Letters

GROWING UP ONLINE

Every time something happens in America, such as a violent crime committed by youngsters, our society and our politicians are quick to blame television, music, video games and the Internet [FAMILIES, May 10]--anything but the people who committed the crime. It's about time that society realized that young people are not easily programmable by whatever the Internet or MTV may try to feed them. I've played some of the most violent video games, but I don't have the urge to make killing a reality. Like many other young people across this world, I have common sense and the ability to think and choose for myself. ADAM ROBINSON, 20 College Park, Md.

I was in law school and in my early 30s when I first played the game Doom. I soon caught the fever; Doom is nothing if not intense. For several weeks, if I wasn't studying or in class, I was playing Doom. If the game can affect a law student this way, I can only imagine the effect it must have on immature high school losers. I am convinced that violent computer games, much like alcohol and pornography, should be kept out of the hands of those younger than age 21. ANDREW PARMA San Antonio, Texas

There is nothing that adults can do to completely protect their children from things on the Internet. Unless parents carry around the computer wherever they go, kids will visit sites that they shouldn't. Kids go where they want. In your article, I noticed a lot about parents' blocking their children's access with various programs. But many youngsters know how to turn off these programs manually despite password protection. It is extremely easy to do. Kids rule the Internet, and they always will because adults are out of touch with technology. RYAN NEE, 16 Golden, Colo.

I have grown up with the Internet, so I know firsthand what the dangers are and what the pleasures can be. Those who say violent games are the reason for the Colorado high school shootings must not have played the games all that much. I have played every 3-D shoot-'em-up there is. The games don't desensitize people. If adults try to limit what kids do on the Internet, they are limiting information that can help them later in life. DAVID GREGORY, 15 Boulder Creek, Calif.

No parent who is truly interested in the overall welfare of the family should allow children to play video games more than 30 minutes a day. Children must be taught to be well-rounded people with a wide variety of interests. LAURENCE A. CRAFT St. Louis, Mo.

As the mother of two young boys, I say a parent is responsible for the actions of his or her children. My husband and I take turns being in the room with the children when the computer is in use. We say how long they will be allowed online. Also, as working parents, we must know what the children are doing when they are not with us. When they have friends over, we check on what they're doing. My husband and I will do anything to find out what they are up to. And if they just want to talk, they will know that we are here for them. SUSSY E. SILVA-GRAFFEO East Islip, N.Y.

Playing violent video games does not necessarily desensitize the player to atrocities, but the social isolation that goes along with an addiction to such games can. Even when competing against a real-life person, a player has almost no social interaction. These games can be dangerous when taken in large doses. MIKE DOJC Toronto

Video or computer games were not the major cause of the Columbine High School killings. Yes, these games do contain scenes with killing and a lot of violence, but I strongly believe that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris did not shoot their classmates as a result of playing these games. When such tragedies happen, there are usually problems in the family or rejection at school. Many people play these violent games, and most of the time the results aren't harmful. It's only when there are already problems in a person's mind that the bad things in games can come to life. ABEL GUERRA Monterrey, Mexico

REAL HATRED AND REAL TEARS

I do not think that Harris and Klebold were exceptionally disturbed or evil [SPECIAL REPORT, May 3]. Staring us in the face is an American society in which guns are put in the hands of young people and a competitive life-style encourages a cruel high school hierarchy. In Littleton, moms and dads, psychologists and principals did not seem to realize that those trench coats, death threats and Hitler cheers came out of real hatred and real tears. ANN-MARIE EIGERT, 17 Jonkoping, Sweden

"Students planted crosses: four pink ones for the girls, nine blue ones for the boys--and two black ones, set apart, for the killers." Fifteen people are dead, and nothing has changed, no lessons have been learned. The war at Columbine High started long before Eric and Dylan walked into the building with guns and bombs. Rounds of sneers, mocking laughter, cutting remarks, put-downs, false accusations and "accidental" shoves in the hall had torn the hearts of those two boys until their souls died. What was left sought a terrible revenge. As long as there are outcasts who are bombarded by ridicule and who have easy access to guns and explosives, there will be more Littletons. So, children, take those black crosses, paint them blue, then put them with the others, and at lunch tomorrow sit next to someone you would normally avoid. Talk with that person. Get to know him or her. Maybe then this type of tragedy won't happen again. CYNTHIA SMITH Jakarta

Not knowing what my teenage child was making in the garage would be totally impossible for me. Children can commit horrible deeds only if there are irresponsible parents. A seed left in a field will grow wild when uncultivated. CHARLES E. JAMBOR Simcoe, Ont.

The massacre at Columbine High School was a savage and tragic act of aggression carried out by a pair of disturbed loners. But let us not forget that there is an almost political context in most elementary and secondary schools that breeds such loners. The trench-coated, gun-wielding killers who took 15 lives were the victims of vicious taunting by students who saw themselves as superior. As someone who experienced firsthand this kind of bullying in elementary school, I can testify that it is a humiliating and terrifying experience. ALEXANDRA OLIVER Paris

GROW UP, AMERICA!

