Dear Paul B,
I am old, not dead, and I do have opinions that are relevant. I love The Cardinal—and read it every day. I am computer literate, and I am saddened by the fabric of our society lately. I just cannot seem to avoid all the horrible and absolutely negative news that pours out from every source known to mankind. Even divorce is the center of attention from Yahoo’s front page to our daily newspapers. I continuously look for a news story that doesn’t involved murder, death or insanity.
When I turn on the “boob tube,” I am again facing a disaster on every front. I am a senior, so I understand that this stuff “sells,” but what about these young minds who are watching as well? How is an eight year old processing this information — or worse yet a 19-year-old who has just lost his job, girlfriend, or flunked out of school? Wherever this young person turns, he/she is thrown into a world of brutality, pain, suffering and hell on earth. I can barely make it through ten minutes of any movie these days, without feeling sad and a bit anxious. I have no ax to grind, but I feel as though the gun shop is wide open with nobody there to supervise or overlook the inventory. I cannot agree that these recent “single acts of violence” are not somehow connected. You don’t have to be that obligatory “rocket scientist” to see that our dissemination of brutal attacks on innocents, detailed war updates with video, economic woes, war games for “kids” pleasure, is only adding fuel to the fire. Yes, I am old, but I taught for 33 years here in Arlington Heights, and I fear for these young minds and their collective future. I await your response to this letter, Paul B.
Not So Glad, Gladys
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Dear Glad,
Glad to hear from you, Gladys. I have mixed response to your observations. You are mostly right on with the news, as it occurs. Of course, bad news sells, and few “buyers of Wheaties and Lexus” wish to watch the fireman save the kitty; but CNN spawned this 24 hour News concept, and we just LOVE IT. What we allow our children to watch is yet another subject. How (or whether) we communicate to our kids is also muy importante. I am shocked that the parents of James Holmes (Theater Killer,) had no clue that their son was ready for WW III. There were signs, no doubt, by friends, neighbors, the psychologist he visited regularly and others. We must be pro-active citizens to abort these would be atrocities. If we can’t beat ’em, then we must watch over our own collective “nests” — lest we join ’em.
Paul B
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