Media, Reality Shows and Violence. Where is the Connection?

Below is a link to an article about the teenage boy who killed his mother and sister in early October 2012 in a nearby suburb of Dallas. It is truly chilling to take a look inside the mind of this young man, to hear his thought process about killing his family. He stated that his thoughts started after watching the re-made version of the horror movie Halloween.

I have never been of the inclination that media can cause someone to commit a violent act. However, I do firmly believe that our current media-saturated, reality show inundated society has numbed people and given them a skewed view of reality. I believe that many people, especially children and teens, do not have a firm grasp on the consequences of their actions.

We live in a society where teenage girls make money on reality television shows because they are “16 and pregnant”. A few stations away you will find college kids partying, drinking, and hooking up with strangers; the only consequence is that they are now famous and have celebrity status. Our society is giving the youth of today an unrealistic expectation of life. It is difficult to see the consequences to ones’ actions in a 30-minute program once a week.

In addition, the violence on T.V. and in movies, video games and music are simply perpetuating the feeling of disassociation from the consequences of violence. Though I think people understand that you cannot hit a ‘reset’ button after killing an actual human being, there still remains some disconnect between fantasy and reality.

I firmly believe in freedom of speech and not censoring our society. It ultimately falls upon the parents and other responsible adults in a child’s life. Unfortunately, parents cannot physically be as present as they were 20 years ago. There are far too many one-parent households or homes where both parents must work. So how do we protect them from these influences in our society?

Below is the article that gives a glimpse into the mind of a young boy from a middle-class family in the suburbs and how he decided to kill his family.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/25/16692073-teens-confession-horror-film-inspired-murder-of-mom-sister?lite