Vestal: Protecting Kids From Culture

Shooting. Punching. Killing. If you were to judge us by what we find entertaining, you would conclude these are our holy trinity. The things we believe in more than any other things; the things we will watch and watch and watch and watch some more; our story of who we think we are. Shooters. Punchers. Killers. Not long before the cinema shooting in Aurora, Colo., I took my 5-year-old son to see the new Spider-Man movie. This is, I know, a debatable decision. His deep love of superheroes – fostered by dad – means he wants to see things that are filled with the cartoon versions of shooting, punching and killing, and we have let him, within limits. The movie itself was as expected; it made my son want to run around and pretend to punch and web-shoot lizard men. What really struck me were the previews: a 20-minute assault of assault, chopped into two- and three-second blasts, aimed with precision at the heart and mind of the American boy. Shooting. Punching. Killing/ Shawn Vestal , SR. More here.

Question: Do you think entertainment violence plays out in our culture?