As a student in an American high school in the 1990's, I understandmuch of what goes on inside the heads of teenagers. While thetragedy in Colorado has spurred numerous debates about theethics of our generation, it is important to note thatpsychological problems within our age group are largelyattributable to actions taken by past generations. Theentertainment industry in particular is the paragon of what iswrong with society. The vicious and iniquitous material theycreate is definitely having an adverse effect, and placing a"Rated R" or "Mature 17+" symbol on offensive material is notthe answer.

Contrary to popular opinion, it's very easyfor a young child to be exposed to that garbage early in life,whether by sneaking downstairs and seeing their parents watch"Urban Legend" or overhearing an older sibling play thecryptic dissonance of Marilyn Manson. Messages of hate andviolence are getting to our children earlier and earlier andembedding themselves in their heads. When they enteradolescence not knowing the difference between reality andgruesome entertainment, the two merge, causing unprecedentedchaos. That, in my opinion, is what happened to Eric Harrisand Dylan Klebold, who were engulfed by "Doom" to anunfathomable extent.

There is no quick fix, and even ifthere were, alleviating violence in the entertainment industryis not a panacea for alleviating it in society. Nor should wecensor them, for violating the Constitution would be giving into the mayhem. Limiting the exposure of young children tovarious "artistic expressions" would certainly be a step inthe right direction.

Our roles in solving thispredicament are, in fact, different for each one of us.Parents of young children should not permit any disturbingmaterial to be accessible. Internet usage (as well astelevision) should be monitored for young children.

Theproblems of many teenagers today are rooted in the forms ofentertainment they were exposed to during childhood. Theentertainment industry is a drug, and it certainly won't beeasy to stop their addictive trend for future generations. Wemust do all we can to cut off the oxygen supply to themalicious forms of entertainment without violating the laws offree speech. Doing otherwise would not only prolong theproblem, it would escalate the situation.