Parental Responsibility

Well, I just counted up my blogs and as far as I can tell I need 2 more which is good because I have 2 more things to say.

The first is a comment on the presentations at our last class. I am always impressed at the variety of ideas and approaches that people have. I do want to ask the game violence group something, and didn't want to take the time to do it in class. I have found that both Eric and Sharon, inasmuch as they represent opposite opinions, appear to be reasonable people. And obviously everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. But even though I tend to agree with Sharon that it's alarming to have so many violent messages aimed at our kids, I think that the WRONG thing to do is to censor those messages in ways that may shield kids but doesn't promote discussion. It's not ignoring violence that will save kids from it; it is understanding why it's out there, why it's appealing to some, and what the difference is between seeing someone shot in a video game and seeing someone shot on the news. I think Bernie brought this up before... but (though I'm not a parent) I really think it's a parent's role not only to determine age-appropriate material, but also to discuss with their kids WHY some things are not appropriate, or why one sees bad things on the news, and try to give the kid a frame of reference. Simply creating a rating systems does not replace the learning that takes place with that kind of constant discussion. I think that just telling kids "yes" or "no" without helping them understand why may lead to kids feeling an extra temptation towards that which seems mysteriously powerful because it is banned.