The Need

•  Every four minutes an American child is arrested for a violent crime.

•  Every two hours a child is killed by a gun .

•  Nearly one in three high school students admitted to stealing something from a store more than once in 1996 .

•  Two-thirds of the high school students admitted cheating on an exam .

•  More than half of the nation's schools reported at least some violent incidents in 1996-97 .

•  Ten percent of the schools reported serious violent crimes, including rape, suicide, robbery, physical attacks or fights with a weapon .

•  9.9 percent of youths age 12-17 reported current use of illicit drugs in 1998, including 1.1 million youths who met the diagnostic criteria for dependence on illicit drugs.

Our children are both victims and perpetrators of the problems of our times. In the 1997-98 school year, from Arkansas to Oregon , there were a series of incidents where young people shot other youngsters while at school. People were horrified for a short time. The 1998-99 school year started out without any incidents of extreme violence. The public was lulled into complacency, until April of 1999 when two teens in Littleton , Colorado went on a shooting rampage. Following this tragedy, there were an overwhelming number of copycat situations, where young people threatened others at school with knives, guns and bomb scares. The worst was yet to come. In March of 2000, two teenagers killed 32 fellow students at Columbine, Colorado . Finally, the nation was stirred into action. All across the country, people began asking why so many of our youth turn to violence, and further asking what we can do about it.

Looking to Blame

The tendency of our society has been to look for whom and what to blame. The breakdown of the family, violence in the media, dysfunctional and/or inattentive parents, the Internet, and easy access to guns have all been named as possible causes. The problem may involve all of these factors and yet goes beyond any of them. Perhaps the blame syndrome is part of the problem. As a society, we have a tendency to blame others as an answer to our problems rather than taking responsibility for our contribution to the situation. This is evidenced by the preponderance of lawsuits, a situation that has gotten so extreme that people are often hesitant to help others for fear of being sued.

Is it the Media's Fault?

Perhaps the main question is not if the media is at fault for perpetuating a culture of violence. The media is only responding to what people want. We vote with our dollars. The entertainment industry generates violent programming because it sells. The more important question is why anyone of any age wants to watch so much violence on the screen. Rather than looking for who is to blame, perhaps we might better ask why people (of any age) turn to violence as a viable solution to their problems.

Sources:

The State of America 's Children, Children's Defense Fund Yearbook, 1996

The State of America 's Children, Children's Defense Fund Yearbook, 1996

United Airlines Hemispheres, August 1996, from a 1996 report by the Josephson Institute of Ethics

United Airlines Hemispheres, August 1996, from a 1996 report by the Josephson Institute of Ethics

National Center for Education Statistics, March 1998

National Center for Education Statistics, March 1998

National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 1998