Blaming the entertainment industry for the atrocity perpetuated at Columbine High School was a attempt to ascribe a rational meaning to an irrational act of violence and self-destruction. Government officials, the mass media, advocacy groups, religious and civic leaders, and common citizens were quick to blame the nearest unpopular target in the wake of the slayings, namely so called 'ultra-violent' films (i.e., 'The Matrix', 'The Crow', 'Pulp Fiction', ' first person shooter type' video games, and 'gothic' rock music like Marilyn Manson.
             Ascribing the cause of the April 1999 Columbine slaying to the gunmen's musical and theatrical tastes, the various pundits of the 'culture of violence' social theory also purported that school violence was 'on the rise'. This particular statement was made so often in the late nineties that few dared question it. This statement has been used to try to railroad gun-control legislation, parental advisory labels on music, restrictions on first amendment expression within the entertainment industry, and various other bills for every special interest group under the sun. The statement's apparent truth became so ensconced in the minds of the media savvy public that it became an unquestioned truth. But is this assertion really accurate? Is there any data to substantiate its veracity?
             According to Vince Schiraldi, of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, youth violence is actually on the decline, rather than on the rise, as almost every person in the media would have us believe. "Schiraldi said the public has been led to believe school violence is on the rise, when in reality school deaths declined by 40% from 1998 to 1999." (qtd. in O'Brien) "The public's not just ... a little misinformed; they're profoundly, exponentially misinformed," Schiraldi said. "I think the media is to blame for that. Most people don't know what they know about violence from personal experience. They know w...