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Whose allowing the children to watch the cartoons? Parents.
Who is buying the vidoe games? Parents.
Who gives them a ride to the store to buy the video game with their birthday money? Parents.
Who sees the labels that show adult content on DVDs & CDs & video games & ignores it? Parents.
Parents are becoming more accepting of it. Parents are not taking the unpopular stance & saying "No. That is not something that is permitted in our home due to ..."
So, parents caring does make a difference. Caring about the crap your child watches on tv, sees on the internet, and video games that come into the home. Caring that your child knows the proper use of a gun. Caring that your child feels safe/secure in his home. Caring that your child does not feel alienated due to your other relationships.
Then, parents say "Well, they go to Johnny's house & see it/play it". Then don't allow them to go to Johnny's house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And you DON'T have to accept cable or tv...turn it off or get it disconnected.
I'm a grown adult & when I finally have some tv time that doesn't revolve around Arthur or Word World, I turn the tv off most the time b/c it is just crap. I don't want to see teenage girls kissing teenage girls. I don't want to see women rolling around in a mudpile. I don't want to listen to the talking heads try to scare the daylights out of everyone. Why anyone allows their young child to watch unsupervised tv is beyond me....
But, I'm sure there are more issues to this sad story than unsupervised tv & video games....
You are right in that it is the parents who allow their children exposure or no exposure to violence and sex. My point was (and it did not come out right) there are to many kids being exposed to violence and sex even with caring parents. There was one poster on here that didn't seemed bothered by their children playing violent video games because it showed them how to shoot and handle a gun. They seem like an overall caring parent, but they still allowed exposure to violence for the above stated reason. They could have easily taught their children that without having to expose them to violent video games. It's called target practice and/or gun safety classes.
You are right in that it is the parents who have become accepting of these types of exposures and as each new generation becomes parents they will be even more accepting to even grander violence and sex then the generation before. That is how the ball starts rolling.
You would be surprised at how many caring parents don't seem to have issues with their children watching, playing or listening to violent and sexual content things because they think it is teaching their children something. Maybe you can teach your children some stuff about the rights and wrongs of what they are exposed to if you are sitting with them while they are being exposed, but they are still being exposed to it and after being exposed long enough it stops becoming a teaching tool and becomes normal. I have taught my children how to safely cross a road without having to show them a video or pictures of someone being ran over to teach them not to run out in front of a car. But how I taught my kids is different from how someone else would teach their kids.
You would be surprised at how many caring parents don't seem to have issues with their children watching, playing or listening to violent and sexual content things because they think it is teaching their children something. Maybe you can teach your children some stuff about the rights and wrongs of what they are exposed to if you are sitting with them while they are being exposed, but they are still being exposed to it and after being exposed long enough it stops becoming a teaching tool and becomes normal. I have taught my children how to safely cross a road without having to show them a video or pictures of someone being ran over to teach them not to run out in front of a car. But how I taught my kids is different from how someone else would teach their kids.
And I think this is what every parent struggles with....
You cannot shelter your children 100%. I mean, you can, but it is not healthy. To expose them to moderate doses & forms of everyday living is necessary.
And what a parent sees as "healthy doses & forms" in their eyes may be a complete 180 than what you or I think is even rationale!
I think my big thing now is accepting the responsibility for both the good & bad that comes with parenting & not pass it off on every other person. Yes, this father has to live with a real hell the rest of his life BUT, it comes to question, could this have been avoided had certain filters been in place in the family?
This young child obviously had issues. But what was the father doing about it? I am wondering to what extent the father knew about the issues & the relationship b/w those two.
If this father bought his son a specific gun for his size, I am assuming that they were serious hunters. Ok, well, there are thousands of serious hunters who teach their children how to hunt & they are not walking in & shotting the g/f b/c they are "jealous"....
I'm just sickened by some things right now. I watched about 30 mins of news this afternoon. Caysey Anthony, Hayleigh Cummings, the Octomom, and then this boy were all discussed..... I'm not sure what is going in parenting these days....I just surely hope that as the speed bumps come up with my children, my dh & I are able to hold our ground & our beliefs & just get through them in ways that will allow our children to live healthy, productive & normal lives.
