RSSKill Famous
Last weeks tragic mall shooting in Nebraska raises some very serious questions about the future of America. What becomes of a nation when its young people will kill to get famous? “Sorry for everything,…now I’ll be famous,” the killer’s suicide note read.
In recent years, this type of violence has become contagious, infecting kids from all walks of American life. In this instance, the killer was a small town, working class kid who just lost his job at McDonalds. This past spring at Virginia Tech University, the killer was a college student and an immigrant. And both are the same as the instances when kids in urban settings kill to earn “stripes.”
Why in the most prosperous country in the world are our kids are so depressed? Each year, thousands of young people take their own lives. According to a 2007 Centers For Disease Control report, teen suicide rates are the highest in 15 years. What have we been doing to miss the psychological emergency that has become of our kids lives?
Has our celebrity-obsessed culture led us this point, where kids will do anything to get recognized?
It’s not just killing. It’s also the young boys destroying their bodies trying to pull off “Jackass” stunts for a little fame on Youtube. And it’s the young girls who plaster their Myspace pages with photos that come awfully close to pornography just to gain more friends and page hits.
Furthermore, what becomes of a nation when its media’s quest for ratings drives it to the point where it doesn’t matter if airing a gunmen’s name or his manifesto may encourage copycats?
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
Boosy
Do you think the American way , which if you take it back to the days of the cowboys & Indians was very violent?
Or it could be the way in which we went from that era into slavery,
Some say it could be the video games and lack of parental guidance for the youth. I am not sure, on this thought, its pretty multi dimensional. I believe this violence is a result of many things..gonna have to get back to you guys on this one.
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"a mom"
I think that everything has become extreme. Attention has become a world wide epidemic, everyone wants to get in on it. Small towns want to be noticed too. In the inner cities you hear about violence everyday, so when it happens in a small town unknown by many or in suburbia it sometime becomes a mass type situation. I think people are so disconnected and really can’t see how much the family structure has changed in this country. We have more things but less time to smell the roses. Our children feel alone and desperate, so the do the extreme because they need someone to reach out too “What ever happened to iinstead giving your kids an Xbox, giving them a cardboard box when their little and making up games to play with your kids. Even with the Xbox we don’t have time anymore. I feel “Time” is one of our biggest downfalls. “Giving” is another.
[Reply]
Alwayswrite
I’m late on this piece but it has gotten worse. It did get worse. There have been a few more shootings. In a society where the outrageous is publicized, kids probably do feel a bit struck by the “flashing lights.” There is, I agree, a psychological emergency going on, but it’s not just with our kids. It’s with our adults who are not raising their kids appropriately. Where are the parents?
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