Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence » (1ST)

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is the author of On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and in Society. As a West Point psychology professor and professor of military science, Grossman trains medical and health professionals on how to deal with and prevent killing. He was the lead trainer for mental health professionals in the aftermath of the Jonesboro shootings, and has been a lead witness in several murder cases, including that of Timothy McVeigh and Michael Carneal.

Gloria DeGaetano is a nationally recognized educator in the field of media violence, and the author of the critically acclaimed Screen Smarts: A Family Guide to Media Literacy.

There is perhaps no bigger or more important issue in America at present than youth violence. Jonesboro; Paducah; Pearl, Mississippi; Stamps, Arkansas; Conyers, Georgia; and, of course, Littleton, Colorado. We know them all too well, and for all the wrong reasons: kids, some as young as eleven years old, taking up arms and, with deadly, frightening accuracy, murdering anyone in their paths. What is going on? According to the authors of Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill, there is blame to be laid right at the feet of the makers of violent video games (called "murder trainers" by one expert), the TV networks, and the Hollywood movie studios—the people responsible for the fact that children witness literally thousands of violent images a day.

Authors Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and Gloria DeGaetano offer incontrovertible evidence, much of it based on recent major scientific studies and empirical research, that movies, TV, and video games are not just conditioning children to be violent—and unaware of the consequences of that violence—but are teaching the very mechanics of killing. Their book is a much-needed call to action for every parent, teacher, and citizen to help our children and stop the wave of killing and violence gripping America's youth. And, most important, it is a blueprint for us all on how that can be achieved.

In Paducah, Kentucky, Michael Carneal, a fourteen-year-old boy who stole a gun from a neighbor's house, brought it to school and fired eight shots at a student prayer group as they were breaking up. Prior to this event, he had never shot a real gun before. Of the eight shots he fired, he had eight hits on eight different kids. Five were head shots, the other three upper torso. The result was three dead, one paralyzed for life. The FBI says that the average, experienced, qualified law enforcement officer, in the average shootout, at an average range of seven yards, hits with less than one bullet in five. How does a child acquire such killing ability? What would lead him to go out and commit such a horrific act?

VOYA

The first half of this book contains a long essay concerning the entertainment industry and the plethora of violent media it produces. Citing numerous studies with statistics, the authors discuss the increase in violent crimes committed by and involving young people. Examining studies that link media violence and aggressive behavior in children, the authors look at developmental stages of young children who are unable to distinguish fantasy from reality and are desensitized by constant violence in cartoons. Video games come under particular scrutiny--blamed for their addictive elements as well as for honing the shooting skills of juvenile offenders. In addition to demanding that the entertainment industry act more responsibly, giving up the large profits received from producing routine, exploitive violence, the authors advise parents to talk to their children about violence in media and real life. They recommend monitoring, reducing, or in some cases, eliminating "screen time," including television, video games, and computers. The book concludes with a directory of organizations and their stands on media violence, lists of media literacy organizations, and extensive book and article citations. Every time a tragic incident occurs involving children as perpetrators or as victims, we all search for a reason and something to blame, but there is no simple, one-size-fits-all answer. Regulating the speech content of the entertainment industry has to be at the consumer level, and individual responsibility is key. As the authors suggest, viewers should choose wisely, and parents must begin actively participating in their children's lives. While this book is directed toward parents, students whoare exploring issues of media and violent behavior will find this an excellent resource for part of an extremely complex topic. Index. Charts. Biblio. Source Notes. 1999, Crown, Ages Adult, 196p, $20. Reviewer: Bette Ammon