Marc-ing my territory column: Let’s not play the blame game
By MARC A. ZNANIECKI
Why can’t people take the blame for their actions? Too often in the news, someone else is to blame for influencing others to commit heinous crimes.
Why can’t we just say that the shootings in Columbine occurred because of youthful impulses? A group of not so popular kids in school got fed up with their rivals and eliminated them in a very sad and tragic story.
I remember high school pretty well. There was always some clique who thought themselves to be better than everyone else. And for the times I may have wanted to gun them down with an Uzi or disembowel them with a samurai, I never did. And I have seen countless movies of violence and have listened to music which some deem as "evil."
I don’t understand how anyone can justify the actions of anyone based on their musical or other entertainment tastes. I think society should focus on teaching people the difference between right and wrong. It is the responsibility of every parent to insure that their child/children can distinguish between the two.
After the Columbine massacre, President Clinton addressed the National Association of Theater Owners and stressed that they enforce the R-rating for movies. Why didn’t he stress the importance of parents knowing what movies their children are seeing and what they are doing?
Children need guidance from their parents which will help them to learn that there is a difference between reality and entertainment and that there are consequences for our actions.