[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 674]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            NEWTOWN SHOOTING

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                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 25, 2013

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I recently read an article by Maureen Downey 
of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sharing the thoughts of Mr. 
Frederick Assaf, headmaster at Pace Academy, an independent K-12 school 
in Atlanta, Georgia.
  As Congress and the Obama administration continue to address mass 
violence, I found merit in Assaf's concerns about the desensitizing 
impacts of violent media, such as video games and Hollywood films. I 
believe these graphic images are far too easily accessed by our 
children and lack any notion of real-life consequences to violent 
death. I submit for the Record Mr. Assaf's thoughtful comments.

         [From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 2, 2013]

  Newtown Shooting Demands We Consider Our ``Call of Duty'' as Parents

               (By Maureen Downey, AJC Get Schooled Blog)

       I admire Fred Assaf, head of Pace Academy in Atlanta, 
     because he doesn't shy away from the tough issues. Here is 
     another example of his willingness to speak out on behalf of 
     children.
       In the wake of the Newtown school shooting, Assaf questions 
     the popularity of violent video games, which many kids 
     received as Christmas gifts last week.
       Please note that all comments to the blog will be moderated 
     and appear only after they are read and approved.

                            (By Fred Assaf)

       Because I come to know 6-year-olds every year by having 
     lunch with them in our Lower School, I know the boundless joy 
     and optimism they have in the heart. They raise their hands 
     when they don't know the answer. When they run out of knock-
     knock jokes they know, they make up more on the spot.
       They still need help opening their milk cartons. They look 
     forward to holidays, visiting cousins, and seeing 
     grandparents. They love their teachers, crave the structure 
     of a school setting, and are learning to read fast and 
     compute math at an incredible pace.
       They will laugh at all of your jokes, even when they aren't 
     funny. They understand the needs of those around them, they 
     play with all their classmates, and they respect their 
     parents, their teachers, and their god.
       I'm headmaster at an independent school in Atlanta. Our 
     school begins in Pre-First (Kindergarten) and ends with 12th 
     grade. My wife and I also have five children of our own. The 
     events in Newtown, Conn., are unimaginable to us and our 
     entire prayer is for sympathy and healing; there is no 
     justice in a situation like this.
       It is my tradition to have lunch with the Pre-First 
     students (they are 5 and 6). In so doing I remind myself 
     about my vocation and come to know the boundless energy and 
     potential of children. It is why I teach. I know more Knock-
     Knock jokes than any adult my age and I like it!
       And I'm plagued now by this thought--who shoots 6-year-
     olds? Because I lead a school I'm always searching for 
     answers, finding a new path forward, and engineering 
     compromise. But this idea of shooting 6-year-olds doesn't 
     compute; I'm not in search of a motive, as it cannot possibly 
     explain why.
       When we had our first child, our family doctor gave us a 
     good piece of advice: ``Eskimo children get used to the 
     cold.'' As parents we understood that our attitudes and 
     behaviors would shape our children. Though all five of our 
     sons are different, they are shaped by our values and 
     behaviors.
       And so I wonder what behaviors we as parents can change. 
     Certainly, we can improve school security. We can provide 
     better training. We can make it harder to get a gun than it 
     is to get Sudafed. I don't know all the political answers, 
     but I'd favor anything that makes gratuitous murder more 
     difficult.
       Which brings me to my point. As parents, we need to do our 
     best to stop our children from the desensitizing impact of 
     video games. A quick survey of the most popular video games 
     includes the following top 10 games: ``Halo,'' ``Assassin's 
     Creed,'' ``Call of Duty,'' ``World of Warcraft,'' ``Grand 
     Theft Auto.''
       Each of these games, simply put, eats away at a child's 
     sensitivity toward killing. We have ``gamified'' the murder 
     of people, and our children shoot, steal, and bomb in their 
     virtual worlds. Like the basketball player who practices foul 
     shots, we get better at things when we practice. Their habits 
     become automatic, reactive, and second-nature.
       Raising children is a labor of love. Working in a school is 
     a joy. When I reflect on President Obama's query to ask 
     myself what we can do better as parents, educators, and 
     communities--it seems to me that we can stop letting our 
     children kill people over and over and over again--and call 
     it a GAME.
       If you know teenagers like I know teenagers, they will find 
     other things to do once you take away their shooting games--
     perhaps they will even work on their free throws.

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