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| Helping Children Deal With Media Violence compliments of everychildfirst.com In this day and age, the media is filled with reports of violence, and it often intrudes into the everyday lives of our children. With technology becoming an ever growing presence, it’s impossible to completely shield children from violent events that happen in the world around them. Regardless of our most diligent efforts, children will be exposed to evidence of the violent nature of our world, whether through television reports, radio news, newspaper headlines, or simply playground conversations. The amount of exposure to violence, as well as the frequency will be greatly varied. Unfortunately, some children directly experience violence in their daily lives. How children come to understand the concept of violence in our society is influenced by all of their exposures to it, and it will shape all of their future relationships. It’s hard to know how to help children understand violence when so many of us can’t even begin to explain it. As parents, we often prefer to shield our children from these harsher realities of the world we live in today. But avoiding the topic, regardless of our good intentions, prevents us from having a chance to help children try to express their thoughts and feelings, while at the same time sharing ours. If we pretend the real-life violence in our world does not exist, we lose the opportunity to have input as our children struggle to make sense of it all, and we could leave the mistaken impression that it’s not worth being concerned about. In Remote Control Childhood? Combating the Hazards of Media Culture, author Diane E. Levin shares useful strategies for dealing with violence in the media, the media environment, and supporting healthy development in today’s media driven culture. She shares the following guidelines for helping children deal with real-world violence: 1. Trusted adults play a vital role in helping children sort out what they have heard and need to figure out. Let children know it is okay to talk with you about these kinds of issues. 2. Young children do not understand violence as adults do. When dealing with these issues, try to find out as much as you can about what your child knows and understands or is struggling to understand. Base your response on what you find out. 3. When children hear about a violent event, they might relate it to themselves and start to worry about their own safety. Make reassuring children about their safety your priority. 4. It’s not necessary to try to give children all the details about a news story. Often, there is only one part they have focused on. Try to see what they are concerned about, and share small pieces of information, clearing up any misconceptions and again addressing any fears. Base what you say on their thoughts and questions, but keep it as simple and straightforward as possible. 5. Look for opportunities to point out peaceful solutions to problems. Remind them of examples from their own experiences, such as when they shared a toy their friend wanted, or when they walked away when their sibling hit them. Point out the choices that kept a situation from becoming violent. Positive conflict resolution should be a daily strategy. 6. Young children learn through play. They tend to work out what they learn through drawing, dramatic play activities, and social interactions and this should be encouraged as a natural part of development. It’s healthy for young children to add elements of personal experience to their play, and it helps them to make sense of their world. For example, after hearing of a forest fire on the news your child might add flames to his coloring pictures, or children might fly toy planes into a block building after hearing of an airplane disaster. This provides a healthy outlet for their thoughts and fears, and can provide an opening for a discussion about their feelings. My personal tip? Have the whole family participate in working cooperatively to help others, whether by collecting food for a food bank, planting seedlings at a reforesting project or volunteering at a soup kitchen. It's easier to get along with others when you learn to value the world and the varied people who live on it! |
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