A day without TV
The email below comes from Jan Williams, a Whittier mom and grandmother whose son Neal and two grandsons Devon and Ian, were killed in August at their apartment in Rowland Heights.
Man-ling (or Manling, or Man Ling) WIlliams, Neal's wife, and the children's mother is awaiting a preliminary hearing in the case later this month. Manling is suspected of stabbing her husband to death and smothering the children. Because the case contains special circumstances Manling could face the death penalty if convicted.
Here's Jan's note:
I copied this from the Parents of Murdered Children's website:
"Big Turn Off-January 9, 2008: This is an annual event asking citizens to turn off their TVs for three hours during the prime-time segment of programming to protest TV violence. The average child, watching the average amount of television will witness 200,000 acts of violence by the age of 18. The goal of the Big Turn-Off is to empower people to object to what they find offensive and send a message that promotes non-violent programming."
As a parent and grandparent of murder victims, I have experienced first hand the way our society has become desensitized to violent crime. People sometimes forget, when speaking about a recent murder, that this is a real tragedy that has happened to real people. You wouldn't believe some of the things that complete strangers have felt free to ask me or the theories that they have pontificated. Murder is not entertaining, and that statement needs to be reiterated over and over again until it is really heard. Thanks for letting me vent.
Jan Williams
2 Comments
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FRANK GIRARDOT
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That's a great idea. I won't be watching TV tonight!
I did not watch TV that night, but what's missing from this campaign are the video game and computer game components.
The other day I heard little kids across the street talking as if they were going to kill each other and stating that they would then automatically resurrect. This can only come from video games, but what if one kid actually believes it's true IRL??
Video and computer games are great fun, but some sort of line has to be drawn between reality and fantasy, IMHO. This campaign is a good idea, but does not go far enough.