Originally published by ThinkerMedia: BestThinking.com on March 9, 2011
Many kids will go unaffected. Some kids (or grownups, for that matter) might get some ideas. But some will secretly see, hear, and almost taste themselves as shooters as they play the shooter. And some bad kids will imitate the shooters in real life. And some ill kids will cross it. And those already somewhat ill but not yet visibly so, the line becomes blurrier and blurrier as their illness blossoms and their judgment shrinks. And that game, that kind of game will surely push them too over that line. They will actually shoot up a school. And kids and teachers and janitors and parents and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters, and mothers and fathers and uncles and grandparents, and neighbors will die. And a community will die. And survivors scarred by other massacres will suffer again. And our world will be less safe yet again.
Professionals must speak out to the producers and merchandisers and let them know that it is wrong to release such a game. We all must speak out. Words are very powerful. It is wrong to yell FIRE in a crowded theater. It is also time for parents to become educated, empowered, and use the right tools to manage all the media consumed by their children so that it becomes a healthy part of life.
You cannot start too early,” according to Eitan Schwarz, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist, Northwestern University Medical School faculty member, and an expert on violence, digital media, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD.) Dr. Schwarz describes his thinking and suggestions in detail and an app that will implement them in his ‘Kids, Parents & Technology: A manual for Young Families.’
Article by Eitan ‘Dr. S®’ Schwarz, MD
©All rights reserved
A SCHOOL SHOOTING IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME
Originally published by ThinkerMedia: BestThinking.com on March 9, 2011
Many kids will go unaffected. Some kids (or grownups, for that matter) might get some ideas. But some will secretly see, hear, and almost taste themselves as shooters as they play the shooter. And some bad kids will imitate the shooters in real life. And some ill kids will cross it. And those already somewhat ill but not yet visibly so, the line becomes blurrier and blurrier as their illness blossoms and their judgment shrinks. And that game, that kind of game will surely push them too over that line. They will actually shoot up a school. And kids and teachers and janitors and parents and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters, and mothers and fathers and uncles and grandparents, and neighbors will die. And a community will die. And survivors scarred by other massacres will suffer again. And our world will be less safe yet again.
Professionals must speak out to the producers and merchandisers and let them know that it is wrong to release such a game. We all must speak out. Words are very powerful. It is wrong to yell FIRE in a crowded theater. It is also time for parents to become educated, empowered, and use the right tools to manage all the media consumed by their children so that it becomes a healthy part of life.
You cannot start too early,” according to Eitan Schwarz, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist, Northwestern University Medical School faculty member, and an expert on violence, digital media, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD.) Dr. Schwarz describes his thinking and suggestions in detail and an app that will implement them in his ‘Kids, Parents & Technology: A manual for Young Families.’
Article by Eitan ‘Dr. S®’ Schwarz, MD
©All rights reserved