Violence in the Media and Effects on Youth
Has your teen watched the new Netflix hit show “Squid Game” yet?
Hopefully not.
Despite it’s TV-MA rating – meaning that it is not recommended for viewers under 17 years of age – the show is finding its way to the eyes of children much younger. This is drawing concern from doctors due to the level of violence depicted in the show. This concern is clearly validated recent developments: elementary and middle school children are now reporting “squid game” activities on the playgrounds at recess, with physical aggression such as punches simulating bullets.
Exposure of children to violence in the media is unfortunately nothing new. Netflix’s new show is simply the most recent incarnation of it. The one benefit to this global phenomenon is the spotlight now shining on the discussion regarding effects violent exposure on young children and teenagers.
“Violence in the media” is defined as depictions of characters trying to physically harm other characters. This occurs through many media sources, including television, news reports, film, video games, and internet content.
Is this exposure really a big deal?
Many years ago I attended a seminar by a Harvard psychology professor. He described a personal experience, a sort of self-conducted experiment, in which he played a video game for 36 hours straight. The video game was Grand Theft Auto, which was one of the most graphic and violent video games out at the time. He relayed how, after submersing himself in the game for so long, he finally stopped and walked outside of his house. He saw a police car parked on the street and his first thought was about how he could steal it. He actually started to walk towards the vehicle before he caught himself and snapped back into the reality of what he was about to do.
This Harvard professor had a serious thought about stealing a police car because he’d been so immersed in a world where that type of behavior was ok – more than ok, it was rewarded! The constant exposure to the “rights and wrongs” of the video game changed the way he perceived the world, if only briefly. Lucky for him, he was a well-educated adult whose brain was fully developed and able to bounce back into a more appropriate decision-making capacity.
How much more significant do you think the effects are in our teens? Preteens? The exposures to violence that this population is experiencing are not just short exposures or self-conducted experiments either. These are constant, long-term exposures to violent scenes in games, movies, and television shows. More importantly, this exposure is occurring during critical time periods in brain development, particularly in the areas responsible for critical thinking, empathy, decision-making, and reasoning. This potential disruption in development is especially concerning in youth, where desensitization to violence can gradually result in violence as being perceived as justified and even fun.
The effect of violent exposures through media use in youth has been studied since the 1970’s, with research finding that children who had watched increased amounts of television violence compared to their peers were more likely to be arrested for criminal acts as adults. There is a growing body of evidence that shows exposure to violent media sources promotes negative behaviors, including aggression, anger, desensitization to violence, and decreased empathy towards others’ pain.
In a culture where we are increasingly encouraging our youth to “Be Kind,” it seems we should start by limiting thier exposure to violence, regardless of the source.
Final thoughts
There is substantial evidence through research that exposure to media violence promotes increases in aggressive thoughts and behaviors. Imaging of the brain has shown that increased exposure to violent media is associated with lower control of emotions and aggressive behaviors by the reasoning centers of the brain. The question that still needs to be answered is whether this shapes brain development over time, or if this increased aggression is reversible.
My question is, why take the risk? What is the point of allowing our teens and younger children to be exposed to such unnecessary violence, especially if there is a risk that it will forever change the way they view the world. In my opinion, it is a grave disservice to our children and our society at large to allow for it, and we as parents must take more responsibility to prevent violent media exposure. Our children may not like us for it – in fact I am sure it will earn us much eye-rolling, protesting, and flat-out frustration – but it’s not our job to be liked by our children. It is our job to promote healthy, safe environments for our children to grow into mature, responsible, empathetic adults.
Resources
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/46963682.pdf
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/140/Supplement_2/S142
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/10/18/kids-playing-squid-game/
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