Ebert, on School Violence

When prompted by a reporter to say that violent movies, or movies with particularly violent scenes, influence younger kids, Roger Ebert refused.

Says the thumb:

The reporter looked disappointed, so I offered her my theory. "Events like this," I said, "if they are influenced by anything, are influenced by news programs like your own. When an unbalanced kid walks into a school and starts shooting, it becomes a major media event. Cable news drops ordinary programming and goes around the clock with it. The story is assigned a logo and a theme song; these two kids were packaged as the Trench Coat Mafia. The message is clear to other disturbed kids around the country: If I shoot up my school, I can be famous. The TV will talk about nothing else but me. Experts will try to figure out what I was thinking. The kids and teachers at school will see they shouldn't have messed with me. I'll go out in a blaze of glory."

Preach it, Rog....

Though I'd still wager parents plopping the kids down in front of any kind of TV, instead of actually having meaningful communication with them, is still the biggest problem.

From Ebert's review of Elephant.