Violence is everywhere....aside that we see it in movies and videos games, its there on the news, its there in our society. Now, what happens when it seems the line is being crossed, and we now see violence as a normal thing and we accept it as a part of life. Here in Nigeria, violence is not just news to us, its what we see almost everyday, there are fights and angry shouts in our bustops, there are both daylight and midnight robberies, theres the political clashes, theres that of students in school, there's the domestic abuses and a whole lot, here, it is real, it is everywhere, the worst part is, it keeps on increasing.
I think those who say we are becoming more violent because of the things we watch and listen to are right, because, being always around and surrounded by violence makes one feel it is normal, you won't see anything that bad in it, we don't even feel shocked anymore when we watch movies and see them shoot or tear self apart, so when we even hear of attacks on the news, we just shake our heads and move on, when something becomes too consistent and normal, it loses its ability/power to terrify/frighten. And that's a worse stage also, when we see it as normal, and it stops scaring us, then we hardly see the need to fight against it.
Also, I don't believe media is the real problem, reason being that, long before the existence of TVs, video games, music, movies and all, long before the existence of all that, there have been wars, people kill, stole and destroy. To me, the media is not creating violence, and maybe it is, I just believe the media is just reflecting the world the way it(the world) already is.
Now, why does it feel like violence is increasing? That is because people are more frustrated than everz the cost of living is high, opportunities are few, and those in power do not care. A saying goes thus"a hungry man is an angry man, and an angry man is capable of anything". When people are being pushed to the wall, they will need to fight back. They will choose to do something just to survive, they steal, they riot, they kill. Am not saying I support that, that's just how I feel and understand things to be, we are all going through things and we did not choose to live by violence. And to those who do, maybe, just maybe it is because they see violence as power. We are in a world where the loudest, strongest and most aggressive people get what they want, being gentle feels like weakness. We grow up believing we must fight and show strength to be respected, and that way, violence grows and spreads like wildfire.
How do we stop violence? Is it possible?... Everything is a process, we can start from somewhere, even if we can't eradicate it off totally, we can reduce it. One, let's stop glorifying violence because that's what we do. Secondly, let's stop using it as the first solution to a problem. Thirdly, let's raise our children well while laying good examples, we should let them know that true strength does not lie in the fist nor in the ability to create fights but in their character. Also, parents should be careful of what they say and how they treat each other for the sake of their children. Let's also elect leaders who won't turn blind eyes to the people's suffering. Together, we can create a society where people do not have to fight for survival. We can change the way we think, act and most importantly the the way we react.
Violence is like fire, the more wood we put in it, the more not burns, the more we keep feeding violence, the more it keeps burning, growing and spreading. Let's stop feeding it, let it start dying off. And we don't need to start big, let's start with the small things.....the words we use, the way we handle anger, the way we treat others. We should refusime to accept violence as normal. The world today needs more of healers than warriors, it starts with you and me, you can be one, choose the former.