I don't think it has anything to do with television or media. I think it has a lot to do with absent parents trying to make enough money to survive, paired with a lack of proper medical and mental health care. Children are raising themselves on violent games and television shows while both parents are working 8-12 hour shifts just so they can afford to put food on the table. I grew up watching violent shows, watching deer and pigs being butchered every year and I don't go around killing people or animals and gutting them. Media has a very small role to play when you look at the much MUCH bigger picture. There are NO proper social programs in place especially in the US for dare I say *dangerous* special needs children and adults? The only way you can have someone institutionalized is to have them commit a serious crime... THAT is the only way to get *help* ... But also... please think about the amount of murderers and psychopaths are also in the US military, (I am not saying its only the us but the majority of it happens in the US) ... with no remorse whatsoever they gun down men women and children in other countries... their statements: "its a preventative measure" ... well why not just pick a new hitler and do what he did... try to wipe out an entire race just because they are different and have different views. No my friends... Media is not the problem... the way our children are raised and taught are the problem.

 Scientifically speaking, a childs ability to differentiate between good and bad starts at birth... their minds are extremely moldible between the ages of 0-6 years of age... and many parents are too busy to deal with their children, or too tired to teach them, so in front of the video games and television they go to watch violent shows and play violent games... if you are 18 years old and just started Playing Halo, chances are you know that your neighbors don't deserve a bullet in the brain... but when you are 6 or 7 years old it makes perfect sense because you saw it on television... Ultimately this is not a problem that can be pinned down to one thing, give it be media, mental health, medical care, access to guns, etc. It will never come down to just one thing... its a whole slew of things. Sure as I said media definatly plays its part... but if the cost of living was affordable, mental health care and medical health care was affordable... maybe one of those parents could actually be at home with their children and teaching them right from wrong as society apparently isn't capable of doing as such on it's own. Parents need to realize that money isn't what makes your family.... your family does. Most of us at least had one of our parents at home with us until we reached school age 5-6 yrs old... In my own children I have seen a MAJOR difference in their attitudes, and behavior since I stopped working and became a stay at home mother again two years ago... The only thing that has changed is that I am home, they still watch the same violent movies (kids movies at that!) and they still play Halo at their fathers house on the weekends... the difference is that they have me home, and I explain to them how things work, the whys and the hows... they know they can rely on mom to be there for them when they get home so they aren't all pent up full of energy and anxiety and they have someone they can release it onto in a constructive way. I am far from a perfect parent... but my children aren't getting into fights at school... they aren't pulling knives on eachother... and they are far better behaved than I ever was, and they play much more violent games than I ever did

The two statements above are part of a conversation I just recently had on facebook... My very sweet friends post was about how Media played such a large roll in all the goings on with children killing children... Obviously my point of view is in a much larger sense... its always easier to blame media, or the government, or or or or... but when in fact it comes down to how we are raising our children. In  Canada it's not quite as bad, but all over North America children are being parented by *care givers* and *teachers* .. daycares, the neighbours teenager etc... these people are an okay substitute from time to time... but they do not have the bonds with your child like you do... or at least like you should. The bonds between child and parent are growing so thin nowadays... Who is to blame? Both parents have to work full time jobs plus some in order to afford to put food on the table, to cover the cost of child care, school expenses, medical, dental, and mental health care....  We are taught that co-sleeping is dangerous (closeness with your child is bad)... breastfeeding is frowned upon... attached parenting is bad... who is fooling who? Society is totally screwed up. In order to make your children happy you are convinced you have to get them the latest Iphone, their own laptop.... the best car as soon as they are old enough to get a driving permit etc... this is ridiculous. 

  I get that parents want the best for their children... I really do... I would love to get my children all the wants in the world... but our priority is the needs. We don't have cable tv... we do have internet... we have a telephone... we don't put our kids in daycare, in fact we have only had a babysitter twice in two years... I am a full time parent, my life revolves around my kids schedules... I spend time with them, while I am cooking dinner they sit at the table and talk to me and ask me questions and I answer them the best I can. The lines have been blurred as to what parenting is. So many mothers only a few weeks after giving birth are in a hurry to get back to work because they didn't qualify for parental benefits.... this makes me sad. Isn't the reason for having children is to enjoy them while they are young? One day your children will be too busy for their own children much less you... 

  Society is fucked up. It really has nothing to do with media, gun policy's, etc... it has everything to do with where YOU are as a parent. 

What we deem acceptable

  Recent events have triggered my brain to go into over drive... The events I am talking about is the Newtown Shootings in Conneticut. The reason that this has caused my brain to go into over drive is because this is something that doesn't happen daily on our continent...

It is horrible and tragic that 20 children lost their lives, I couldn't imagine what their families are going through, but here is what I know...
 A young man obviously suffered from a mental illness (undiagnosed) and went through a *break* mentally... he shot his own mother after stealing her guns from her gun collection, walked into an elementary school and started shooting. Nobody really knows why. But here is the kicker... every where I look on facebook someone has posted how they are terrified to put their kids in public school because of this, people who live in Canada, not in the states that don't know these children or families are crying over the event... American Media have sensationalized this situation... How about the thousands of families that lose their children every single day to bombings by US drones or their own countrymen in Pakistan? or Afghanistan  Or how about the thousands of children that starve to death, or die from infection from filthy water in India or Africa? What Canadian or American families cry for them?

  A short while ago a US military  man went on a drunken rampage and killed 16 people in Afghanistan in the middle of the night while they slept in their houses... 9 of which were children, one man lost his entire family... And you know what happened to him? Nothing so far. If he had done the same in the US, everyone would be in an uproar demanding justice and he probably would have been shot on sight. But.. I suppose his justification of "I thought I was doing the right thing"  (by shooting brown people in their sleep in another country) has actually been taken into account!!! I am MORE outraged by this small story... Mainly because it was NOT in the news... no you have to search for this type of information. "he was on steroids and was drinking" was his defence... What kind of defence is that? He did not plea guilty or innocent either. He admitted to being fully aware of what he did, and was fully aware of what he was doing as he did it... and when he was on trial he gave NO statement, and as they showed the victims and the aftermath of what he did, this father of two stood and watched showing absolutely no remorse. What I learn from this is that it is okay to murder, rape, and beat small children to death in another country, but if it happens in the US to little white kids in a well to do neighbourhood look out!!!

  A 14 year old Pakistani girl was shot in the head and neck while her classmates watched on the school bus... do you know why? Because she was proud to go to school... Because she encouraged other girls to do the same... She has survived, but will not be safe in her own country again. The Taliban has vowed to kill her... I didn't see this pasted all over facebook.

  At least 10 young girls have been killed after an explosion in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, officials say.The explosion occurred in the Charparhar district on Monday morning.The girls, ranged between nine and 13 years of age, were gathering firewood outside the Dawlatzai village when the explosion took place, said Mohammad Seddiq, a local government administrator.It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion.

Seddiq said that two other girls were seriously wounded in the explosion and were in critical condition at a local hospital.

  In the first six months of 2012 over 578 children were killed or wounded in Afghanistan.

    I am not trying to be callus, or uncaring... I care maybe too much... you weep for the children of one little town, but do nothing to try and help those who's lives are in danger every day. It is up to us to make a difference. WE CAN make a difference... But I suppose everyone is *too busy* so sign petitions, or write a letter to the Canadian or US government, because its not happening on this continent, so it does not affect us, it's not as frightening... it's not so close, so it's okay.