When third graders attack.....

[JenBKR]

This caught my attention....hard to believe that THIRD graders would be capable of thinking of this kind of violence :(

http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=60392&provider=top

Georgia Third Graders Plot To Attack Teacher

WAYCROSS, GA (WLTV) -- It's the type of news you don't expect to hear coming out of an elementary school. Nine third grade students suspended at Center Elementary in Waycross for an alleged plot to attack their teacher.

"This plot was uncovered at the point that something dangerous was brought to the school," says Lt. Dwayne Caswell with Waycross Police.

Police say the students were hatching a plan to harm their teacher Friday morning. They even brought items from home to carry out the plan.

"They had a broken steak knife, a crystal paper weight, toy handcuffs, several items and tape and stuff," says Lt. Caswell.

Ware County School officials say a classmate told the principal about one of the students bringing a weapon to school. The discovery was later made that more students were in on the plot. The school says it’s a matter they are not taking lightly.

"Some might say 'They were young and in the third grade and how serious could it be?', but anytime our students' safety or our teachers' safety is compromised we obviously have to take that very seriously," says Theresa Martin with Ware County Schools.

The school district says all the students are suspended until further disciplinary action is decided.

"We continue to do what we always do which is work to make our students aware that this is not appropriate and we ask our parents to help us. The whole saying that it takes a village to raise a child is very appropriate at this time," says Martin.

Police say no criminal charges will be brought forth against the students. The District Attorney is handling the case and students will most likely face juvenile charges of Unruly Child.

[lvpets2002]

:( I am just shaking my head is sorrow, saddness & upmost dismay..

[JenBKR]

I saw a little video of this, apparently the teacher scolded one of the students (I think for standing on a chair) so these students plotted to handcuff the teacher and stab her.

[lvpets2002]

I saw a little video of this, apparently the teacher scolded one of the students (I think for standing on a chair) so these students plotted to handcuff the teacher and stab her.
:( Gosh Jenn whats this world coming too.. These are such babies.. When (a long time ago) I was that age you had toys & dolls & playing on the brain.. We sure did not even think of knives & attaching people on our minds..

[momoffuzzyfaces]

How did they find this plot out? Did the kids actually attack the teacher or did someone squeal?

Kids are a lot older at that age then they were when I was that age. They see too much too soon on tv, movies, and videos. :(

[JenBKR]

How did they find this plot out? Did the kids actually attack the teacher or did someone squeal?

Kids are a lot older at that age then they were when I was that age. They see too much too soon on tv, movies, and videos. :(

I believe that another student told a teacher that one of the kids had brought the knife to school. I agree, kids are much older now then when I was that age...and the violence on tv and video games has just gotten out of hand.

[Jessika]

...Where are these children's parents?! How on Earth would your child taking a steak knife to school escape your attention??

That's such a shame! IMO the teacher didn't even do anything wrong :(

[pitc9]

OMG... how sad! :(

[caseysmom]

...Where are these children's parents?! How on Earth would your child taking a steak knife to school escape your attention??

That's such a shame! IMO the teacher didn't even do anything wrong :(

They could just shove it in their backpack, I never did morning backpack checks!

[jackie]

This is so horrible.

I wonder if these children will ever be able to return to the public school system. If I had kids I would never want them anywhere near these ones, and I can't imagine many parents would be comfortable with them around.

[moosmom]

And their parents are WHERE????? I would hold them accountable for their kid's actions and I would also suspend/expel all guilty parties. Or....better yet, have them spend 24 hours in a prison cell (not a holding cell) where they have a whole night to listen to the creepiness that goes on in those kinds of places.

[lizbud]

Sounds so unbelieveable. How old would they be, 8 or 9? :rolleyes:

I know it's no excuse but, so many couples have both working full time
jobs to make ends meet nowadays. Nobody seems to have the time to
properly supervise the kids anymore.

[mugsy]

I saw the picture of the backpack...

The parents will be held responsible, I'm sure. I'm with you Donna...what ever happened to parenting? Now it just means they want to be buddies because they're still kids themselves or are afraid to discipline their kids because they will be accused of abuse.

