The dual subjects of gun control and media violence have been debated extensively and then mysteriously slipped from sight. We would do well to take a step back and review the basic facts about media violence and what professionals in the area of child medicine, psychiatry, and psychology have concluded.

An astonishing new phenomenon is now sweeping the nation: the turning of toddlers and preschoolers into consumers of media gadgets. Though many parents are major players in this social trend, there are good reasons for them to pause and contemplate what they are doing.

Young American females grow up in a kind of cultural vise. Immersion in the media is playing a crucial role in the childhood obesity epidemic. At the same time, the "ideal" body type thrown constantly before their eyes is that of the thin, almost gaunt female—an ideal hopelessly out of reach for most.

In a real sense, the zeitgeist in the early 21st century whispers to our kids to take care of themselves and ignore the community at large. We are living in changing times, an era of a poorly studied morality shift.

Modern sentiment regarding the holiday season still relies on the three virtues at the core of the ancient holiday spirit—giving, hope, and the innocent awe of the child—but moves them in troubling directions.

Why does the problem of daily gun deaths in America seeming so acceptable? Is it the centrality that violence plays in the American identity? We tend to see violence as a solution to problems. In fact many of our greatest heroes wield guns with epic precision.