Our parents are our earliest teachers, so naturally we take after them. Therefore, our children are, for better or for worse, the very reflection of ourselves.
If a child’s home situation reflects their character and upbringing, one can only surmise the kind of environment this eight-year-old from Florida grew up in.
Wearing a motorcycle helmet one evening, he walked into a store, pointed a loaded gun at the cashier, and demanded for the store’s money.
READ: Toddler accidentally shoots another in the head after finding a gun in mom’s purse
The clerk didn’t know what to do. On the one hand he wondered if the gun was real, and on the other he knew he had to take the gun away from the boy.
“So I just turned his wrist and took it out from his hand,” he said. “At that point, another coworker of mine grabbed him.”
In a report, the boy’s mother told the police that her son told her that he was going to play in the park. She realized something was wrong when she went out to pick up her other son.
“When I grabbed my purse, I’m like, it was so light. I’m like, I knew I was missing something. I said, ‘Where’s my gun?’ ”
The boy had been charged with attempted armed robbery with a firearm as well as aggravated assault, but the state decided to drop the charges provided that he attend a diversion program and stay away from the store.
Popular media and violence
A 2010 review by psychologist Craig A. Anderson and others linked exposure to violent video games with increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior.
While it is important for kids to learn early on what violence is, violent media should be consumed in moderation, and we should be the ones to educate our children about violence and its implications.
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