2008 Woodie Awards
People need to take responsibility for their actions
Dustin Ward
Issue date: 4/5/07 Section: Opinion
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Knowing the difference between right and wrong is an important lesson that is taught to children at a very early age. Kids are taught to think about the decisions they make and the consequences that will come of those decisions so they will grow into adults who hopefully will think before they act. Another important lesson taught to our young is the lesson of taking responsibility for your actions.
So I have to wonder, with these two significant lessons being taught to the kids today and the lessons having been taught to us, the kids of yesterday, how did we become a society that points the finger when something bad happens?
I am a huge fan of MTV's Jackass. I am a grown adult who tends to watch the show when it is on, and I have seen both of the movies repeatedly. But I know that what those guys are doing is stupid and that the show is called Jackass for a reason.
My mother taught me at an early age that stapling my butt cheeks together or letting a friend brand me is not the smartest thing to do. So when I read the disclaimer at the beginning of Jackass warning people not to do what they see on the screen, I have to wonder who actually would do those things.
Then I remember all those people I have heard about on the news who have been hospitalized or killed trying to perform stunts they have seen on TV. While those tragedies are saddening, why did those people not have enough sense to know not to do those things? Had they never been taught the difference between right and wrong?
But what confuses me the most about these situations is the fact that the TV shows get blamed for the people's actions. When a little boy killed a little girl a few years ago because he was trying to imitate the wrestling moves he saw on TV, the first finger of blame was pointed at wrestling.
I never once heard the parents of the children step up and say it was their fault for letting their children watch TV that is unsuitable for a younger audience. Nor did I hear them say the kids should never have been left unsupervised. Instead, they blamed the professional wrestling community, which has been built around entertaining people - not me - for decades.
So I have to wonder, with these two significant lessons being taught to the kids today and the lessons having been taught to us, the kids of yesterday, how did we become a society that points the finger when something bad happens?
I am a huge fan of MTV's Jackass. I am a grown adult who tends to watch the show when it is on, and I have seen both of the movies repeatedly. But I know that what those guys are doing is stupid and that the show is called Jackass for a reason.
My mother taught me at an early age that stapling my butt cheeks together or letting a friend brand me is not the smartest thing to do. So when I read the disclaimer at the beginning of Jackass warning people not to do what they see on the screen, I have to wonder who actually would do those things.
Then I remember all those people I have heard about on the news who have been hospitalized or killed trying to perform stunts they have seen on TV. While those tragedies are saddening, why did those people not have enough sense to know not to do those things? Had they never been taught the difference between right and wrong?
But what confuses me the most about these situations is the fact that the TV shows get blamed for the people's actions. When a little boy killed a little girl a few years ago because he was trying to imitate the wrestling moves he saw on TV, the first finger of blame was pointed at wrestling.
I never once heard the parents of the children step up and say it was their fault for letting their children watch TV that is unsuitable for a younger audience. Nor did I hear them say the kids should never have been left unsupervised. Instead, they blamed the professional wrestling community, which has been built around entertaining people - not me - for decades.
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