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Affiliation
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Seattle Children's Hospital, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington; and The Everett Clinic, Seattle, Washington. |
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Abstract
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[The full editorial is available open access by following the DOI link.]
Public discussion of child and adolescent exposure to “virtual violence” typically focuses on the simulated violence that occurs within gaming applications and the glamorized or normalized violence depicted in television and movies. Historically, the American Academy of Pediatrics has also framed virtual violence in this way, as virtual consumption of either simulated or fictional violence. This traditional perspective is well-described in the most recent Virtual Violence Policy Statement, published in this issue of Pediatrics.
However today, youth have unprecedented access to portable devices with internet, photo, and video capabilities that fundamentally change the scope, magnitude, and outcomes of virtual violence exposures by providing access to real violence that can be captured and consumed, virtually.
In contrast to the fictional violence Christakis et al caution against, now youth can produce, view, and share problematic content,11 including images of community violence, school violence, sexual violence, and police violence on their smart, portable devices. Some social media feeds even provide unsolicited and unwelcome exposure to acts of actual terrorism, gender violence, and war.
Mobile exposures to real violence are distinct from the simulated violence depicted in gaming applications and other real violence pictured on television news. The difference is mobile exposures can be captured and shared by and among youth without adult supervision or knowledge, independent of structured rating systems, and unrestricted by traditional viewing controls that commonly manage television, movie, and gaming selections. This portable access broadens the scope of violence children can be exposed to virtually....
Previously, exposure to first-person shooter games and other acts of fictional violence were noted to “increase aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.” Now, exposure to real violence through mobile devices may additionally result in feelings of distress, victimization, or fear: feelings that may be shared among social groups, initiate prosocial or aggressive behaviors, and may be heightened by knowledge that these events occurred in the real world.
[The full editorial is available open access by following the DOI link.]
Language: en |