The rhythm (of violence) is gonna get you
Last year, 15-year old Christopher Rose was stabbed after refusing to give up his iPod. Days after the murder, two kids almost the same age were charged. As the Roses processed their grief, they received a interesting call from Steve Jobs, offering his sympathy over the murder. I thought (and still think) this was a good thing to do. This leads us to last Tuesday. Darren Samuel, one of children involved in the murder, has been convicted. While, this is good news, I hope a sense of closure is brought to the Rose family.
In the end, I see two factors that contributed to this whole tragedy. The first is the marketing for the iPod. Even if one can see that the marketing for the iPod does not expicitly say the iPod is the thing to have, it throws off the projection. This is not a good thing. The other is the range of violence on TV. The Children's Defense Fund concluded in 2004 that children by age 18 will see at least 200,000 violent acts on TV along with 16,000 simulated murders. This could, in some way, plant the seed that violence is somehow OK to get what you want.
For those who think this is a new thing, it isn't. 25 years ago, Air Jordan shoes were the thing to have. A side effect of this was there were many murders of kids by kids for shoes. The most recent murder that I could find was last year. The point of the matter is murders will happen for the must have item, no matter the decade.
iPods aren't immune to this. Two years ago, six people died after a dispute over an Xbox.
Besides the obvious, I feel this is consumerism run amok. If people are dying because we can't control our want for things, we must take a step back and check ourselves.
Can we do this?
In the end, I see two factors that contributed to this whole tragedy. The first is the marketing for the iPod. Even if one can see that the marketing for the iPod does not expicitly say the iPod is the thing to have, it throws off the projection. This is not a good thing. The other is the range of violence on TV. The Children's Defense Fund concluded in 2004 that children by age 18 will see at least 200,000 violent acts on TV along with 16,000 simulated murders. This could, in some way, plant the seed that violence is somehow OK to get what you want.
For those who think this is a new thing, it isn't. 25 years ago, Air Jordan shoes were the thing to have. A side effect of this was there were many murders of kids by kids for shoes. The most recent murder that I could find was last year. The point of the matter is murders will happen for the must have item, no matter the decade.
iPods aren't immune to this. Two years ago, six people died after a dispute over an Xbox.
Besides the obvious, I feel this is consumerism run amok. If people are dying because we can't control our want for things, we must take a step back and check ourselves.
Can we do this?
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