What is going on in this world today?

[ColdFront77]

Sorry about that Frank.

[strifhawk]

no harm done, ( i put the name frank to indicate my last name of choice)

[GulfBreezer]

I agree with Ed in the fact that what was once considered "acceptable" behavior is not severely disciplined in our school systems. I also agree that the crimes have not changed, our reaction to them has. We have more access to the horror of it all, so it seems that it is always in our face. Before the internet, I found out about these things either through the paper or word of mouth. Now it is virtually everywhere, in emails, in breaking news, on chat boards and many other places. I also feel that because as a society and hearing CONSTANTLY about these violent crimes against children and others, we feed on our anger and outrage that this is happening. Therefore we become an angry society. We might be angry for all the right reasons but anger is what sends an already violent mind into a tailspin. So really it is just a viscious circle. Anger breeds anger. Anger breeds violence. Where does it end?

[WidreMann]

And I'm not saying that everything is hunky-dory and that violence isn't worthing fighting, because it is. Just because we have made progress doesn't mean we should stop, and it certainly doesn't mean that we can blow off terrible crimes today becase "it was worse in the past". I just don't think we are in a downward spiral as many suggest, nor do I think we are a culture of violence. It does happen that humans are naturally violent (and not in the gratuitous or senseless sense, but more that we will use violence, and oftentimes when there are other alternatives). So I think that for that reason, many enjoy violent games or games that imply violence simply because it is a part of human nature. And I don't think this is a problem. It is, though, for those who cannot distinguish between violence on a game and violence in the real world. But then, the problem isn't the game, it's the person who is using the game as an outlet for violent tendencies. I have played many a violent computer game (including the infamous Grand Theft Auto and Unreal Tournament - the latter is basically gratuitous killing), yet I would never, ever in real life pick up a gun and fire at somebody for sport or fun or because I was mad at them. In fact, I would have trouble doing it even if I needed to. And I know many people who are the same way. In fact, considering how many people play these games, and then considering how many go on to go on shooting sprees, we aren't looking at the kind of correlation needed to show that it is the games themselves that cause violence.