I often ask myself why I went into teaching...because there isn't much teaching going on anymore...it's more paperwork and babysitting. :confused: :( :mad:

[Twisterdog]

I am failing to see where the parents of these children are to blame for this, necesarily. Honestly, parents, when your kids were in the third grade did it EVER occur to you to search their packpacks and coat pockets every morning for knives and paperweights? I would have NEVER occured to me that my child could or would plot something like that! One kid could have picked up the broken knife in an alley somewhere ... and what parent thinks of the paperweight on their desk as a potential problem? These are EIGHT YEAR OLDS.

And, thus, being eight year olds ... they got this idea from somewhere. I have a hard time believing this was conceived by these kids without outside influence. Whether it was older siblings talking, the media exposure to high school and college tragedies, video games, whatever - these eight year old children have heard way too much, way too young.

[RICHARD]

The knife had a broken handle....Not one of mom's good "Rachel Ray's signature orange handle butcher knife, with serrated blade to keep food from sticking". :rolleyes:

Where did they get the handcuffs?

And I can hear some child psychologist saying, "These children are not developmentally disabled, The fact that they were able to organize and develop a plan shows that they have been misdiagnosed!"

--------

LOL, In the GOOD OLD DAYS, If I had done something like that I would have been marched home and given a good crack across the arse. IF I was lucky I would have been given a dressing down....But since the cops were involved I guess a good trashing would have been in order. :eek:

[IRescue452]

I believe it. You should be around some of the kids that come out of the elementary school where I pick up my sisters. They are certainly capable of something like this. And now that I work at a middle school cleaning, I notice how oblivious teachers are to things I can see going on with those kids.

[dukedogsmom]

Sounds so unbelieveable. How old would they be, 8 or 9? :rolleyes:

I know it's no excuse but, so many couples have both working full time
jobs to make ends meet nowadays. Nobody seems to have the time to
properly supervise the kids anymore.
That's not an excuse. Both of my parents worked full time all my life. Both the parents and children need to be held accountable for the kids' actions. They are old enough to know exactly what they were doing and that it was wrong. And they shouldn't be allowed back in the school system for at least the rest of this school year.

[moosmom]

That's not an excuse. Both of my parents worked full time all my life. Both the parents and children need to be held accountable for the kids' actions. They are old enough to know exactly what they were doing and that it was wrong. And they shouldn't be allowed back in the school system for at least the rest of this school year.

Absolutely, Val!! BOTH my parents worked when my brother and I were growing up, and you didn't see US taking knives and God knows what else to school except books!!! We turned out fine. Parents need to know what their children are doing, with whom, where and when. And they should be held accountable for their kid's actions, sorry. But that's just MY opinion.

[Sirrahsim]

Parents need to know what their children are doing, with whom, where and when. And they should be held accountable for their kid's actions, sorry. But that's just MY opinion.

I agree completely.

There are always signs that the parents SHOULD have seen if they were paying attention. Kids that age don't just wake up one morning and decide that they want to stab their teacher. It is a parent's job to monitor what their child watches, reads, talks about, and looks up on the internet. You can't say "I had no idea" if you saw that your child watches violence on TV, plays violent video games, talks in an aggressive manner to anyone including the family pet, or exhibits a hundred other warning signs. Kids don't start out with hatred in their hearts. They have to learn it somewhere AND they have to be reinforced in some way at home that the way that they are feeling is correct and ok. I'd even hazard to say that this whole thing could have been prevented if the parents had been more attentive to their child's needs and emotional well being.

[caseysmom]

Yeah me and my daughter went to the lake Sunday and there was a car there, the only other car besides ours and it had a bumper sticker that said "this is my peace sign" then a picture of a bulls eye. There young son was throwing rocks at the ducks and getting cheered on by his big brother, I guess that was all learned in the family.

[DJFyrewolf36]

I'll admit sometimes I had fanasies about doing something mean to a particularly nasty teacher of mine when I was a little kid but I never ever acted on it nor would I ever take even a toy weapon to school. That kind of thing was unthinkable when I was younger. Yes I played violent video games, and I did watch my fair share of kung fu movies and the like but I was always taught the difference between real life and fantasy.
A lot of people blame media violence for what kids do today and I'll admit it does play a part but at the same time I was exposed to way more violent and less politically correct stuff at a far younger age than kids today and I never shot up a school or attacked a teacher. My parents were always teaching me things though, dispite the fact they both worked full time when I was growing up. I think parents need to start parenting more and letting the government or special action groups raise their kids less.

