Juvenile Violence

* I do not understand the present expenditure of energy and expense on trying to find out what is wrong with our youth. Surely it is only a very small section of our youth involved, and that, as far as I can tell, exclusively male. We should be asking only why a very few disturbed boys create such mayhem and why girls don’t use guns.

HARRY RAVEN

Ojai

* Bill Clinton has done it again. In a brilliantly timed political move in light of the recent tragedy in Littleton, Clinton has scapegoated the executives of Hollywood, stating that they have been driven by the almighty dollar to adding a great deal of gratuitous violence and sex to their movies, instead of upholding the ideals of morality and goodness that once pervaded the entertainment industry. Is it just me, or is the pot calling the kettle black?

Is Clinton not the man who admitted to having “sexual relations, with that woman, Miss Lewinsky,” and is now preaching to entertainment executives about the evils of immorality? Something has to be wrong with this picture. America needs to stop letting Hollywood dictate its morals and get back to good old-fashioned family values.

AIMEE ABESAMIS

Tustin

* I am happy to see that President Clinton has opened an inquiry into “entertainment violence” (June 2). Douglas Lowenstein states that parents are responsible for screening the contents of the programs watched by their children. True, but the industry should not make it harder for mom and pop by offering gratuitous brutality. The filmmakers are not excused by others’ mistakes.

The role of UCLA and other educational institutions in teaching film should be scrutinized. Some time ago I demanded and received my tuition fees repaid after watching the first “lesson” of UCLA Extension’s program “Sneak Preview,” in which the worst possible unnecessary violence was displayed and ballyhooed in “The Usual Suspects.”

SIDNEY REACH

Santa Monica