Do computer games, internet use and television create a tendency towards violence in children and youth?
While childhood is a period in which values are learned through identifications, adolescence is a period in which these identifications and values are reviewed, new values are gained, and identity is shaped. Violent films and plays in these periods will deeply affect the young people’s value judgments and relationship styles. Heroes, whom the media presents violent behavior as a part of their lives, may be objects of identification for children and young people. Violent behavior will increase in children and youth who are exposed to these effects. Most of the time, the world is a dangerous place, they make their own rules, when these violent rules are followed, nothing will happen to them, or the insignificance of the criminal responsibilities that will happen to them, or there is a lack of empathy for the people they use violence against. Tendency to violence due to television exposure increases the tendency to violence about 10 times compared to children who are not exposed to this exposure. Influence is for all ages.
In recent years, we see that the tendency of violence among children and young people has increased, together with the news in the media. This is due to the changing world and family structure, violent programs in the media, and violent games on the Internet, which have recently become a serious problem. Exposure to violence, violent scenes on television and violent games on the computer change the perception of the family, especially children and young people, towards violence. Seeing and witnessing violence on television or the Internet brings about the normalization of violence. Heroing the perpetrators of violence in these programs, not being punished, lack of empathy towards the people they perpetrate, not reflecting or normalizing the pain experienced by the perpetrators, creating a perception that the perpetrators deserve it, normalizing the use of violence as a punishment tool, not mentioning the justice system at all, and causes a change in the perceptions-values of young people towards the world, justice and conscience. Children and youth, who model the behavior of their idealized heroes, stage the heroes in the cartoons and TV series they watch on television or the games they play on the internet in the real world.
Internet use increases the tendency of children and young people to violence. At the same time, the social development of children who use the Internet may be disrupted, causing them to be more anxious and less self-confident, have low academic achievement, and have difficulties in attending school. Situations such as young people having difficulty in controlling their own behaviors, not knowing how to cope with problem situations, not being able to provide anger control and effective communication can also increase their tendency to violence. Internet use also plays a role in violence tendency by negatively affecting anger management, effective communication skills and problem solving skills.
Does the limited social activities of children and young people affect the tendency to violence?
Sometimes more socially shy children and young people participate in less social activities, and sometimes using the internet more reduces the socialization of the youth. Either way, it’s a problem and needs to be resolved. It is important for children and young people to engage in social activities where they can throw off their energy, engage in social interaction and develop their creativity and interests. Children and young people who have better social support and spend more time in social environments will feel more secure. At the same time, they will develop spiritually healthy, they will be more creative and more successful individuals.
I mentioned above that there is a tendency towards violence among young people who are less involved in social activities today, spend more time on the internet, especially with violent games. Violence; It is a behavior acquired through learning. If the areas where children learn about violence are removed, on the contrary, if the ways of coping with problems and producing solutions are changed, their use of violent behavior will also decrease. One way to distance young people from the Internet is to put in new activities that they can replace, find fun (which the young person agrees to participate in, wants to do). For this reason, activities such as art, sports, and science that the young person is also interested in will lead the young person to socialize and establish real friendships and communication outside the internet environment. Within these activities, the child will also learn to develop “problem solving skills”. Thus, by participating in these activities, both the tendency to violence will decrease and individuals who are mentally healthier, successful and with improved creativity will emerge.
Is the tendency of children and young people to violence increasing?
Changes in the economic and social structure of the world, wars, environmental exposures, adverse life events also affect mental illnesses. It causes an increase in the prevalence of some mental illnesses. Again, normalization of violence first on the screens and then in life, increasing the tendency, in the form of violent behaviors or by reflecting-added to some disease symptoms may cause an increase in applications. When the child and adolescent mental health and diseases polyclinics are admitted with violent behavior, underlying mental disorders are usually in question. While there is violence directed at others especially in conduct disorder, there is violence directed against oneself and others in depression and bipolar disorders. Whether or not the tendency to violence is one of the causes of mental complaints, it may cause irreversible consequences (such as harming oneself or others, getting into legal trouble, being expelled from school) that will harm the child’s life and school life. Families should consult a child psychiatrist for increased violent behavior in children who did not have violent behavior in the past, and they should receive treatment support for the underlying causes.
How can you tell if a child has a tendency to violence? At this point, what should parents and teachers pay attention to?
The way to solve a problem before it starts is to know the risky situations that cause it and to intervene before bad results occur. For this reason, if we, teachers and parents, teach the causes of violence, violent behaviors can be prevented before they occur. The most discussed topic above was the internet. In other words, it is important for the child to start showing violent behavior by learning through watching and playing games. Other reasons can be counted as witnessing, that is, witnessing the violence between the parents or being exposed to it. Again, peer groups, not being able to withstand being blocked, not being able to control one’s anger, not developing problem-solving skills, not being able to cope with problems, and some mental illnesses are situations that pose a risk for violent behavior. In the presence of these situations, early measures can be taken to prevent the child from displaying violent behavior. Violent behavior can be prevented by preventing violence in the family, by controlling and restricting the internet, by providing good social interaction and social support, the activities mentioned above, school and teacher support. In children and young people who display violent behavior, a comprehensive evaluation by a child psychiatrist on the causes and prevention of this behavior is needed.
Families should be aware that exposure to violent programs can affect their children, causing them to display violent and aggressive behavior now or in the future. Although parents are sometimes very careful, it may not be possible to prevent this exposure. Families should protect their children from violent programs on the Internet and television. If their child’s behavior harms the child or others, they should seek support from a child psychiatrist.
Again, in some mental illnesses, the child may have violent behaviors towards himself or others. Families should know and realize that these are not normal and may be a symptom of mental problems. They should seek help from child psychiatrists to understand their causes and to solve them.
