Has our aversion towards violence contributed to the rise of more serious violence ?

[Lodestar]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

It is no more or less hideous. That is a subjective opinion on your part, chiefly because the reporting standards for the nature of those murders has changed. I worked at a daily newspaper in the 80s, and we had a standard called the Corn Flakes Rule. If it was a detail that people didn't want to read while eating their breakfast, we omitted it. That standard just doesn't exist today.

My last post was meant to address the nature of the current crimes in response to this comment.

[Lionel Fauquier]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

I don't understand your assumptions, given how the incident of violent crime has plunged over the past several of decades. This is statistical fact. The murder rate in this country is roughly half what it was 1980 and 54% of what it was in 1991. We have not seen rates this low since the early 60s.



https://www.bloomberg.com/view/artic...n-all-time-low

Yeah you're right that I should have clarified , so here it goes ...


While violent crime rates have indeed decreased in the past few decades , it seems that certain acts of serious violence ( such as mass shootings ) seem to be more prevalent now than in the past . Of course that may very well be due to increased media coverage and/or public discussion of such violence , but I think that does it for clarification .

[Lionel Fauquier]

Originally Posted by coschristi

My youngest son’s dad is a bit older than I. He says that when he was in high school, if two boys got in a fight they’d get sent to see the Coach, who would pull out the boxing gloves & tell them to “pull em on; let’s finish this the right way”.

He said he’d only get in trouble with his dad for getting in a fight if he lost. If his dad found out he lost a fight; out came the gloves again & he’d have to spar with his older brother (who was 11 years older than he).

I think we do our young boys a great disservice at an age much younger than high school, however; there are 3rd graders getting suspended for throwing a snowball on the playground for craps sake. 6 hours of school plus 6 hours of video games for a kid who’s DNA is designed for enough energy for hunting, farming, building, etc ... results in a kid on ADHD meds, antidepressants & anti anxiety meds.

There is an ominous side to these meds. They can’t differentiate between pathological fear & sadness & a having a conscience. Fear of social rejection can shape a child’s behavior but the meds flatten fear. Regret & remorse shape our ability to have empathy & sympathy ... but the meds flatten all sadness, including things we SHOULD be sad about.

An adult would cope better but a kid is developing their own conscience & a healthy respect for dangerous activities. The meds are effectively preventing them from feeling any boundaries. “Do unto others” has no meaning when you can’t be sad about what was done to you.

Add to that the ADHD meds which mitigate fight or flight & you have created an antisocial ticking time bomb that’s not afraid of consequences or even of dying, for that matter.

Your post raises the interesting question of whether our educational institutions and/or society in general is able to provide an outlet for release when it comes to the issue of young males venting their natural tendency towards physical aggression in a positive way ...

So to pose another related question , do y'all think that our current attitude towards young males engaging in not so serious violence is contributing to the more seriously violent actions of some ?