shoot

there are some actions which schools nowadays consider "bad behavior." one of them is "shooting." i understand the reasoning behind this, particularly after all the school shootings... but let's examine the notion of shooting. to a child, it must be the preferential and less messy way to "interact violently" (or otherwise) with another. after all, a child usually feels powerless in "hand-to-hand" combat, particularly with an adult, or even a kid slightly bigger than him/herself. shooting is that magical thing, by means of which one's will is transferred across the distance to affect another. i mean, if i were a kid (which i pretend i still am), WHY WOULDn't i want to shoot?

it's kinda funny... shooting is easier to depict in tv shows, because it is "clean." in hand-to-hand combat, hitting and such, the blows are so much "messier" and violent. and yet, ironically, it is shooting that is the problem, PRECISELY because it makes violence (true destructive violence) so much easier. it keeps violence (or the results of violence) at a distance...

imagine a world in which the principle of shooting (long distance warfare) were an impossibility. i think war would be much less likely and appealing. we grow up in an age where violence (the consequences of it, the REAL injuries, etc.) is kept more or less at a distance from us. to most of us civilians, a war is just a plane flying over somewhere and dropping bombs. it is "held at bay." but if it were "in our face," if it always had to be, then maybe we would be less likely to commit it; and maybe our kids would be less likely to commit acts of real murder (via weapons that make killing far too easy).

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here's another absurdity. you watch cartoons, and in them, for some reason, when a ROBOT gets destroyed, it is okay, it is supposedly much more palatable, than when a "living creature" gets shot... honestly, what's the difference? sometimes, robots are depicted with personalities (like in the latest star wars clone wars cartoons); do they have "less right to exist"? do they "feel nothing" when they are blasted into pieces? and can children distinguish the difference?

the effect on kids is the same. they will shoot, and shoot, and shoot. robot or no.

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my son is in a shooting phase now. i honestly have ambiguous feelings about this. on the one hand, i realize that it is ultimately an expression of violence. but on the other hand, i suspect it is a natural part of development, particularly for boys, to bifurcate society into good and bad, and play roles that are, ultimately, about violence and subjugation, and do involve "shooting." i'd much rather have him do this than start randomly punching people...

i teach my kids about gentleness, about its importance. and compassion. about feeling empathy for others, particularly those who are weaker, younger, etc. i hope that this serves as a prophylactic against what i term "blind violence" or (synonymous, in my mind) "clean violence." violence ultimately "hurts," and to identify the pain in others as analogous to your own makes you far more reluctant to commit it wantonly...