WATCH IT, SEE IT

Him: Have you seen the latest online video?

Me: Which? What's it about?

Him: it's a video of a man being dismembered alive. He was practically butchered while being tortured.

Me: WHAT!! That's disgusting and evil. Why would anyone do that to someone?!

Him: It's on my phone. Take, Watch it.

Me: No, I don't want to.

Him: Why not?

Me: Why would anyone want to see such a gory video?

Him: It will help you overcome your fear of blood.

Me: Overcome my fear of blood by watching a man being butchered alive? What wickedness have pervaded our world?


It baffles me when I see people viewing such violence without flinching. Sometimes I wonder if  such videos are not responsible for the drastic and steady decline in human empathy and the proliferation of sadism, barbarism, cannibalism and all sorts of vile behaviors.

We used to shudder at brutality but with the increase in global terrorism; the unquenchable thirst of man to know what is trending around him and the desire to gain more followers on social media, these violent flicks, pictures, games and audio recordings have been brought into our homes through very accessible, cheap mobile phones and are gradually becoming part of us. Most of us, unconsciously, have become used to the bloodletting.

It is my belief that these are probably the genesis of the various bizarre murders and recent soar in the number of couples butchering each other without remorse.The type of information we consume matters a lot.

Studies have shown that watching videos, listening to music or playing video games that are violent or encourage violence can make you more aggressive and prone to anger. It goes without saying that; what you watch, read, listen to and play can affect your mood, temper, and even dictate how violent, generous or kind you are to others afterwards.

Who needs studies to prove anything when my little nephew now thinks he is a super hero in one of his cartons series. Whilst a man I know became more spiritual and increased his faith by listening to more Christian audio files, a certain good girl went bad after becoming addicted to X-rated movies.

I think it's time for us to say no to such violent videos being circulated on social media. If I had my way such videos would never make their way into our websites. They would be inaccessible to internet users in Nigeria. But as always, the choice is yours...