I agree latley there has been soo many families that just seem toxic. I didn't read all the post but why was there a guy so this child could get it. Another thing is we as parents divorce and move on but our children don't. We must understand that and do what we can to help our children adjust. It can be hard. I was divorced and met someone and would not allow the person around my children so some time. I didn't give out my ho,e phone number. Not that there is anything wrong with my husband now but that I needed to know him first. I had three children at the time. I got married and help my children deal with it but we still had issues with my one daughter after we got married. What might be easy for us is not for children. This child seem to have some anger.
we had many shotguns in the house and we (my brother and I) were taught gun safety and how to use a gun properly. It never crossed my mind to act out in this manner or my brother's. As a matter of fact, everyone we knew in our area, knew how to hunt and nothing like this ever occured.
Tragic just Tragic. This poor family will suffer even more. Mainly the girls without their mother.
Were you in a situation where you possibly hated your parents and step parents? Where you felt slighted or marginilized or just had a bone to pick with your parents??
Maybe you had a lovely childhood so no- you never thought about using your gun in a BAD way.
I don't think pairing children (who may be unhappy with their homelives) with GUNS is a winning combination.
Why take that chance and give your child a gun? Who knows what kids are thinking most of the time? They are moody little creatures. Even at 11 and espcially if therE is animosity around the house.
If you give a kid a gun, don't cry about when they shoot YOU with it.
Children are inherently irresponsible and yes- it is our jobs to teach them, but i wouldn't take the chance of buying them a weapon they could possibly do permanent damage with while "learning" how to be responsible.
I don't trust them behind the wheel of a car, i don't trust them to DRINK, i don't trust them to SMOKE, i don't send them off to WARS. I certainly am not buying them something they can take a life with if they get grumpy about something.
Even in High school, most kids cannot see past the end of the week, let alone the idea of facing a lifetime in prison for an act they committed on impulse. They are irrational, emotional, hormonal beings. This is an 11 yr old child who commited an act of terrible violence against someone in his family. He may not realize the totallity of his consequences BECAUSE HE IS 11 YRS OLD.
Tragic just Tragic. This poor family will suffer even more. Mainly the girls without their mother.
Were you in a situation where you possibly hated your parents and step parents? Where you felt slighted or marginilized or just had a bone to pick with your parents??
Maybe you had a lovely childhood so no- you never thought about using your gun in a BAD way.
I don't think pairing children (who may be unhappy with their homelives) with GUNS is a winning combination.
Why take that chance and give your child a gun? Who knows what kids are thinking most of the time? They are moody little creatures. Even at 11 and espcially if therE is animosity around the house.
If you give a kid a gun, don't cry about when they shoot YOU with it.
Children are inherently irresponsible and yes- it is our jobs to teach them, but i wouldn't take the chance of buying them a weapon they could possibly do permanent damage with while "learning" how to be responsible.
I don't trust them behind the wheel of a car, i don't trust them to DRINK, i don't trust them to SMOKE, i don't send them off to WARS. I certainly am not buying them something they can take a life with if they get grumpy about something.
Even in High school, most kids cannot see past the end of the week, let alone the idea of facing a lifetime in prison for an act they committed on impulse. They are irrational, emotional, hormonal beings. This is an 11 yr old child who commited an act of terrible violence against someone in his family. He may not realize the totallity of his consequences BECAUSE HE IS 11 YRS OLD.
The Gun is not the problem. It's not capable of killing anything until it's trigger is pulled. It is likely the gun was given to the boy when he had a happy life and the father had no idea that his son could use it to kill someone. It is also possible that when the kid was given the gun he was old enough to be trusted with it and he possibly showed great care and caution with it. There are a lot of kids younger than 11 that have a weapon of some sort and most were probably not given that weapon until the parents felt they were ready for it.
The big problem is to many kids see shooting, stabbing and/or killing someone because they are sad, mad or jealous as how you deal with issues. Killing someone as reactions to everyday problems have become the norm. It used to be enough to go out behind the school and duke it out with a person you had problems with and that was bad enough. But then that was no longer enough and kids had to start bringing weapons along.