[dukedogsmom]

I think parents need to start parenting more and letting the government or special action groups raise their kids less.
Exactly. They depend on the teachers and police to raise their kids.

[moosmom]

Yeah me and my daughter went to the lake Sunday and there was a car there, the only other car besides ours and it had a bumper sticker that said "this is my peace sign" then a picture of a bulls eye. There young son was throwing rocks at the ducks and getting cheered on by his big brother, I guess that was all learned in the family

And you didn't say anything to those little fu--ers??? I would've thrown rocks at them to see how they liked it. Grrrrrr, don't get me going on stupid parents. :mad: :mad:

[Catlady711]

It's not just the video games/cartoons influencing kids. What about all the ton of CSI, Cold Case, etc type shows. These type of shows basically step by step tell you how people were killed, and a person with a twisted and/or misguided mind could easily see these as a 'how to' on murder.

Many times kids are just left to go watch tv to stay out of the parents hair. The parents frequently don't supervise the viewing. And to top it all off many parents sit and watch tv shows like this with thier kids and never speak up on what was right/wrong with people's actions on the show, and never use the shows to help teach their kids reality from fantasy.

When I was growing up my mom not only supervised how much tv I watched but what I watched as well. Whenever I was watching tv mom would ask questions or point out things during commercials to help teach things to me. Heck mom even used real life situations (kid screaming and throwing a tantrum at the store/restaurant) to teach me how to behave and to learn lessons from things around me.

This is sadly lacking in many homes. Parents don't pay attention to the tv shows THEY'RE watching, to realize the influence on their kids, let alone use the time during comercials to teach their kids.

[Jessika]

I am failing to see where the parents of these children are to blame for this, necesarily. Honestly, parents, when your kids were in the third grade did it EVER occur to you to search their packpacks and coat pockets every morning for knives and paperweights? I would have NEVER occured to me that my child could or would plot something like that! One kid could have picked up the broken knife in an alley somewhere ... and what parent thinks of the paperweight on their desk as a potential problem? These are EIGHT YEAR OLDS.

And, thus, being eight year olds ... they got this idea from somewhere. I have a hard time believing this was conceived by these kids without outside influence. Whether it was older siblings talking, the media exposure to high school and college tragedies, video games, whatever - these eight year old children have heard way too much, way too young.
Parents should raise their kids to have morals and to know right from wrong and that behaving that way is COMPLETELY WRONG AND UNACCEPTABLE. Just because parents "back when" didn't have to check their bookbags... times have changed, when I was younger parents were actually around to parent and raise their own children versus dumping them off at a babysitter, school function, or daycare. Parents would ask their children about what happened at school, how their day went, and make small talk because they actually cared. Nowdays that hardly happens because, as someone mentioned previously, most parents are still pretty much kids themselves!!!

I fully believe the parents are 100% responsible for these children's actions. Yes I understand that even the best parent in the world can turn out a bad egg but... dear Lord, nearly a whole class of them!?

[caseysmom]

And you didn't say anything to those little fu--ers??? I would've thrown rocks at them to see how they liked it. Grrrrrr, don't get me going on stupid parents. :mad: :mad:

We just drove for an hour and I was in the bathroom, when I came out my daughter was mad and told me about it. By then the boy was walking away, I told my daughter if I see him do it again I am going to go stand near him and talk to him about what he was doing.

[IRescue452]

Sometimes its the parents morals that get in the way. I frequent quite a few forums and gamer sites online that are visited by kids as young as 8 years as well as adults. Sometimes kids will start threads about wanting all of a certain group of people to die just because of the way they are dressed or the way they act. Stereotypes run wild and most of their topics are worthy of hate crimes. And where do they learn to hate certain groups...parents usually. Religion and race especially play a huge role. Kids take to extremes the things parents might only say or do in private settings.

[JenBKR]

It's not just the video games/cartoons influencing kids. What about all the ton of CSI, Cold Case, etc type shows. These type of shows basically step by step tell you how people were killed, and a person with a twisted and/or misguided mind could easily see these as a 'how to' on murder.

