Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/11/05

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Violence (was: An unpleasant print mention)
From: Eric Welch <ewelch@ponyexpress.net>
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 18:32:53 -0600

> I think the paramount difference
>in American society today is that kids are growing up with little
>or no parental guidance and sense of values; in the last three
>decades the very important job of parenting has been given little
>value in American culture.

The flaw in that thinking is the kids in Arkansas that shot their
schoolmates had lots of parental guidance. Their parents had them target
shooting quite early in life. It's not just a lack of parental concern and
guidance that is needed, but quality of that guidance that counts. Not that
teaching kids about guns is wrong - I went through hunter safety quite
early, and was exposed to guns at home for years.

>That, and the fact that the media want you to believe that
>violence is increasing by leaps and bounds, when, in fact, it
>is not (it's just getting more exposure and sensationalized).

Baloney. The media doesn't want you to believe any such thing. The media is
way too broad a descriptor for any meaningful statement of this kind. Some
government agencies (i.e. police, etc.) release blown-out-of-proportion
statistics to make people think what they want. Why? To keep funding going.
The NEWS media has to figure out how to overcome this distortion field. And
they are, with computer-aided reporting, we are getting more accurate
numbers out these days. And surprise! Some numbers are going down! Violent
crime is going down in many places. And my employers have been reporting
that for years.
- -- 

Eric Welch
St. Joseph, MO
http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch

All generalizations are false.