"Just
set the cops on fire, now I’m about to steal their car.”
Jonathan, as he’s playing the videogame, ‘Grand
Theft Auto Two.’
Jonathan
is playing a game called Grand Theft Auto Two. The object?
To steal cars and evade or even kill the police.
The computer game Dope Wars has been downloaded by more than
two million Internet users. The object? To sell drugs and
fight to defend your profits.
Violence in the media, and even videogames, is nothing new.
But usually players pretend they are the good guy, not the
bad. “A lot of folks want to reverse sometimes,”
Jonathan says. “Let me see can I evade the cops, or how
long can I run, hide from the cops, or how quickly I can kill
them, that type of thing.”
Some law officers worry about games like these. “The
message is you kill as many people as you can kill, and your
score continues to get higher. And the kids see that, and
think that okay, that’s just like life … and that
is the best way to solve a problem,” says Deputy Kemdrick
Jones of the Fulton County (Ga.) Sheriffs Office. He spends
several days a week in classrooms helping youth understand
the role of officers in society and their own lives. Jones
says many teens already distrust police, and games like these
could make the problem worse.
“I don’t like them (police),” says 16-year-old
Wellington. “They think they’re all that, you know,
they think they have all the authority on you.”
“I don’t really have a problem with them, but I’m
not like happy when I see the (police),” says 16-year-old
Lisa. “I’m kinda scared of them.”
To change those perceptions, Deputy Jones says parents and
officers can work together. “It is very vital that the
parents play an active role in destroying that stereotypical
attitude that police officers and sheriffs are bad people,”
Jones says. “We have to do this as a team, I suggest
that all parents take their kids to introduce them to officers
that work in their community.”
Jonathan has been playing violent games since he was little.
What does he think of the police? “I like police. Without
them, who knows, this whole world could just be like one big
Grand Theft Auto Two. No police, fools running around killing
and shooting people.”
Teaching Respect
How can
we teach our children respect? First parents need to be able
to explain to their children what respect means. According
to Kathleen Belanger, a social work instructor at Stephen
F. Austin State University (www.sfasu.edu),
words that might help children understand respect include:
Honor
Reverence
Thoughtfulness
Care
Respect
can be for things, like toys, or the environment, for animals,
pets, endangered species. Respect can also be for other people,
for mankind, classmates, family, friends, and for people whose
cultures and backgrounds may be different from our own. “Respect,”
Belanger writes, “ involves an understanding of the importance
of each thing, each animal, each person…The first step
in respecting others is to appreciate the diversity in nature,
in people, and to see that we are not at the center, but an
integral part.”
Ways of showing respect? Use these examples from presidential
candidates:
Shaking
hands
Eye
contact
Listening
Learning
Ways of
showing disrespect? Again, look to examples from candidates:
Name-calling
Using
other people
Saying
things they don’t mean
Make a
list of respectful words and actions. Use them. Set an example.
Role Models of Respect
The National
PTA www.pta.org says parents
and children don’t need to look far for positive role
models. They are in the home, starting with parents themselves.
Children watch their parents closely to see how they conduct
their lives. Children are quick to observe and imitate, they
see how parents handle disappointments, deal with anger, solve
problems, obey rules.
According to the New York University Child Study Center, “respect
and appreciation are best taught by example and experience."
Values
to Live By
The National
PTA suggests discussing the following values with your children:
Courtesy,
honesty and cooperation in everyday life