Many times kids are just left to go watch tv to stay out of the parents hair. The parents frequently don't supervise the viewing. And to top it all off many parents sit and watch tv shows like this with thier kids and never speak up on what was right/wrong with people's actions on the show, and never use the shows to help teach their kids reality from fantasy.

When I was growing up my mom not only supervised how much tv I watched but what I watched as well. Whenever I was watching tv mom would ask questions or point out things during commercials to help teach things to me. Heck mom even used real life situations (kid screaming and throwing a tantrum at the store/restaurant) to teach me how to behave and to learn lessons from things around me.

This is sadly lacking in many homes. Parents don't pay attention to the tv shows THEY'RE watching, to realize the influence on their kids, let alone use the time during comercials to teach their kids.


Exactly - and there have been studies done that say that kids don't completely understand the difference between 'real' and 'fantasy' until age 16. I wonder if these third graders even understood what would actually happen to the teacher.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Exactly - and there have been studies done that say that kids don't completely understand the difference between 'real' and 'fantasy' until age 16. I wonder if these third graders even understood what would actually happen to the teacher.

What studies are those? I'd be interested in seeing that actually, as I thought I had a good grip on the differences at a young age. Maybe I'm an odd case though.

[Twisterdog]

Just because parents "back when" didn't have to check their bookbags... times have changed, when I was younger parents were actually around to parent and raise their own children versus dumping them off at a babysitter, school function, or daycare. Parents would ask their children about what happened at school, how their day went, and make small talk because they actually cared. Nowdays that hardly happens because, as someone mentioned previously, most parents are still pretty much kids themselves!!!

Well, I'm not exactly a parent from "back when", since I have three school-aged kids at home. I would be VERY surprised to hear ANY parent say they checked their 8 year olds packpack for weapons. Honestly now.

So, are you saying children who go to a babysitter or daycare are uncared for and not talked to, by default? Really now?

No one, as far as I have heard, knows ANYthing about the home environments, employment status or age of these kids' parents.

[dukedogsmom]

Exactly - and there have been studies done that say that kids don't completely understand the difference between 'real' and 'fantasy' until age 16
When you make a statement like that, you need to post facts to back it up. That's ridiculous! I knew real from fantasy way before then and I know I'm not the only one.

[DJFyrewolf36]

When you make a statement like that, you need to post facts to back it up. That's ridiculous! I knew real from fantasy way before then and I know I'm not the only one.
Thats why I asked for some info, I didn't think I was that unusual lol. I watched horror films from the time I was six. Probibly not "healthy" by todays standards but maybe because of that I can laugh at those kind of films now knowing that they aren't in any way real.
My mom got me into reading true crime books when I was about 8 or so. Those cases I KNEW were real, and real concequences happened. Kind of gave me a good grip on things I think, although my hubby says I shouldn't read such depressing literature lol.

[mugsy]

This is an excellent point on why we DON'T allow backpacks in the classrooms where I teach. I know my sister, who adopted a meth baby who is now 9, checks his pack every morning before he leaves...not necessarily for weapons, but, to make sure he has all of his things. I'm just SO glad I don't have kids...I would lose my mind! :p
While, I'm sure, the kids had outside influences, the fact remains they brought the things to school with an intent...and it wasn't good! I have no idea what kind of background these kids came from and in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter, what does matter is that it happened. It speaks volumes of today's society.

[Jessika]

Well, I'm not exactly a parent from "back when", since I have three school-aged kids at home. I would be VERY surprised to hear ANY parent say they checked their 8 year olds packpack for weapons. Honestly now.

So, are you saying children who go to a babysitter or daycare are uncared for and not talked to, by default? Really now?

No one, as far as I have heard, knows ANYthing about the home environments, employment status or age of these kids' parents.
I think you are reading MUCH too far into what I'm saying. Obviously I am not sayin that all parents who take their kids to daycare are neglectful, come on now. However I have worked in the daycare environment to know that it DOES happen, a lot more than anyone would like to admit. Some parents would be waiting at 6:30 for our doors to open, and then be late to pick them up at 7:00 at night. To these kids, we WERE their parents, and they did not want to leave. Some of those parents also expected us to potty train them and teach them things that should have been time spent bonding with their parents, not bonding with us.

