I am guilty guilty GUILTY of neglecting my blogs, including this one. I've had a lot going on with my so-called career. But mainly, I blame Facebook, which has started to suck up a startling amount of online energy. For years, I've been writing articles and blog entries on the science behind kids and violence, and recently I've felt like all those bits and pieces have started to come together into a coherent narrative. Last week I posted some notes on children and violence to my Facebook page, which drew some interesting comments from friends, including Dawn Friedman, who writes the blog This Woman's Work , and Gerard Jones , author of Killing Monsters and Men of Tomorrow . I am sharing my notes below along with reader comments--since I haven't asked anyone's permission, including Gerard's, the reader comments are anonymous. I invite your thoughts as well.
Evolutionary and psychological roots of violence:
1. Violent feelings are natural, and have an evolutionary basis
2. Measured in terms of the number of acts, childhood is the most violent period of human life; as they grow humans learn to avoid violence
3. It’s an empirical fact that the vast majority of mature humans avoid real-world violence at all costs
4. A minority of humans do act violently; thus sooner or later, we are all confronted with violence
5. Imaginary violence is not the same thing as real-world violence, but it is a form of preparation for the real thing
Violence in children:
6. All children, boys and girl...
Click here to read full article from Mothering.Com
