As the world is getting gripped with violence in some form or the other, visual image of the same being displayed on the television and in the social media platforms is on the rise. In some cases, the live stream of the incident is also being telecasted on television and also on the social media. With every passing day, social media is fast becoming an alternate source of news platform. Such violent videos and images are shared and reposted on the platforms for regular and further viewing.
Young adolescent minds are greatly affected by viewing these types of violent imaging. Since brains are found to be developing at that stage, they found to process the information to be quite troublesome. When the young adolescent brain gets some information, it is still puzzled on how to process the information and which part of the story needs to be highlighted in their memory is still a work in progress mode. The young brains do not know how to conceptualise these information and remains in a puzzled state. In the adult brain, such information processing method has already been set. So, the impact of such information on the adult brain is less.
During the past few years, it has been observed that social media is spreading its wings faster than expected and the young adolescents are falling prey to it. The matter further worsened with the advent of Smartphone as every adolescent in the modern world is expected to have a Smartphone in his hand. Due to this, his mind is always found to be immersed in social media accounts. He or she makes it a point to see every image that is shared in their social media accounts.
The issue of the impact of violent images or videos on the developing male or female adolescent brain is not a new topic. The issue was also raised by the scientists after the Second World War when the violent images of the war were telecasted and viewed on television. Now young minds in their adolescence are more involved in playing violent mobile games in good online casinos like Luckyniki. As the popularity of the mobile games is increasing, such reputed online casinos are coming up with lucrative offers which are attracting such young minds. Violent imagery through violent mobile games is also influencing the mind of these adolescents.
It was observed in various researches that exposure of young adolescent minds to such violent imagery creates a feeling of fear or aggression in them. In most of the cases, a tendency of aggression in every matter is observed which leads to shooting the classmates or killing people in a church. But the outcome of seeing such violent imagery also leads to development of fear and that is mostly found in relatively younger male and female adolescents. There is a tendency of checking the locks regularly or not willing to sleep separately without parents. But the problem of aggression needs to be addressed first as this nature may have a tremendous impact on the family and social system. Sometimes, too much aggressive nature may create family problems leading to an increase in family violence.
It has been observed that the basis of formation of teenage behaviour is following the peer norms. Regular view of the violent imagery may lead the young mind to believe that these norms are a part of social context. Hence it can be concluded that sharing of violence through social media gives a feeling of tacit approval or encouraging the act of tremendous aggressive behavior. Expert psychiatrists are suggesting the minimum exposure of young adolescent minds to social media. They are also urging social media companies to show lesser streaming of violence, but to what extent such recommendations will be heard remains a matter to be seen in the coming days.
Reputed psychiatrists have also given some recommendations to the parents to follow so that the impact of such violent imagery can be minimized. The expression of excessive aggression and fear can be minimized by following some rules which has been mentioned below –
- When you are seeing the violent imagery scene on the television, do not keep quiet. Speak to your children about the incident and the imagery and try to present the situation in your own sympathetic way. But not in the violent way in which television is explaining and showing the telecast to you. If you avoid any conversation at that point of time and remain silent, the young mind will have a feeling that you do not have any objection and is endorsing these acts of depiction. After a few months, his or her behaviour will start changing and turn into aggression if as a parent, timely intervention is not done. So, do not let your children see these acts of violence alone on the television.
- While seeing the scene of violence try to engage your children by involving him into a set of questions. Always focus to improve their empathetic side by making him observe the incident from different points of view. Try to explain the incident to him from the victim’s angle so that a feeling of empathy is developed in his mind. By explaining the incident from the victim’s point of view, ask him his opinion about the incident at the end of your conversation. Do not ignite any feeling of revenge in his mindset as that may lead to aggression in the future.
Teachers in the school can also take a proactive role in convincing the young minds about the spread of fake news in the TV channels and also on the social media. Time is now ideal for the respective authorities to act or else, otherwise, we may produce not humans, but violent animals in the near future. Seeing such violent imagery is affecting such young adolescent minds to a great extent. Some also get influenced under fear and become unable to lead a normal life when they enter college to make a promising career.
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.