The Beavis & Butt-head Effect

by P. F., Blackstone, MA



I know we've all heard about the kid who torched his house after, supposedly, watching "Beavis and Butt-head." Is it MTV's fault that a highly impressionable child of five burned down his home, killing his two-year-old sister? I think it's a case of bad parenting. What was a five-year-old and a two-year-old doing home alone with matches and a gas stove. It is a tragedy, yes, but most of the blame should be placed on the mother. If she wasn't home at the time, how would she have known if her child was watching "Beavis and Butt-head"?

Media has become a scapegoat for many people. I recently saw that the movie, "The Program" has come under some fire after some teens lay down in the middle of the road to try and imitate the movie. These teens were sober and knew what they were doing at the time. Now, parents say that it is the movie's fault for including the scene about drunk college students lying down in the middle of the road while cars pass on either side of them. The teens who got hit in real life need a reality check. Can't they tell the difference between fiction and reality?

I am calling this "The Beavis and Butt-head Effect." How many more great shows will be spoiled for the rest of us because of a select group of individuals. Stop using the media as a scapegoat and look at yourselves.