I never said parents should check the bookbags *every day*, but I DID say that parents should be instilling good morals and values into their children's lives and teaching them right from wrong and sending them down the pathway to be able to make the right decisions on their own. And simply TALKING to their children, asking them how their day was, what is going on in their lives, some parents don't even do THAT nowdays.

I don't understand why you imply my post was an attack on *every* parent???

EDIT: And may I reiterate, in my previous post (including this one) I was speaking in loose generalities about this situation IN GENERAL, I am not speaking specifically about these particular parents, because you are correct, I do not know what their home life is like to pass judgment based on it. But I am speaking of a lot of parents nowadays, some I know personally.

[Twisterdog]

I think you are reading MUCH too far into what I'm saying....
I don't understand why you imply my post was an attack on *every* parent???

I apoligize if I read too much into your statement. Just seemed you were over-generalizing a bit when you said:


times have changed, when I was younger parents were actually around to parent and raise their own children versus dumping them off at a babysitter, school function, or daycare. Parents would ask their children about what happened at school, how their day went, and make small talk because they actually cared. Nowdays that hardly happens because, as someone mentioned previously, most parents are still pretty much kids themselves!!!

[Jessika]

I apoligize if I read too much into your statement. Just seemed you were over-generalizing a bit when you said:
To re-clarify, if I may, as far as loose-generalizations go I would moreso be speaking from my own experiences with my own generation... most parents in my generation are still kids themselves... especially in the area I grew up... it's almost disgusting... however I know there are exceptions to everything, but I am speaking in generalities lol.

[cyber-sibes]

We were talking about this over lunch today with friends - unbelievable, isn't it? But I disgree:

... They depend on the teachers and police to raise their kids.A big part of the problem is that teachers are NOT ALLOWED to discipline kids in the classroom anymore. It's not like when we were kids & you were expected to show respect to adults in authority (who were entrusted to provide consequences for your misbehavior) For Pete's sake, these kids hatched this plot because a teacher reprimanded them for standing on the chair? What's next - will they plan to kill a parent who tells them not to stand on the furniture at home?

[Reachoutrescue]

This is so horrible. My son is in 3rd grade so this really bothers me. These kids are so young...where do they get this from? They are only 8 and 9.....what are they going to be like when they are 15 and 16? I really hope something is done for them before it is too late.

[RICHARD]

I don't have kids, so fire away....

When I was growing up we didn't have ALPHABET KIDS.

THose are the children with ADD, ADHD, PSP, DVD, TMOBiIE and all the other good letters that have defined them in the last few years.

In the Bad old days kids were taken aside, talked to, given the proper guidance-or a swift arse kicking if need be.

The rules of Mixed Martial Arts apply here, No biting, hair pulling, eye gouging, punches to the back of the head and no kicking while the child is down.

-------------------

The bleeding hearts will say that the kids are too young, too effed up, not old enough to take the fall for their little plot.

I say toss them into a camp or home-somewhere they can get a little structure in their lives.

Can you imagine the outrage if they had done this to one of the mothers in the group?

There would be fire and brimstone set against the world. The parents would ban together and drive that family out of the community.

ANd that brings me to the teacher.

She gets no support or any kind of sympathy from the community.

It shows you the effing respect we have for anyone in command-teachers especially. We send the kids to school to learn and when they act like animals
everyone jumps to their side and blames the system.

We look at Generation X and Y....Gen Z is coming up soon and after that we'll have to invent letters for the little AHs that we have no control over.

Me? I'm glad I don't have problems with kids.


One cat is enough for me! :p :D

[mugsy]

I don't have kids, so fire away....

When I was growing up we didn't have ALPHABET KIDS.

THose are the children with ADD, ADHD, PSP, DVD, TMOBiIE and all the other good letters that have defined them in the last few years.

In the Bad old days kids were taken aside, talked to, given the proper guidance-or a swift arse kicking if need be.


-------------------

.

ANd that brings me to the teacher.

She gets no support or any kind of sympathy from the community.

