This is a big topic at school. I agree that the amount of violence children see has an impact on how they act. In addition, how many video games have any of you folks seen lately? While the games are rated for age appropriateness, the parents have to make sure they know what their children are playing (or watching). With so many shoot 'em up types of games, is it really any wonder that children shoot one another or teachers? In the video games, the players are encouraged to shoot other PEOPLE. When the player is shot "dead" he/she gets "another life." So..what kind of ideas are the children getting?

A whole other ball of wax is the issue of how the hell does a kid that young get a gun in the first place? Guns put up safely? Ammunition locked away in another location?

We have guns in our home to the tune of TWELVE of them...ranging from hand guns to rifles/shot guns and muzzleloaders. Some of them were built by my husband, others are for target shooting and hunting. We have had various children in and out of our home for years. The guns are put up, the room they are in is locked and the ammunition is hidden away and locked up. It's all secure.

So what is going on in the country that is teaching the world democracy is the same thing that is going on in every other country that has brought television and video games into the forefront of a child's world of entertainment. Hell...those shoot 'em up games ARE fun (Area 51 being one of my favorite)...but if you can't yet distinguish the difference between a game and reality...and no one supervises what you are doing....what do you THINK is going to happen?

Let an unsupervised child alone to watch people leaping out of trees and off of rooftops only to fly like a bird, how long do you think it would be before they give it a try?

Michelle