Well of course I blame the parents for letting them play the damn games, and watch the movies. I'm not saying playing video games and watching movies is bad, but moderation is key... kids don't know how to be moderate in nothing.
And you are right that they're monsters... I just think desensitization plays a major role, that's all.
Except you don't know whether these kids play Grand Theft Auto or any other video game obsessively. You're jumping to conclusions with no evidence.
I've been watching horror movies and playing violent video games since I was 10. I've seen pretty much every single bloody American horror movie there is that's any good and now making my way to the Japanese ones because that's where horror is at now a days. So it's not even about moderation, it's about being taught by your parents what's right and what's wrong.
It's also about not being fucking crazy. Speaking of which, all across the world in places like Japan they watch the same movies and games we do, they even have some worse gory movies. How come they're not all doing the shit we see here in the U.S.? I'll tell you why, it's the society we have and the environment that these kids are growing up in.
Whether you agree or disagree with Michael Moore, he makes a great point about this in Bowling for Columbine. Across the world, why are other countries gun deaths so much lower? It relates to the society and media. All-fear based and such.
We were first a society of many guns and conservative values.
The guns remained, but the conservative values have been aggressively diminished.
Action now takes place within a void of consequence - be it the home, the schools, and society in general. Things such as video games and films can concentrate this imbalance even further.
Boorish behavior has gone from simply exhibited, to actively promoted. Look at such posters in here such as BikerSailor, Huggy etc. - almost every post reeks of profanity, sexism, insults, attacks, etc. Yes, the Internet has contributed to our overall decline as well - and I in no way mark myself as immune...
Boundaries have fallen, and with those basic boundaries of common decency, so too do people's understanding of acceptability, accountability, and personal responsibilty - and from there the slope becomes increasingly slippery, each generation of youth more uncertain, each preceding generation of adults more inept, and acts of outrage more common place...
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waNhD1Z23M8&feature=related]YouTube - Gran Torino End *Original*[/ame]
Do not mistake the term conservative in this context as political. I know of many political liberals who are quite conservative when it comes to family and values, while I know of many political conservatives who have little to no conservative values regarding family, responsibility, etc.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waNhD1Z23M8&feature=related]YouTube - Gran Torino End *Original*[/ame]