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Violence expert traces media link By Jessica Smith of the Mail Tribune He was just 14 when he planted his feet, aimed a gun, and started shooting students as they broke from a prayer meeting at a Paducah, Ky., high school. Michael Carneal fired eight times and hit eight teenagers, five in the head and three in the upper torso, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman told a stunned audience of about 125 police officials, educators, parents and students Friday. Carneal wasn't an expert marksman. He wasn't a trained sniper or a military man with just a few years of munitions experience. He was a boy playing a game -- one that killed three students Dec. 1, 1997, Grossman said. "He aimed at whatever came up in his `screen,"' said Grossman, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and national violence expert who spoke at the Rogue Valley Medical Center about the link between youth violence, the media and video games that simulate killing. "The Holy Grail of the industry is realism. When kids are playing at killing, we shouldn't be surprised when they pick up a gun and display superhuman marksmanship skills," Grossman said. Grossman, author of "On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society," was in the area to work with local police agencies and offer his insights on the contributors to teenage violence and how it can be prevented. The media -- with its slasher flicks, realistic video games and news reports on violence -- trains children to think about death and human suffering indifferently, Grossman said. Megan Stewart, a junior at Ashland High School, said she saw evidence of that theory when a phony bomb threat was called into the school in late May. "No one took that seriously. I went to my friend's house and laid by the pool the whole day," Stewart said. Children don't realize the gravity of violence because they have been programmed to think of it as entertainment, Grossman said. David Uhreen, a first- and second-grade teacher at Mountain View Elementary School in White City, said children in his classroom see violence as a game. "I see a lot of violent play. It's something they see on TV and video games and they are acting it out," Uhreen said. Even programs that should be suitable for young children can contribute to violent behavior, Lincoln Elementary School teacher Trisha Mullinnix said. "In Pokemon, and some Disney productions, there is still a percentage of conflict that's dealt with in aggression," she said. That means parents and educators need to start popping the "bubble of fantasy" kids have created about violence, Grossman said. "Violence is not cute. It's not a joke and it's not something we should play at," he said. Schools in the area already are putting that strategy to work, said Ernie Whiteman, a Medford Police Department school resource officer. Students who talk about violent acts -- whether they plan to follow through or not -- are investigated by the police and the juvenile detention authorities, Whiteman said. "The kids know if they come talk to us (about an overheard threat), we're going to deal with it and do our best to put an end to it," he added. Whiteman said he has referred 38 students to authorities for counseling since the beginning of the school year. In the months that followed the shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., last year, Whiteman said he referred 41 students. Kevin Campbell, assistant principal at South Medford High School, said students there are responding to the no-tolerance policy on violence or threats of violence. "It's become costly for kids to make a statement like that. We don't hear `I'm going to get you' because kids now know the high price they'll pay if they make threats," Campbell said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA