Blame NO ONE and NOTHING Else But The Shooter For VT

Wil Wheaton (they guy who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek the Next Generation) posts on his blog here about a great quote he read at (get this) another blog!

After the Virginia Tech shooting, I spent a few hours watching the coverage and people trying to "blame" anything semi-plausible for the cause(s) of the shooting. I have concluded several things:

Jack Thompson is a attention grabbing idiot and should be disbarred, charged with extortion and defamation of character by anyone practicing free speech (via video games or otherwise). And also extradited from the USA and sent someplace no one understands English. Dr. Phil needs to do a lot more homework before making ANY statements about ANYTHING. The so called EXPERTS should focus more on helping fix society's problems from a equitable and moral standpoint rather than searching for fame, notoriety, and extremely unrealistic social goals that are willing to drastically harm others in order to benefit a small, changeable few.

This young man who decided to take many lives because of the problems in his own, is a sad tragic story. My prayers go out to his soul and his family's grief. My prayers and condolences go out to the souls, families and friends of all the victims, as well as all the students to are privy to the VT campus. ] The thought that guys like Thompson, Phil McGraw PHD, and others would automatically jump on the bandwagon of video game violence, mass media (movies and music) as blaming EVERYTHING ELSE EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT THIS PERSON HAD A MENTAL ILLNESS really makes me sick. Yes it is true that media can cause less than original people to imitate imagery or action, but when said action crosses the socially acceptable boundaries, more is going on there than a kid watching violent movies, video games, or listening to rap music. One thing that I have learned in regards to human behavior since becoming a father is that a massive amount of who a person is and how they behave can be easily traced back to personal and parental responsibility. When a parent instills in a child what is and what is not socially and personally acceptable, that sticks with them for life. Yes I know there are exceptions, psychological and physiological problems being the only two that are acceptable in my mind.

I grew up in a small town rural community where it is normal to have guns in the windows of pickup trucks, twelve year olds go "shootin" and the fear of God and dad's belt kept you in line. But what happened the first time my Dad let me handle a gun? Ground rules. Besides technical stuff like check the safety, clear the chamber, point the muzzle away from yourself and people..... the conversation went pretty much like this.

Do you point this at people?
No.
Do shoot at something you do not want to destroy?
No, never.
Do you know what will happen if you break any of these rules?
Yup, beat, tarred, feathered, hung by my thumbs.


I would like to use this forum to show how this stuff can be avoided.
1. Take responsibility for what your kids see, hear and do. This is huge, less than ten years ago, although I professed to be Christian, the things I surrounded myself with were hardly that. My iTunes collection was filled with Metallica, Korn, and many others. My DVD collection showed my taste for foul mouthed, bloody, sex filled "films" that children should not watch, never mind even look at the cover art. Through my wonderful wife, and the grace of God, my tastes have changed, mind you, I still love epic, monstrous, guitar crunching rock, but I like hearing things that convey hope, worship, and life instead of death, pain, hate and other negatives. I have traded movie soundtracks (Spiderman and Batman Begins are highly recommended) for the latest Korn release, and where I would have been excited for the upcoming Metallica album, I am waiting more to see what Jeremy Camp's new cd will hold, so I can play it for the whole family while we clean house.

2. Talk to your kids about why things may or may not be appropriate. Although teachers should be respected and held in high regard, they cannot be relied upon to show our kids how to be good people. If you are unsure what should or should not be appropriate, attend a few meetings or services at your local Pentecostal church such as a Foursquare Church (no this is not an ad). Or find someplace near you. I am not saying become a full fledged member, nor am I saying that you have to be a Christian to be a good parent, but a lot is to be said for the true moral teachings of Jesus.

3. Be an example. Yet another learning process in my adult and parental life, and one of the hardest, but you can still "be a kid" and teach responsibility at the same time.

I know this was a long winded post, but this was put on my heart. God's speed to those victims of Va. Tech.