Entry 3 - Final

While I agree that music can have an effect on emotions, I don't agree that violent lyrics are solely to blame for violence such as school shootings. Artists, like My Chemical Romance or Eminem, are not the reason teenagers decided to shoot up a school. I feel that it is the same as saying that because a gun was around, it is why someone decided to shoot someone else, when in reality, the person chose to pick up the gun and shoot them for their own personal reasons, not because they got the idea from seeing or hearing something.
     People decided to blame music, specifically Marilyn Manson, because it keeps us from having to see the truth that is right in our faces. The real problem is that we do not open our eyes enough to see when someone is crying out for help. For example, there were many signs that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were going to go on a shooting spree in Columbine High School. This is a school shooting that happened on April 20, 1999 where 13 people died and many more were injured when the two students went through the school shooting everyone they saw.

 One huge example is videos Harris and Klebold were making detailing what they wanted to do. There are many other signs such as "violent writings, uncontrolled anger, threats of violence, destruction of property, etc." (Skiba, and Peterson)
     Do people blame music for violent acts such as school shootings? Yes. Should they? In my opinion, no because there would have to be other problems that could be noticed if people paid enough attention. Not all signs of emotional distress are signs that a child is going to commit a crime or do something violent, but we as a society cannot place the sole blame on something that has no concrete proof in the first place.