I've been hit a few times with this Blogger Snowball Fight thing. It brings back pleasant memories of Calvin & Hobbes.

Here's the thing with Calvin & Hobbes though. These days, everyone keeps screaming about violence in the media and how it's affecting the kids and making them nuts and making them get into fights and shoot other kids. That's a big load of horseshite. How many of us grew up with Calvin & Hobbes? I used to read that comic strip religiously. I owned -- and still have -- all the C&H books. And if you leaf through them, how many different times did Calvin come up with a plan to hit Susie with snowballs or water balloons? How many times did Calvin come up with some way to get back at Moe, possibly by finding someone bigger to beat him up? Moreover, how many times did Calvin wish for or fantasize about getting a fighter jet with heat-seeking missiles so he could blow up his school? How many times did he imagine blowing up cities or planets?

When there was a bomb scare at my high school because a student reportedly put a bomb in his locker, no one pointed fingers at Calvin & Hobbes. When kids went into their schools and started shooting up the place, no one pointed fingers at Calvin & Hobbes. Apparently, everyone forgot about those little episodes of violence in the comic strips.

It's not that I'm blaming Calvin & Hobbes for school violence. I blame C&H about as much as I blame rap music and action films. Parents, take a good look -- because my finger's pointed right at you. Stop putting off responsibility and teach your kids what's right and wrong. Hell, my parents were taking me to see R-rated films à la Die Hard when I was 10, and I turned out pretty well-adjusted. (No comments from the Peanut Gallery.) But because my parents gave me the proper background, I was able to separate the entertainment from the violence. I can watch American Psycho when it's on, it doesn't make me want to go out and chase people down with a chainsaw.