Yeah… what to do with tweens who carry out premeditated murder in order to rob some one… that just isn’t the kind of problem that really has an actually good outcome that phrasing is weird I guess,
but I also don’t know if people actually like expected her to sleep under the same roof as a murderer either.
I don’t know if there is a “right thing” to do if your kid goes out and shoots a neighbor to steal their shit but most likely getting him out of there was best for her imo and I think that’s as “good” a thing as can be gotten in a situation like that. What a horrible situation.
Except, you know, he’s a fucking child, i.e. by definition isn’t capable of making informed decisions, and is relying on his parents to look after his interests (which, if he’s guilty, involves some serious help), even when he does something wrong. Putting the kid in prison for decades, only to be released as a completely non-functional adult, isn’t going to help anyone - not the kid, not society.
I’m tempted to ask when you were a kid but the answer doesn’t really matter: images in the media of violence caused by guns goes back at least as far as Matthew Brady’s photos of the Civil War, and in pop culture with the first cowboy movies, both of which were probably way before your time.
Also, one can be inundated by images of people getting shot and still know the difference between right and wrong. I’m pretty sure the theories have been thoroughly debunked that kids who play video games, read comic books, or watch horror movies are significantly more likely to become killers.
There’ve been significant changes in the US media since then, and the pace of change is accelerating. I’m GenX, and we did not grow up with cable TV, video games, or cell phones as kids. Weapons we saw in sci-fi like Star Trek and Star Wars were mostly things that didn’t exist - phasers, blasters, and lightsabers. Popular arcade games involved using buttons and joysticks for fighting aliens, asteroids, or insects. We had monster movies with actors in rubber suits and series with fantasy weapons, like Ultraman or Batman and Robin (who also used their fists).
The popularity of martial arts movies (which didn’t feature guns much - probably because they tend to make fight scenes too short) led some kids to try and make nunchucks out of broomsticks and scrap metal. Those were confiscated by parents and teachers concerned about kids hitting themselves while trying to imitate Bruce Lee. That’s the environment I was describing, and it was certainly different.
Teachers, parents, administrators, and LEOs have been sounding the alarm about kids and violence for decades now (gun violence in particular). This report from the DOJ gives some idea why they were raising awareness of the issue. The Bulletin below is from 2000 and describes increases since the '80s as well as strategies to address the problem.
We’ve seen the rise of SROs in response, and concerns raised that they do not help.:
Studies about how TV, gaming, and smartphones might be affecting kids aren’t just focused on how long they’re engaged in using them, the content matters. Are they not only affecting attention spans, but also a cause of increased aggression? It’s true there’s still disagreement on that in medical and child development circles. However, most agree that children tend to learn from what they see and hear:
A 2009 DOJ study showed that more than 60 percent of the children surveyed were exposed to violence within the past year either directly or indirectly. Children’s exposure to violence, whether as victims or witnesses, is often associated with long-term physical, psychological, and emotional harm. Children exposed to violence are also at a higher risk of engaging in criminal behavior later in life and becoming part of a cycle of violence.
It’s true there’s still disagreement on that in medical and child development circles. However, most agree that children tend to learn from what they see and hear: