George Drinka M.D.

The idea of thrill kill in both video games and mainstream films and TV emerges as a way to blunt the boredom.

With the recent avalanche of reporting after the death of the Australian baseball player out jogging on a residential road in Oklahoma and the arrest of one white and two black teenagers, we were quickly greeted with a media hysteria regarding an innocent white boy murdered by two blacks out of “boredom..."

Early exposure to sexually laden content and dangers—porn, predators, and propositions by prostitutes—are now common and easily accessible. Since all youths are curious about sex and yet their judgment is far from well-formed, there are reasons for deep concern on the part of both parents and the society as a whole.

Very young children immersed in pro-social and non-violent cartoons after six months are more sociable children. The kids left to watch violent cartoons manifest more often early signs of aggression.

Certain popular cartoons, like “Bugs Bunny,” “Sponge Bob,” and “Scooby Doo,” seem to have a negative effect on children age 3 to 5.

Text messaging, Facebook and email are all working to elbow aside usual human communications. Because human relations are intense, confusing, demanding and ambiguous, humans may prefer connections wherein a certain polite distance is retained.

Over the past few decades, we’ve seen the media permeate deeply into children’s lives. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation report sets the amount of media exposure for an average American child at eight hours per day, more time than with family or in school.

On Super Bowl Sunday in late January, millions of Americans gather in living rooms and family rooms, at bars and at local hangouts. They mingle, laugh and imbibe while a TV in their midst hums out the details of a football game, bifurcated by an entertainment extravaganza at half time, and punctuated by snappy commercials.

It seems fair to say that Adam Lanza was an avid gamer, one who had few friends in real life and relied on these games for connection to the outer world.

Enough material has now accrued for us to ask certain questions and offer specific conjectures about the inner life of Adam Lanza in the days and even minutes leading up to the Newtown shootings.