Our world today is occupied by incidents of violence and terror, and these scenes are broadcasted in the media. Even I go to great lengths to avoid these scenes, and to prevent my children from watching them. Now it is time to stand against this violence and say “Stop” to the broadcast of these scenes for our future and our children. Do you know why? Let me give you the details of the search I’ve just made on internet by Googling the phrase “year old child…”   The results are below:

..Year old child hang itself by joke...

..Year old child run out from home...

..Year old child is on drugs...

..Year old child shot his father with gun...

..Year old child is caught on bank robbery...

..Year old child killed his brother...

..Year old child is metro sexual...

..Year old child stabbed his 11 months sister from her tummy because of jealousy

..Year old child jumped out of 4^th floor...

..Year old child   killed her friend...

..Year old child   grab the kid who is two years older than him...

All these newspaper headlines cover the range of 4-7 year-old children. What make these children to act in these ways?  Who is guilty of that?  The parents who allow their children to watch the violent scenes on TV?  Producers or directors who intentionally broadcast violent series movies newscasts in order to boost their ratings, or the authorities who do not control the broadcast of these scenes or maybe governments that do not take any action to control these things? 

When children watch TV unsupervised, they see dead bodies and bloody scenes, abuse, fights, people with guns walking freely in the streets, drunk drivers swearing at police officers, people on drugs and children sniffing thinner, terror attacks, children taken hostage and killed, massacres and wars around the world..

From magazine programs, they witness the blessings (!) of fame, the sparkling life (!) of the artists, and the benefits of invading people’s privacy, that it is their right to spy on people’s private lives, and that they can make easy money in this way.  

From movies and series, they learn about death, about how to kill and be killed, about the necessity of being a cool mafia leader and living in luxury, about what should be done for power money and success, about types of guns and wars, how to fight, how to drive fast cars, how to smoke, how to use drugs, and about sexual practices before their age.

From cartoons, children learn about the necessity of being strong to survive in this world, about bloody scenes and death that humans have the ability to fly (!); they learn about all these heroes and characters that have such supernatural powers, monsters freak creatures which might turn into a nightmare and violence again.

They witness and learn everything that they are not normally supposed to know about, especially at their age. Where is my old TV broadcast in which you were able to watch real news...? My father would ask me to turn on the TV and we would watch together... In those days there were no violent bloody scenes on TV, or no details on the degenerated lives of models and artists and no repetition of the same displays... The main principle was objectiveness... TV channels were not on the side of any political party or government... There were no fickle news commentators...  We didn’t know what magazine was, we didn’t care about the private lives of famous   people... As a family we would watch all the movies and series together, because they didn’t have any erotic content... If there was an innocent kissing scene, we would turn our heads... Even our cartoons were very different than those of today... Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, the Flintstones, Heidi, the Jetsons, Pink Panther, Vikings, He-Man, Bee Maya, Popeye, Tom & Jerry  and the others.. All these cartons were educational; they were teaching children rather than harming them...

We had not been witness to the scenes of violence to which our children are subject... How shall we protect our children from that world?

Let’s go back to the news headlines about children...

“..Year old child jumped out of the 4^th floor...” do you know why, because he watched the cartoon Pokemon and Pikachu, and as he saw them do, he came to the window and tried to fly... so he didn’t jump or commit suicide, he was flying because he believed he could..

“Year old child killed his friend...”  do you know why, because parents who like using guns to celebrate after football cups and weddings, or as protection in traffic disputes, are buying guns and leaving them where children can easily reach them.. Children who learned how to use guns through movies shot each other, in other words because they try to direct and shoot their own films...

“Year old child is on drugs...” do you know why, because they are watching other children sniffing thinner and using drugs... Parents are just making babies but not raising them properly, or children run away from home to escape abuse. When they leave home, they want to try what have seen on TV, and become addicted to those chemicals... Then because they need more, they start to steal...  Although the police catch them, they release them in the same night... So who is at fault, these kids? Or the parents who didn’t take enough care and didn’t look after their children... or the government and administrative authorities who don’t work to help these abandoned children...

There is another factor that involves children in violence, and this is computer games...

Look after your children in order to prevent them from playing games unsupervised...

All computer games can have an impact on a child’s brain. Children who get used to playing a game with a specific character start to identify themselves with this character and to act in the same way... People wanting to escape the responsibility of looking after a child find it easy to simply put the child in front of a computer... I am not advocating a ban on computer games, but rather arguing that there are other games that are educational and can improve a child’s IQ... Just take care and look after your child, do not allow them to play games which you have not tried yourself, and don’t buy them violent games...

Recently there is a very popular game called GTA (Grand Theft Auto) In this game it is normal to steal and destroy cars, to beat people, and to kill people to improve your score. This is one game your child should avoid... If you haven’t looked through your child’s games yet, have a look... I’m pretty sure you will see GTA among them...

Instead of buying your children games in which they have to kill to gain points, motivate them to play strategy games that will support their analytical thinking... Such games include Simcity, Sims, Railroad Tycon, SimPark, SimHospital, Capitalism Empire Earth, Ace Of Mythology, Rome - Total War, Caesar lll, and Rice of Nations, which are non-violent historical strategy games.. Also car races like  Need For Speed, Colin McRae Rally, King Of The Road … and like FIFA 2005 and NBA LIVE sport contest might be great fun for your children..

Don’t let them be victims to violence... All we need to do is care for them and supervise them properly, take an interest in the detail of their lives and do our best to raise good children for the community, and most importantly to love and support them all the time...

Every child belongs to all of us... Embrace them all... They are our future...