Vengeance, bloodlust, severe dehumanization, torture, acting with extreme prejudice is irresponsible. Nationally, 70 percent agree that when a boy is growing up, it is very important for him to have a few fist fights. Violent behavior among delinquent people does not appear overnight. Usually, their capacity for violence develops slowly, as they move from minor aggression to increasingly brutal acts. Eighteen percent of the population admit to having slapped or kicked another person. Overall, aggression increases dramatically in early adolescence as boys gain physical strength and more access to weapons. Social learning theory holds that we learn to be aggressive by observing belligerence in others. Social learning theory combines learning principles with cognitive processes, socialization, and modeling to explain behavior. According to this view, there is no instinctive human programming for fist-fighting, mass injury, knife wielding, gun loading, 95-mile-an-hor bean balls, or other violent or aggressive behaviors. Hence, aggression must be learned. Violence seems to beget violence, from generation to generation. Its very long history, dating back to our origins, has a momentum that shows little indication of slowing down. It is as if we were caught in an unresolved and seemingly unresolvable blood feuds. There may be talk of honor, but it is mostly just more fuel for the fires of violence and has nothing to do with real honor. #RandolphHarris 1 of 5

A single deed of violence and cruelty affects our nerves more than when these are exercised on a more extended scale. While school violence and drugs have been perceived by the public as problems primarily for urban school districts, declining test scores and poor academic performance are a nationwide concern. Children and adults are treated to an almost nonstop parade of aggressive models, in the media as well as in actual behavior. We are without a doubt, an aggressive culture. Every day, TV provides an endless stream of bad models, especially concerning violence. In the United States of America, there are nearly 200 hours of violent programs per week. Eight-one percent of all programs contain violence, which is often quite unrealistic. For instance, an astounding 73 percent of violent character go unpunished, and 58 percent of violent acts do not lead to painful results. Only 16 percent of all program shows any realistic long-term consequences for violence. So the problem many not be the violence in the TV programs, the problem might be people think violence is acceptable because so many people on TV go unpunished and do not see to get hurt. Younger children often do not grasp the nuances of TV plots. A child may simply remember that when good guys were bothered in some way by others, they aggressed. Heroes on TV are as violent as the villains, and they usually receive praise for their violence. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5

Disinhibition (the removal of inhibition) leads to acting out behavior that normally would be restrained. For instance, many TV programs and the news may give the message that violence is acceptable behavior that leads to success and popularity. For some people the message can lowers inhibitions against action out hostile feelings. In Sacramento, California USA, three news anchors actually went on air and encouraged people to engage in violence, but where not fired for their actions. Another effect of TV violence is that it tends to lower sensitivity to violent acts. As anyone who has seen a street fight or a mugging call tell you, TV violence is sanitized and unrealistic. The real thing is gross, ugly, and gut-wrenching. Social learning theory applies that aggression begets aggression. In other words, watching a prized fight or violent television program may increase aggression, rather than drain off aggressive urges. Viewers who watch violent DVDs, news, and videotapes have more aggressive thoughts. Violent thoughts often precede violent actions. Thus, the spiral of aggression might be broken if we did not so often portrait it, reward it, and glorify it. In many cases, the products can react to re-form the original reactants. Reactions in which the products can themselves react to re-form reactants are called reversible reactions. The World’s most peaceful societies actively teach their children to be cooperative, non-violent, and helpful. #RandolphHarris 3 of 5

The process of learning violence is reversible. Anger control can be successful in teaching some people to control the rage and aggressive impulses. Anger control refers to personal strategies for reducing or cubing anger. The key to remaining calm is to define upsetting situations as problems to be solved. Therefore, to limit anger, people are taught to: Define the problem as precisely as possible. Make a list of possible solutions. Rank the likely success of each solution. Choose a solution and try it. Assess how successful the solution was, and make adjustments if necessary. The reverse reaction can occur, but at first the rate is slow because of the small concentration of options. However, as time goes on, the rate of anger decreases because it helps lessen tendencies toward violence, and other destructive outbursts. For the more immediate future, it is clear that we need more people who are willing to engage in prosocial behavior (actions that are constructive, altruistic, or helpful to others). #RandolphHarris 4 of 5

Those who have never been guilty of any indiscretion are generally people who have very little active virtue. If you feel shame over hurting another, stay with that dishonor until a feeling of remorse arises, and then make amends from your heart. If you are reluctant to do so, admit this, letting any disgrace over such reluctance further spur you into taking healing action. Turning toward your shame, feeling it fully without losing yourself in its viewpoint and contractedness is one of the biggest and most courageous steps you will ever take. Yes, doing so hurts, but such pain is secondary to the healing that you are making possible through your bravery, the healing that begins when you cease being a victim or denier of your embarrassment. Disgrace can bend and halt us, and sometimes needs to—such as when we are mistreating or are about to mistreat another—but is does not have to break us. Remember that the more compassion and vulnerability you can approach your shame with, the greater odds are that you will handle it skillfully. Virtue, soon or late, meets the good it merits. #RandolphHarris 5 of 5