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We Are What  We Repeatedly Do

By, Ricardo Ferrell

What do I do daily?

What do I practice daily?

What do I imagine repeatedly?

Oftentimes youth and specifically young adults find themselves mimicking what they view on television.  Many video games depict violence and poor judgement.

Therefore, if a teen or young person is constantly absorbing images of blood, violence, and killing, be it a video experience or what they see in their respective communities/neighborhoods—then the likelihood of them being psychologically affected becomes a chilling reality.

The trauma associated with seeing or witnessing someone having their brains blown out by a powerful handgun or assault rifle is overwhelmingly traumatic for an adult–let alone our precious kids.

I often wondered why some youth may display empathy for someone who has experienced a loss caused by a horrific act of violence, yet others showing virtually no feelings or emotions either way regardless of how bad the act itself is conveyed.

Then it came to me early one Sunday morning—as I usually wake up to the sounds of birds chirping outside the window. The youth who display no feelings of sadness or empathy from one of their friends being gunned down in the street like a dog—may come from them being desensitized due to constant imagery absorbed playing video games which show someone being shot multiple times with an assault rifle or handgun that fires 20 rounds into a human seen on the screen.  Sensationalized overkill uncensored television programming on stations like FOX, FX, SciFi, HBO, Showtime, etc.  Videogames like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto.

My point is, the young person’s brain hasn’t even fully developed at an early age, yet they’re taking in these violent images in an acceptable fashion due in part to a lack of adult supervision, and in most instances peer pressure contributes to many young folks trying to act like what they see in video games as well as in music videos. And of course some blame lies with the creators of these violent video images, the production companies and distributors have some blame to bare as well.

In summation, the more they (youth/young adults) see violence and accept it as the norm, then the chances are they will mimic what they see. We are what we repeatedly do.