Half
way through this list of myths and we hit upon one that is hotly contested
socially. Are video games too violent? Are sex, drugs, and rock and roll the
real culprit? Who is to blame for kids these days? It is nice to have a
scapegoat. When something horrible like a school shooting happens, it is easier
to blame violence on TV than to look inward. As a result, we march down the
wrong path and miss the point altogether.
If
you are new to this blog, please go back to the first post, “Clarifying BeliefsAbout Juvenile Delinquency” for the back-story.
Myth 5 – All juvenile delinquents look up to negative role models or
lack positive role models.
The
late 1990s brought a flurry of research about the harmful effects of heavy
metal and rap music on adolescents (Binder, 1993; Hook & Weiss, 1994; Johnson,
Jackson, & Gatto, 1995). Knowing teenagers, in particular, look to famous
individuals as role models, the concern was the message they may be receiving.
This is especially troubling for youth without positive role models in their
day-to-day lives as found in a recent study, "adolescents' exposure to
negative adult behavior was associated with increased externalizing,
internalizing, and substance using behaviors, as well as more negative school
attitudes and behavior" (Hurd, Zimmerman, & Xue, 2009, p. 777).
When
the United States was first exposed to the violence, cruelty, and horrifying
events of the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, people sought a negative
role model to blame. At the time, Marilyn Manson’s music was topping the charts
and frightening parents, so he became a natural scapegoat. Interestingly,
however, it was partly his words that led scholars to look at this situation in
a new light. In the documentary Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore
interviewed Marilyn Manson, asking, “If you were to talk directly to the kids
at Columbine or the people in that community, what would you say to them if
they were here right now?” In his succinct response, Marilyn Manson said, “I
wouldn’t say a single word to them. I would listen to what they have to say,
and that’s what no one did” (Moore, 2002).
In
a more recent mass shooting in Santa Barbara, California, a journalist for the
Washington Post (2014) attempted to blame popular movies for their influence on
the deranged shooter, claiming, “[the shooter’s] delusions were inflated, if
not created, by the entertainment industry he grew up in” (Hornaday, 2014).
Rap music is
popular among youth who are often perceived as delinquent, yet the music they
listen to includes both positive and negative messages. There is a common thread
of individuality, ambition, and dreams throughout and is the reason rap music
is often used as a tool in juvenile justice facilities as a means to motivate
adjudicated youth to work toward a better future.
The challenge
faced by the role model belief is that different youth looking up to the same
role models turn out in disparate ways. In fact, one individual interviewed for
this study shared that he watched negative role models in his inner-city
neighborhood commit crimes, participate in gang activity, and experience
homelessness. Additionally, he lost two friends to gang violence as a teenager.
All of these negative experiences and role models led him in the opposite
direction. Seeing the type of lifestyle he did not want motivated him to earn good grades throughout high school,
graduating in the top of his class, and later earning his college degree at a
top-tier private school.
