When I was growing up, I always had a healthy fear of death. To this day, I reserve a great deal of respect for that last step in the life of humanity. I always have, and always will, shudder and tear in the face of death.
Children in today’s society have a demented zeal for death. I know that this isn’t true for all children and young people in our American society but I would argue this to be accurate for a majority. All too often I overhear mostly younger boys, converse about death, shooting, and killing.
Working with kids gives those of us with teaching roles a unique opportunity to see and understand some of why children do what they do. We have a front seat viewing of how they are or are not disciplined. This certainly opens the door for me to see some areas where I will train my children differently.
Several weeks ago I caught a glimpse into the mind of a preteen that perturbs me still. The young one tag-teamed with another student to create a story about a package delivered and then opened by a young person, who was very quickly killed because the package contained a bomb. This was just the wild imagination of two young students, whom I’m certain had no clue about the recent package bombings in Texas. However, their insensitive statements turned my attention to contemplate what stimulus would desensitize them to death.
As it turns out these two students play some rather violent games that are intended for more mature audiences. Halo, Battlefield, and God of War, to name a few, many games have been linked to affected functionality in young adults and I find myself asking, what makes parents feel that their child is immune? The logic behind this would be like unto, “I look at pornography, but I’ll be ok, everyone else does, and I won’t be affected long term.” I feel like this has long been some of the logic to justify pornography and recently several state governments have declared porn a serious health problem.
Games have a place in social settings but when we blur the lines between the virtual world and real world we are desensitized to the harsh realities of life.
When we turn theft, murder, and combat into a game, we lose our respect for reality. Allowing children to partake in entertainment and media that appropriates morality to ideologies that are civilly and morally wrong neutralizes their ability to empathize.
