Why does violence seem closer to home?

SOCIAL STUDIES - Published Monday February 2nd, 2009

Between 250 and 300 people have died in a war in Sri Lanka this past week.

We read something like that in the headlines and we almost dismiss it out of hand. It is far away, and violent things are always far away.

A man who had five kids in California came home after losing his job and shot them, his wife, and himself dead. Of course, California is part of the United States and, well, Americans are always shooting each other.

A man walked onto a busy subway platform and opened fire in Toronto. Hey, someone is shooting someone almost every second day in Toronto; that's why we all stopped moving there and headed for Calgary.

Last week there was a drive-by shooting at the community college in Woodstock. Yes, Woodstock, New Brunswick.

I do not really think of myself as naive. I have lived in a lot of violent places. I was even a student in Montreal and hung out in some very seedy parts of town. I have spent time in Mexico City and Guatemala City. It is not that I think the world is a nice place; it is simply that this is New Brunswick.

I remember decades ago when I was growing up in Hampton that we did not lock our car doors. We did not even lock our house doors. When something went wrong, or something went missing, you had a pretty good idea who took it and you went and got it back. My bicycle was stolen once and it took exactly one day for the RCMP to return it.

I am not being naive about Hampton in the 1980's either. There were bad people there. There were even sexual deviants in our small little town. But we knew who the dangerous people were, and we never put ourselves in harm's way. It was easy to figure out because you could predict what was going to happen.

I happen to have spent some time in Woodstock. It has changed a bit since the new highway has gone in, but it is the proverbial one street town. There are some rough crowds there. There used to be a bar called JR's which I remember getting into a few fights in; but for there to be a drive-by shooting just seems unbelievable.

It seems too cliché to ask what the world is coming to, so let me ask you this, why is it getting more violent?

Some people have wanted to blame video games for a long time, but recent research from A&M University of Texas says that a decade's worth of statistics and research has failed to drum up any evidence. I remember a cop a decade ago saying it doesn't make you any more violent, it might make you a better shot.

In fact, psychologist Richard Ryan at the University of Rochester in New York says that gamers are actually craving control and competence; two things that actually are not part of the usual desires of a psychopath.

What about violence on television?

There are in fact many studies that seem to link the amount of violence we witness on television to the amount of violence we either enact, or tolerate.

Back in 2003 Reuters Health determined that children who watch pro wrestling are more likely to get in physical fights. There have been other long standing studies, including a study in upstate New York that has followed kids for over 20 years, which seem to prove this link.

So here is the thing. I love television. Not only that, but most of the shows I watch are extremely violent.

Battlestar Galactica, 24, NCIS, CSI, Fringe, The Unit, Ghost Whisperer, Lost, even Chuck. I like to be comfortably oblivious to the fact that what I see on television is unbelievably evil and violent.

In fact, I enjoy the sheer escapism of existing, even for an hour, in that other world of which I currently do not have a part.

How easy is it to separate fantasy from reality any more though? Every week, on television, I see at least five people killed in horrible ways.

I now have two daughters who do not sleep so well, and so end up snuggling in my arms as I watch television late at night sometimes. I usually choose to watch Gray's Anatomy or something when they are awake, but even then. It is a hospital and people die.

Do we need the violence to be entertained?

MASH was one of the most interesting and entertaining war stories ever told and it almost never showed physical violence. When it did, it was for great effect.

I almost can't believe I am saying this because it goes so much against my wants and desires, but I know it to be true that we should shield ourselves from some of this fantasy violence if we ever hope to become a more peaceable dominion once again.

Once you see something over and over, it becomes easier to justify, to understand, and to ignore.

I don't want to be shot in front of the Library. I think if I was, it might just be my own fault.