http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/columnists/franklinharris/070426.shtmlAfter any tragedy like the one last week at Virginia Tech, you can be sure two things will happen.
People who don't like guns in private hands will agitate for tougher gun-control laws. And people who think popular culture is a cesspool of decadence and violence will attempt an end run around the First Amendment.
I don't have much to add to the gun debate, but I have something to say about the idea that books, TV, movies and music breed mass murderers.
They don't.
Popular culture took a similar beating after the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado. Families of some of the victims sued several computer and video game companies, claiming that violent video games had led to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's rampage. That lawsuit, like many before it, was thrown out of court.
Some studies claim there is a link between media violence and real-world violence.
One such study by University of Michigan psychologist L. Rowell Huesmann claims there is a connection between violent acts and violent TV viewing. But even Huesmann cannot answer the obvious question: Does media violence cause real violence, or are naturally violent people drawn to violent media?
He simply asserts that his explanation is "more plausible."
But people aren't blank slates. They make decisions based on innate personality characteristics and a lifetime of experiences so varied that it is impossible to trace causal links.
Looking to the culture to explain random incidents of violence is good for only one thing — shifting blame away from where it belongs.
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