It shows you the effing respect we have for anyone in command-teachers especially. We send the kids to school to learn and when they act like animals
everyone jumps to their side and blames the system.



Ok, I said I wasn't going to comment anymore on this, but, Richard's response made me do it!

1. My 8th graders were talking about it today (they found that more interesting than the 8 murders in a week here) and thought it was FUNNY! That speaks volumes for our society.

2. In reference to the Alphabet Kids...my favorite is ODD...opposition defiance disorder...in my youth that child would be called exactly what his is...a SPOILED BRAT who needs a good swift kick in the butt.

3. In reference to Richard's comments on the lack of support for teachers...I have only one thing to say.... RICHARD...WOULD YOU MARRY ME??? ;) :D ;)

[RICHARD]

3. In reference to Richard's comments on the lack of support for teachers...I have only one thing to say.... RICHARD...WOULD YOU MARRY ME??? ;) :D ;)

Why....Sure, you'd have to move to Cah Lee Fuh Nee Ah. And I don't have a dishwasher, so you don't have to do dishes.....I would.

Dang, If I can get you to post against your will and ask for my hand in marriage can you imagine what MY kids would be like? :( :eek: :confused:
-----------
I need to clarify one thing about my previous post.

What I meant to say is that if the plot was put together against a neighborhood mom, the neighbors would ban together to get rid of the families of the children who put together the plan...

[Edwina's Secretary]

Third grade must be a very dangerous place. Here in OC a 3rd grade teacher had a gun hidden in her classroom. Ammo too.

OK Corral (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-teacher4apr04,1,2108694.story)

If children are so good at distinguishing fact from fiction...why is Harry Potter so popular...Santa Claus, ET, and Snow White???

Combine a violence saturated culture with a child-centric culture and what do you expect?

[mugsy]

Why....Sure, you'd have to move to Cah Lee Fuh Nee Ah. And I don't have a dishwasher, so you don't have to do dishes.....I would.

Dang, If I can get you to post against your will and ask for my hand in marriage can you imagine what MY kids would be like? :( :eek: :confused:
-----------


Well, I just can't bring myself to move to Cali...I'm just too Midwestern I guess! lol Dang!

You wouldn't have to worry about kids though...I'm 46 and have zero interest! ;) :p And your cat would need to deal with my 6 dogs.


Sara...I totally agree...I'm just glad it hasn't come to that in the good ol' Fort!

[dukedogsmom]

Richard, once again you prove your awesomeness! Loved your post and it was right on the money. And you do dishes, too? You just might have another proposal.

[lizbud]

A big part of the problem is that teachers are NOT ALLOWED to discipline kids in the classroom anymore. It's not like when we were kids & you were expected to show respect to adults in authority (who were entrusted to provide consequences for your misbehavior)


One sure cure for today's school problems is to have an Order(any Order)
of Catholic nuns to take over the running of the schools.These kids would shape up quick. back in the "good old days" Catholic schools were given
permisson by the parents to discipline children if neccesary.

Children knew their limits & the consequences of bad behavior.

[RICHARD]

One sure cure for today's school problems is to have an Order(any Order)
of Catholic nuns to take over the running of the schools.These kids would shape up quick. back in the "good old days" Catholic schools were given
permisson by the parents to discipline children if neccesary.

Children knew their limits & the consequences of bad behavior.

That's because they scared the crap outta ya with the ruler and the line, "God sees everything you are doing".

Kinda like the government and the PATRIOT ACT....without the phone taps. :confused:

[JenBKR]

When you make a statement like that, you need to post facts to back it up. That's ridiculous! I knew real from fantasy way before then and I know I'm not the only one.

Perhaps I should have been more specific.....for one thing, I apologize but I do not have any way to post a link to what I am talking about. It came from an adolescent psychology class I took in college.

I know that not ALL teenagers are this way...but many think that they are invincible, that they already know everything. Pair that with being so over-sensitized to violence in this society. Think about a child who watches violent tv and plays violent video games. Mom and dad tell them it's ok, the violence they see is not real. So the child kills people in a game, knowing it's not real, but he/she can't translate that to real life. They can't understand real violence.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that it's only tv and video games to blame. And yes, I roll my eyes too when someone says, "the video games made me do it." But I do believe that many people, even adults, live in a fantasy world. Not knowing the difference between reality and fantasy isn't as unbelievable as you might think for a teenager. Maybe when you were 16 you didn't think that nothing bad could happen to you. Maybe you believed everything your parents told you and didn't think you were smarter than them. But unfortunately that's not how most 16 year olds are.

