Violence Begets Violence
Right now at this very moment you can turn your TV on and watch just about anything that you want to, this also means so can your children. Do you know how much violence is being broadcasted through the media just today? Do you understand how this is affecting your child? Do you know that from birth to age 25 their brain is growing, and there are these neurons, "mirror neurons" that teach us to imitate what we see? What if it was your child who went to school with a gun? What if it was your child who was shot by a class mate? I believe that we as a country should force the media to limit the amount of violence that is being viewed by the public. Not just for ourselves but also for our children. As a member of the United States Military I was sent to Iraq in 2003. I know that seeing individuals being killed and shot has made a difference in my life. I remember the very first moment I saw someone being dragged back into a HMMWV with bullet wounds, I threw up. My team leader walked up to me and said, "don't worry it wont be so bad next time". I remember asking myself why it won't be so bad next time. And then I thought about it. It's just like ripping a band aid off. The more you do it the less it's going to hurt. But I don't think that comparing a band aid to someone's life is fair. So this leads me to the media? Why is it ok to show death day in and day out to our nation when it is clearly affecting us? I got my answer one day while working at a bomb sight. I was trying o keep 2000 Iraqis back from trampling the crime scene and to add to the mess there were about 500 reporters. I was frustrated to say the least. I screamed at them to stay back and wanted to know why they wanted to see death instead of all the progress that was being made. Someone in the crowed screamed "bad news sells better than good news" And I couldn't say anything. I was dumb founded that individuals could be so caught up in making money that the long term effects didn't matter to them.