chance part of the problem, I would say, to h**l with the ratings, people are dying, I've got a responsibility and the buck stops here!
Of course, the responsibility doesn't rest on the media alone; parents, teachers, friends, etc. of children also have to take responsibility. Hillary Clinton is right about one thing, at least: it takes a village.

Home schooling, in my opinion, can only work if the parent is at least as good a teacher as the teachers in school. It takes a lot to become a teacher, much training and experience. Few parents, well meaning as they may be, are therefore qualified...

Anneke, As a homeschooling Mom, I have to disagree with you. This is a whole 'nother subject, but to keep it brief, I do not do "crowd control", my day is not spent getting kids to sit in their seats, etc. etc.. I am merelly a resouce and facilitator to a very bright 12 year old who now has access a limitless range of possibilities, not just what is imposed by canned curriculums, or the limitations of my own knowledge. We are very fortunate to live near a major metro area, so we have all kinds of activities to choose from, all taught by experts - eg. there is a upcoming event at the Museum of Science on cloning - not taught by a teacher, but a scientist active in the field. Well, I won't go on, I just wanted to make a point......I am open to more discussion on this subject if anyone is interested....

Lori

As the Father of two young children, the world we live in scares me badly. It has also strengthend my resolve to be as good a parent as I can be. I like to consider myself a compassionate dictator. My house. My rules. But, here's the reason for the rules and a whole lotta love to go with them. The kneejerk reaction to this sort of thing is to ban guns and find blame. Video games, bad parenting, Eminem, Marilyn Manson,etc. In my day it was Alice Cooper, KISS, OZZY and violent movies. Does Eminem influence our kids? Yes, I believe so. Do these ultra-violent video games influence our kids? Yes, by taking the pain out of killing and glamorizing the killers. Do I think these types of things need to be banned? No. For better or worse, we (or most of us anyway) live in the freeist country on the earth. I and anyone else are free to pursue whatever dream I want as long as I don't violate the laws. It is my responsiblity to teach my children what is inherently wrong with the messages being put forth by Eminem and others of his ilk. It is also my responsiblity to teach my children the concept of empathy. A concept which is almost gone from todays society. To put yourself in the shoes of the other guy and see how your actions affect him is the first step towards making us a littler gentler, a little more tolerant and a lot safer. I have no doubt that as my kids grow up, there will be times when they "hate" me for being so invloved with their lives, but in today's society, it might be the difference between life and death. My 2 cents.

ps I'm not a gun owner and would be very happy to see them disappear. I am, however, a realist.

mofo1,

So well put.
There is nothing I can add to what you just said.

cc

I listened to heavy metal and watched violent movies when I was a teen but never killed anybody. I think we all have fantasys about being a vigilante getting even with the people that did us wrong but some people can"t seperate fantasy from reality. On the gun issue I think they should be banned I'm tired of worrying some idiot kid is gonna take a shot at me if I look at him wrong. When I was a kid we settled disputes with our fists if you were the better man u won now every puny punk kid can get a gun and become an instant man. I hear the argument that we need guns to protect ourselves that is bs if somebody breaks into my house they might end up killing me but I'll take a few with me and without a gun.

I thought of one other thing I want to add. I believe that there are people who are just flat born evil and nothing anyone could do would change that. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut Jr., they are simply "bad machines."

Lori: I think you are one of the better teachers. ;)

I personally know someone who wants to home school her kids. They're not in school yet and already she cannot control them or teach them anything. She thinks school will somehow ruin them but she simply doesn't have the patience and mostly the DISCIPLINE to homeschool 2 kids. Please understand, I'm not knocking homeschooling. I just think it takes some very special parents.

Dear mofo1:

I have to disagree with you on this issue. No one is born evil. Go to an orphanage and look at the children there. Can you tell the evil ones?

Crime is not born. It is created and developed by our environment. Children are innocent. It is elsewhere that we need to search for the source of violence.

I could not agree more Papa..
Children are born with the inert sence of love. They need our help and nurturing and love to help them grow.No one is born "evil" the thought of that is almost scary. We need to take responsibility for our children and our sociaty,only then will peace flow in the blood of children
cc

Gentlemen,
I highly respect both of your opinions and agree to disagree without arguing. Bottom line is: know what is going on with your kids and love them as much as you can. Peace.
Chris

Peace

Peace