[Catlady711]

If children are so good at distinguishing fact from fiction...why is Harry Potter so popular...Santa Claus, ET, and Snow White?

Ok I'm baffled here. What do any of these movies have to do with distiguishing fact from fiction? I happen to own all the videos of these movies, and when I was a kid my fav. shows were Buck Rogers, A-Team and WWF (back when it wasn't full of half naked ladies and foul language). I'm neither violent nor have issues with thinking fiction is fact. Actually thanks to my mom's teaching, I tend to check out everything with Snopes that come into my inbox, I doubt every wild story I hear until I check it out first, and am skeptical as all heck. But that could be a reverse problem I have, who knows.

I don't think it's so much about the particular shows kids watch (although it can infuence them somewhat) but it's the LACK of parents intervening to teach lessons on right and wrong and knowing what their kids are doing.

But then again the world seems to be more interested in 'situational ethics' rather than any type of right is right and wrong is wrong thinking. JMHO

[RICHARD]

Now that I think about it.....

Reading materials also have a huge influence on people.


Playboy made me want to look at nude women. :mad: :eek: :o

[Jessika]

Perhaps I should have been more specific.....for one thing, I apologize but I do not have any way to post a link to what I am talking about. It came from an adolescent psychology class I took in college.

I know that not ALL teenagers are this way...but many think that they are invincible, that they already know everything. Pair that with being so over-sensitized to violence in this society. Think about a child who watches violent tv and plays violent video games. Mom and dad tell them it's ok, the violence they see is not real. So the child kills people in a game, knowing it's not real, but he/she can't translate that to real life. They can't understand real violence.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that it's only tv and video games to blame. And yes, I roll my eyes too when someone says, "the video games made me do it." But I do believe that many people, even adults, live in a fantasy world. Not knowing the difference between reality and fantasy isn't as unbelievable as you might think for a teenager. Maybe when you were 16 you didn't think that nothing bad could happen to you. Maybe you believed everything your parents told you and didn't think you were smarter than them. But unfortunately that's not how most 16 year olds are.
Not sure if this is quite it; I couldn't find anything specifically on children not being able to tell "real" from "fantasy" though I too have heard that theory and perhaps read a study or two myself, but I'll be darned if I can find anything on google right now lol

http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/video_game_faqs.html

[Catlady711]

Now that I think about it.....

Reading materials also have a huge influence on people.


Playboy made me want to look at nude women. :mad: :eek: :o

Ok forgive the generalizing here but...

Richard this is assuming the kids today actually READ. Seems I'm seeing more and more of them that play video games, surf the net and if they happen to go outside are more interested in destroying property than playing sports. Our library is sadly lacking in many youth coming in except to use the computers. :(

[RICHARD]

Ok forgive the generalizing here but...

Richard this is assuming the kids today actually READ. Seems I'm seeing more and more of them that play video games, surf the net and if they happen to go outside are more interested in destroying property than playing sports. Our library is sadly lacking in many youth coming in except to use the computers. :(


You are correct, I was spending way too much time with the pics and not the text.

Check out the abbreviations and lack of spelling skills because the parents want the kids to have cell phones.

"I want little Pugsley to have a phone -in case something happens in school and they need to get a hold of me."

When your idiot kid gets thrown out of class for sending messages, answering the phone or watching videos, you will run to the principal and blame the teacher for violating your spawn's rights.


Oh, And you will get the phone call from your kid when the fit hits the shan...just in time to experience their last breath....because they were too busy dialing the phone instead of running away. :confused:

[JenBKR]

Not sure if this is quite it; I couldn't find anything specifically on children not being able to tell "real" from "fantasy" though I too have heard that theory and perhaps read a study or two myself, but I'll be darned if I can find anything on google right now lol

http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/video_game_faqs.html


Thanks for the article, that's pretty much what I was trying to say as I was blabbering on :D