I believe that the laws in place that restrict violent movies and images, are not being enforced. This is a problem that parents are overlooking, store clerks are pretending doesn’t exist, and the government is ignoring. I believe it is up to the parents to take a stand against the lack of enforcement in censorship to protect our children. This is a problem that I’ve been researching for quite a while now, at first on the other side, fighting the censorship. However after careful research, I have since discovered that the matter of censorship is much deeper, and in fact, a matter of life and death. This is a very important topic for all of you, whether you have children or not. Let’s say you walked into a fast food restaurant just to get a quick burger before you go to work. You’re ordering your meal and suddenly you’re shot dead, in the back, along with 10 others, including an infant. Who shot you It was a fifteen year old, who got the idea from a story he saw on the news. Would he have gone on a killing spree had he not seen that remarkably similar human interest story on the 6 o’clock news Maybe not. But do want to bet your life on itA. Kids looking for someone to emulate and idolize often findcompanionship in television. a. Characters on TV are not often appropriate role models. b. Television rarely shows consequences for acts of violence. c. Kids may fail to grasp the concept of punishments and problems arising from violent behavior. B. The News Sensationalizes appalingly violent behavior in order to shack and interest viewers. a. With each station trying to out-do the next, the images and stories on the news are often worse than in fictional movies. b. People who view and hear about these things are becoming less shocked after each one. C. The news gives so much attention to violence that it may be copied. a. all the attention given to criminals may inspire others to follow suit, in hopes of becoming famous. b. People might be given ideas or inspiration to do things they may not have done, had those things not been forced on them everyday. D. Video games are incredibly popular with kids and they are becoming far too violent. a. Children actually get to live out the act of murder through video games. b. Blood and violence appear in the majority of video games on the market today. c. One could argue that video games “train” kids to murder needlessly and actually reward them for doing so, without pointing out the consequences of such actions in real life. E. My plan is simply this. Tighter enforcement on censorship laws. Kids under 18 should not be able to buy or rent R rated movies or video games. Store clerks who don’t follow these laws should pay very severe fines. Secondly, violent news stories should be broadcast at the 10 o’clock time slot only and before the story there should be a “Viewer discretion warning”. The violent images used to “shock” viewers should not be shown at all. The repetive playing of people falling out of the Twin Towers in flames, only to hit the ground with a sickening “thud” is not what famillies watch the news for. It is sick and gratuitous. This plan, I believe would reduce the exposure of violence to our kids and help keep society safer. It is not a radical idea, not requiring hardly any money at all, and only a slight increase in law enforcement’s attention to monitor stores, ensuring compliance with these laws.

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