I’ve been thinking a lot today about Virginia Tech. Thinking about the whys and the whats and the hows and the what can we do to keep this from happening again?
I don’t know that it’s possible to ever stop people from killing other people. That has been going on since the dawn of our existence. But I certainly think there are ways to try to prevent these things from happening.
Information about the killer is slowly trickling out and one of the things that was reported was that he wrote very dark and macabre things as an English major, so dark that he was sent to a counselor. If that’s not a red flag, I don’t know what is. It seems that every time something like this happens, it is later reported that they wrote violent and dark words leading up to the killings. Perhaps the “counselors” need to take those signals a little more seriously.
I also think one of the problems is that we live in a society that accepts violence as a form of entertainment - in video games, in rap music, on television shows, in movies. I am not against free speech by any stretch of the imagination, but I think that many parents are too liberal in what they let their children watch when they are young. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve seen parents bring small children to violent, disturbing movies or that I’ve heard my students talk about the things their parents let them view on television. And I think these parents are doing their children a disservice by allowing these precious minds to view violence and ugliness at a young age.
I certainly think there is an age when kids can handle darker subject matter with supervision, but I think every child is different and parents really need to be aware of what their children are viewing and experiencing.
I try my best to make sure that LG is only exposed to “harmless” shows, which is why 1) we watch very little television when LG is awake and 2) I spend so much time watching shows like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. She enjoys the music and the movement and the shows themselves are pretty G-rated.
What makes me angry is when I am trying my best to shield her from the darker subject matter of movies and television shows and the networks find it necessary and apparently acceptable to advertise violent or scary movies and television programs during these shows that children are most likely viewing. It makes me angry because it’s very hard to flip the channel fast enough to keep her from seeing those commercials and they have no business being aired during those shows in the first place, in my humble opinion.
I’m not saying that those advertisements shouldn’t be aired at all, but I’m much more likely to expect something like that during CSI than I am during American Idol, and it really pisses me off that the networks don’t seem to care enough about the age of their viewers to consider the audience that is watching and save those ads for shows that I wouldn’t let my child watch anyway. And yes, I could just watch these shows on the DVR and fast forward through the commercials, but the bottom line is that I shouldn’t have to.
And so, I’ve decided. Every time I see what I consider an inappropriate ad during a show that I find harmless enough for LG to watch, I’m going to complain. To the local station. To the network. AND to the advertiser. And I think you should, too, if you agree with me. Maybe if enough people complain, they’ll think twice about when they program certain advertising. I’m not even going to begin to try to get the advertising taken off the television completely, but I’m sure going to try to make certain programs violence-free zones. It’s one small thing, I know. And it might not make a real difference in the big picture, but it’s something I can do and feel like I’m at least trying to change things. Are you with me?
Edited to add: In response to Barbara’s comment, I will work on getting a page up with the networks’ contact information in the next couple of days.