Oh, for heaven's sake, America--grow up! An incredulous world looks on while you self-indulgently natter on and on about the right to bear arms [SPECIAL REPORT, May 3]. You prattle about how to sensitize parents, teachers and school counselors to the warning signals of impending mass killings by ticked-off teenagers with easy access to assault weapons. Do what the rest of us have done after similar massacres in Canada, Britain and New Zealand: immediately pass stringent gun-control laws. Trust us, it works. Just do it. MERLIE PAPADOPOULLOS Montreal

A few years ago, my husband and I were in the drugstore of a little town in Arizona and met a man in his 60s, shopping. He wore a cowboy hat and sported two revolvers--one for each leg. When we saw that he had a third gun slipped into the back of his jeans waistband, we thought it best to leave. You would see nothing like this here in Italy or in any other European country. Did this man really need three guns to go to the drugstore? Smokers are outcasts now in the U.S.; I would like to see the same thing happen to gun lovers and their firearms. It won't be that easy. Nice little signs in restaurants saying NO SHOOTING wouldn't exactly do it. But we should have a real goal for the 3rd millennium: a zero-tolerance campaign against violence, guns, cruelty and drugs. MARINA MASCETTI Genoa, Italy

Here in Germany, the majority of people seem to agree that firearms don't solve problems; they kill people. The remark of the person who said the massacre could have been avoided had the teachers at Columbine been armed was amazing. It was so cynical, so out of touch with reality, and showed a Dr. Strangelove kind of arms idolatry. I am a teacher myself. Shall I teach young people respect, tolerance and fairness while I outgun them? STEFAN BARTELS Dillingen, Germany

AT THE KOSOVO CORRAL

Is the American public ready for its military forces to occupy Kosovo, with the likelihood of additional casualties [WORLD, May 10], or could it leave the job to some of its tough allies that have bolstered the U.S. in military engagements throughout the century? Once the sheriff has quelled the brawl, he can always leave it to his deputies to man the stockade. JAMES PATERSON Auckland, New Zealand

ANOTHER VIEW OF THE BOMBINGS

After reading the accounts of Yugoslav readers describing what it is like to be under attack [LETTERS, May 3], I have to respond. A million Bosnians could explain how it feels to be bombed at night, with descriptions of wet basements or shelters. I'm sorry about reader Vid Stanulovic's 5 1/2-month-old daughter, but he is lucky because she is better and alive. How many Bosnians, Croats and Albanians can see their babies only in photographs? Where were the Yugoslavs when the kids of Sarajevo and Srebrenica were killed by bombs? AHMED HADROVIC Istanbul

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

If Oscar Goodman is elected mayor of Las Vegas, it will be one of the best things that could happen to this city [AMERICAN SCENE, May 10]. As an attorney, he has performed to the best of his ability his duty to his clients, even though they have included alleged mobsters. I believe he would do the same for this city. Please don't judge Sin City unless you have stepped outside the entertainment strip. There are hundreds of well-attended churches. Where else can you go shopping at at 2 a.m. to replace the microwave that just quit on you? Or buy milk at a regular grocery store at 3 a.m. and not get ripped off by a convenience store? We are just a normal city with an unusual source of income. CAROLYN GARRISON Las Vegas

WILL IT COME HOME TO ROOST?

Your article forecasting genetically engineered, four-legged chickens [GENETICS, May 10] reminded me of the story about a farmer who accomplished the feat through selective breeding. When asked how the four-leggers tasted, he was forced to reply, "Don't know. Haven't caught one yet." JOHN CAUGHRON Center Point, Iowa

HOMESPUN PLATITUDE

Re Hillary Clinton's quote introducing the President for a gun-control speech: "Part of growing up is learning to control one's impulses" [NOTEBOOK, May 10]. One wonders why she didn't give this bit of homespun philosophy to husband Bill. HELEN KLECKNER Conshohocken, Pa.

TRACKING THE NEANDERTHALS

As an anthropologist, I firmly object to the theories presented by paleoanthropologist Erik Trinkaus [PALEONTOLOGY, May 3], who supports the idea that there was interbreeding between prehistoric Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens. Archaeologists merely uncovered a single skeleton of a child with a mixture of modern and Neanderthal features. To deduce that this indicates a peaceful coexistence or gradual immersion of Neanderthals into the Homo sapiens gene pool is groundless and inconsistent in the face of DNA testing recently conducted. The Neanderthals, like other hominids, are no more. Perhaps mankind's evolution was a more violent affair than we would like to believe. Yet even today the killing continues. KEVIN M. KIRBY Sydney

A PILL THAT THE GUYS TAKE

Your compilation of ads from agencies "If Men Took the Pill," about how to promote an oral contraceptive for men, was amusing [NOTEBOOK, May 10]. But what a waste of scientific research! Will the woman who wants to trust a male with the sole responsibility for contraception please step forward? What? No one will? What a surprise. KIMBERLY J. BAKIC Anchorage, Alaska

Those were some clever ads for male oral contraceptives. The ancient Israelites and Romans knew the significance of testicles. The words testify, testimony and testicle all come from the Latin testis, for testicles. When Roman men gave testimony, they held their testicles in their hand, for they regarded them as sacred. This custom is mentioned in the Old Testament. In the King James translation, the passage reads, "And Abraham said: 'unto his eldest servant of his house... Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: And I will make thee swear...'" In the future when Hollywood makes a biblical or Roman epic, it might include a scene of a man testifying in the authentic manner...a reel grabber. TOM GILL North Beach, Md.