Kids are more mature at younger ages now a days, mainly because they have been exposed to, to much adult type stuff or have been put in a position of growing up too soon. So I think the kid was old enough to understand the right and wrong of killing someone.
A GUN is not a knife or bare hands or even a shovel.
A gun lets people kill other people with hardly any interaction involved.
When you kill someone with a knife/shovel/bare hands, they have a fair chance at getting the weapon away from you or getting away from you in general.
With a gun you stand so far back you can be totally removed from the situation and yet still take a life.
The two are not the same thing.
CHildren are NOT more mature now then they used to be. Kids don't get married at 15 yrs old like they used to, and go to work fulltime at 10 like they used to, or have their parents die of old age at 40 or 50 like they used to.
Just the opposite, children ARE more immature now than ever before in society because we WANT them to stay and appreciate their childhoods.
I understand some people think this is the wild west or the 1880s and children need guns to hunt or something. FINE. But you should ALWAYS be present when your CHILD has a gun in their hands. Just like you wouldn't let them drive to the store in YOUR car alone.
Guns can serve a purpose, but adult supervision should always be in place until the child is of legal age to buy a gun themselves.
If this gun was given when the boy was happy then SOMEONE should have thought about taking it away when he displayed negative and hurtful thoughts towards his family members.
WHAT IF one of those little girls FOUND his gun and shot themselves with it hmm?
Children should not have free reign where guns are concerned because of the finality, whether it be on purpose or accidental shootings that can occur.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wyoquilter
The Gun is not the problem. It's not capable of killing anything until it's trigger is pulled. It is likely the gun was given to the boy when he had a happy life and the father had no idea that his son could use it to kill someone. It is also possible that when the kid was given the gun he was old enough to be trusted with it and he possibly showed great care and caution with it. There are a lot of kids younger than 11 that have a weapon of some sort and most were probably not given that weapon until the parents felt they were ready for it.
The big problem is to many kids see shooting, stabbing and/or killing someone because they are sad, mad or jealous as how you deal with issues. Killing someone as reactions to everyday problems have become the norm. It used to be enough to go out behind the school and duke it out with a person you had problems with and that was bad enough. But then that was no longer enough and kids had to start bringing weapons along.
Kids are more mature at younger ages now a days, mainly because they have been exposed to, to much adult type stuff or have been put in a position of growing up too soon. So I think the kid was old enough to understand the right and wrong of killing someone.
CHildren are NOT more mature now then they used to be. Kids don't get married at 15 yrs old like they used to, and go to work fulltime at 10 like they used to, or have their parents die of old age at 40 or 50 like they used to.
Well maybe they aren't more mature in the essence you are talking about, but one thing for sure they are not as innocent as they once were. How many kids were becoming parents at age 15 when you were growing up compared to today's times? How many 10 yo kids were joining gangs during your young years compared to today's times? How many 6th graders did you know doing drugs compared to todays times?
Well maybe they aren't more mature in the essence you are talking about, but one thing for sure they are not as innocent as they once were. How many kids were becoming parents at age 15 when you were growing up compared to today's times? How many 10 yo kids were joining gangs during your young years compared to today's times? How many 6th graders did you know doing drugs compared to todays times?
That demonstrates a lack of maturity rather than maturity. They do those things because they think it will make them more mature and more grown up. Little do they know it just makes them seem more stupid and more childish and immature.
I personally believe that kids can hunt with guns, do sport shooting, target practice, etc. Those activities are OK with adult supervision. ALL kids should be taught proper gun safety.
I think that a child under the age of 18 should NEVER have access to a gun except under adult supervision. I agree with other posters who say that it would be harder to kill with a knife, etc. than with a gun. A gun is extremely easy for someone to use. Killing someone with a knife would take a lot of physical strength and is more likely to be wrestled away, etc.
I agree with other posters who say that it would be harder to kill with a knife, etc. than with a gun. A gun is extremely easy for someone to use. Killing someone with a knife would take a lot of physical strength and is more likely to be wrestled away, etc.
That may be true to some extent, but in this particular case it sounded as if the woman was sleeping and so it would have been easy for the boy to come in a slit her throat or stab her in the base of her neck. Niether takes much strength and kill almost instantly which gives the victim very little time or chance to fight back.
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