According to The News Tribune, four middle school students were disciplined for authoring their own "Death Note". The students at Kopachuck Middle School in Gig Harbor, Washington apparently had about 50 names jotted down in their own version of the Death Note book, names that included President George W. Bush and Paris Hilton as well as a teacher and several students at Kopachuck Middle School.

One student was expelled as a result of the incident while the other three were otherwise disciplined. Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer assured parent's that the book posed no real threat. "This is just typical Japanese horror movie stuff and is not a credible threat," he said. And he's probably right. Kids pretend all the time and that pretend play is very often influenced by whatever they're "in to" at the time, whether it be the latest musical group, a new teen celeb or yes, even an anime show.

But this kind of news is what prompts the many emails I receive from concerned parents wondering if its okay for their kids to watch anime shows and its also what prompted a blog post I wrote back in October in response to an op ed piece that suggested that anime was a bad influence on kids.

In that article, opinion editor Elon Glucklich states that anime shows are "chipping away at our collective moral fiber". I took a pretty firm stance against that opinion back then and I still stand by my argument but these homemade death notes do raise a good point.

Kids are kids are kids, especially at that tween and teen age where everything seems so much more amplified than perhaps it really needs to be. I in fact, have two kiddos of my own and I am often amused at the sheer desperation over even the smallest of things. And as their mom, its my job to keep them focused and aware of the "bigger picture" even as I encourage them to embrace some creative and imaginative "play".

And this brings me to my point of this post: while anime is fictional, it does often address global issues such as bullies and dealing with prejudices, issues that can often hit home with its viewers. My kids watch a ton of anime, along with Sponge Bob and a variety of other "entertaining" shows. When there is a message to be had, I'm quick to point it out because I know its easier for my kids to relate to Hannah Montana or Gohan than it would be if I told one of those "back in my day" stories.

But they also know that life isn't a cartoon or a video game and while they might secretly wish for super-sayain powers or as in this case, a death note book, there are better, more productive ways to solve their problems. And that's really the issue. Anime doesn't corrupt young minds or "chip away at our moral fiber" as Mr. Glucklich might like to think. Quite the contrary, there are a number of anime shows that have some really good messages and moral values at their core.

But like any form of entertainment that is presented to our kids, it has to be supervised and more to the point, so do the day-to-day happenings of our childrens' lives. The father of one of the disciplined Kopachuck students said that his daughter's involvement was "born out of long-term and ongoing frustration and bullying from some of the other kids". "This was an extremely poor choice to express their frustration," he said, but "they felt pretty powerless."

So while there was apparently no real intent behind the death note book, it must have offered some "satisfaction" to a victim of long-term bullying. And herein lies the problem. Today's kids deal with so much more "stuff" than we did when we were in school and again, their perception of ongoing events is often just a bit more "drastic" than we might think. Its not surprising then, that some kids made their own Death Note book out of anger or frustration - its just unfortunate that they didn't see a better way to deal with their problems.

Does that make Death Note an inappropriate anime?

That all depends upon your child. Death Note is rated "OT" for older teens which means that younger kids might be overly affected by some of its content. That's not to say that its a "bad" anime - Death Note is actually a really good show and a popular one to boot. But that doesn't mean its for everyone and even if your child is technically old enough to watch something, you should still be tuning in with them.

The best way to ensure that your kids have a great anime experience is to know what they're watching. Its all too easy to just assume that all is well in the world as our kids zone out on the television but the fact is, kids are kids are kids.