A Matter Of Choice

A Matter Of Choice - Welcome back to my blog! - For weeks already several TV stations have been relentlessly advertising for the return of a sequel which portrays a serial killer going about artistically and bizarrely finishing his female victims. Every time this action and blood packed trailer is on, I either look away or I just flip channels for the simple reason that I just do not wish to be bothered by this much brutality shown in less than 30 seconds. The show is said to have extremely good audience ratings and is therefore feverishly and impatiently awaited back on the air. Okay, why not. I just don't care for massacre spilling shows at all and could easily go without such disturbing scenes and false cliches. Actually, this post is not at all about what I personally feel about this sort of series and shows. I just can't help thinking of all those easily impressionable kids and mentally sick individuals out there, and I must say that with respect to the generally overwhelming negative influence and the likelihood of a psychologically most devastating impact on exactly those target groups, I am deeply concerned. It may especially be this kind of scenes and motives triggering the irrational consideration that they are worth being copied and re- enacted in reality. Of course, for the sake of the major domestic video game manufacturers as not to get disturbed in making and distributing their partly over- the- top aggressive, brutal and violent games, up to this day the government has not allowed any scientifically proven and well- documented conclusions such as, "Violence in films and games is as a matter of fact responsible for a clear increase of violence in the human behavior". Seriously even a toddler can voice the difference between a harmless and a violent game. No need really to ask for a thorough psychological evaluation here. - Sometimes I feel like pedaling away on my bicycle only to realize - half in shock and half in disbelief - that my parents are no longer running alongside to catch me in case I lost my balance. Again, this is by no means about me per se. Speaking metaphorically, I was let loose decades ago already and have more or less figured out what is good for me and what not. It is definitely not getting any easier with all those options to choose among these days. I'd love to refer to those options as temptations for lots of available ways present themselves as quite seductive and luring. When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to find out what it'd be like to smoke and drink since the people in my surrounding just set another example for me. So, it was only natural for me to follow into their footsteps and do what seemed so absolutely natural. Although it would take me 25 years altogether to quit smoking, I have to admit I never really liked the taste of cigarettes, but I smoked simply because it had become a habit. As far as consuming alcohol, my story sounds rather similar. Sure, once in a while I actually do enjoy the taste of liquor, but most alcoholic drinks are simply not to my taste. Strangely, drugs have never done it for me which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I've met hundreds of young people who just like me needed to find out for themselves what and how much of it they liked. Growing up in the Seventies, we certainly had TV,  movie theaters and some video games but nothing of what is being offered nowadays. I think, if I were young again, I would definitely have a much harder time steering my way through all those many temptations. The kids of today are clearly exposed to too much brutality and violence in films, games as well as in reality, too large of a narcotic substance variety and generally too much cyber thrill, gambling, sex and other crap. It can't be easy really to single it all out for anyone in their teens and twenties today. I call this pilgrimage to one's true self an ordeal of permanently having to choose between what's right and what's wrong. Parents must shield their young kids from all the unnecessary negative influences that are hailing down on them on a daily base until they themselves can take decisions mature enough to grow into responsible, sensitive, considerate, compassionate, and well- balanced people.