 Twenty years ago, Nicky Cruz warned America that unless something was done about the nation's drug epidemic, we would wake up one morning to find ourselves caught in an avalanche of youth violence.
Today, violence by young people spirals out of control in our cities and has even spilled over into our suburbs and rural communities. Violent images in movies, video games, television, and on the Internet provide horrifying role models for our children. Violent crime now dominates the ghetto as well as the schoolyard with each new incident bringing greater horror than the last.
Could our society unintentionally be conditioning children, from a very early age, to kill? Has society devalued life to the point that suicide has become a major killer of our kids? According to David Grossman, military psychologist and author, the two most powerful factors conditioning kids to kill are violence on television and point-and-shoot video games.
 "Today the data linking violence in the media to violence in society is superior to that linking cancer and tobacco," Grossman said in "Trained to Kill," an article which appeared in the August 98 issue of Christianity Today.
He cited a study appearing in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) concluding that "the introduction of television in the 1950's caused a subsequent doubling of the homicide rate, i.e. long-term childhood exposure to television is a causal factor behind approximately one-half of the homicides committed in the United States. (JAMA, June 10, 1992)."
Have we unwittingly conditioned our kids to kill? Certainly parents would not purposely do such a thing; however, Grossman, who is also a resident of Jonesboro, Arkansas, presents a startling hypothesis.
In a recent interview with Nicky Cruz for the "Moving Targets" series, Grossman said, "We've taught our children to laugh and derive pleasure from human death and suffering.After the Jonesboro shootings, one of the high school teachers told me how her students reacted when she told them about the shootings at the middle school. 'They laughed,' she told me with dismay. A similar reaction happens all the time in movie theaters when there is bloody violence. The young people laugh and cheer and keep right on eating popcorn and drinking pop."
Killing one's fellow students does not come naturally to children. It is a learned skill. According to Grossman, this "virus of violence" is picked up from abuse and violence in the home - especially from the pervasive violence presented as entertainment in television, the movies and "point-and-shoot" video games.
A startling revelation: "Every time a child plays an interactive video game, he is learning the exact same conditioned reflex skills as a soldier or police officer in training," stated Grossman.
Many inner-city kids are exposed to and 'trained by' gang violence right in their own neighborhoods. They are groomed for gangs and seared to violence from an early age. However, these enlightening facts should open our eyes to some of the 'training' factors behind the random acts of violence being perpetrated by "nice kids" in "nice suburban neighborhoods" that this nation has suffered lately. Pieces of the puzzle include deep feelings of inferiority, writing or talking about killing people, ready access to guns, and specifically - obsession with violent videos and games.
Nicky's Response
Yes.it can happen.anywhere. Unfortunately, my projection of this nation's future head-on collision with drugs and violence is proving to be accurate. But God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7). It's time we started acting with the tools He has given us. But with God's intervention and an army of believers, we can turn back the tide.
I know Jesus can make a difference because He changed my life.and I have seen Him change many thousands of young lives throughout the years. If you have a young person already in trouble, or if you have someone you want to try and keep out of trouble, pray for them continually and believe that Jesus will make a difference in their lives!
There is one verse of Scripture that I wish I could impress on the heart of every young person alive today. It is Jeremiah 29:11,
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "Plans to prosper you and to give you hope and a future."
God has a plan for the youth of our nation. It is a future filled with hope and good things. But if kids today are to realize this blessed future, we've got to let them know that God loves them and that He does have an incredible plan for their lives.
This is a problem that will not go away on its own. We must face reality and work toward a solution. We can do this by providing an alternative that "works" for young people. We must give them hope. We must tell them that Jesus Christ is the healer of broken lives. He is the solution.
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