Internet and Pornography Cause for School Shooting

Rep. Diane Black

CLARKSVILLE, TN – Rep. Diane Black, a Republican candidate hoping to be the next Tennessee governor, said that the decline of family support systems and the rise of pornography is the “root cause” of school shootings.

“Why do we see kids being so violent? What’s out there? What makes them do that? Because as a nurse, I go back to root causes.”

“I think it’s deterioration of the family,” Black said. Citing the expression “idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” Black said that without a family support structure, teens turn to the internet, violent movies, and pornography.

“Pornography, it’s available on the shelf when you walk in the grocery store. Yeah, you have to reach up to get it, but there’s pornography there,” she said. “All of this is available without parental guidance. And I think that is a big part of the root cause that we see so many young people that have mental illness get caught in these places.”

Black, like other conservatives and gun control opponents, was searching for explanations for recent school shootings that avoid placing the blame on the availability of firearms.