"Worse, it is there without us being present to help kids process events. And many events are beginning to feel almost unprocessable. The recent assassination of Charlie Kirk, captured on video and circulated instantly alongside multiple news alerts, is exactly the kind of event that saturates feeds-including those of young people-long before an adult can frame it. Whether you admired Kirk or opposed his politics is not the issue."
"Two things have shifted dramatically: Exposure is continuous. Repetition changes impact. For example, in a study of 9- to 11-year-olds before and after Hurricane Irma, children who had greater exposure to disaster-related media-even those far from the storm-reported more post- traumatic stress symptoms; those with heightened brain reactivity before the hurricane were especially vulnerable (Dick et al., 2021). Seeing it, even from a distance, can create vicarious trauma and evoke embodied reactions (Barsalou, 2008)."
Children now encounter breaking news continuously and personally through smartphones and social media, rather than collectively through occasional family broadcasts. Instant circulation and repeated replay of violent events can expose children before caregivers can filter or contextualize the content. Empirical studies link higher media exposure—even at a distance—to increased post-traumatic stress symptoms, vicarious trauma, and embodied stress responses in youth. Family pediatricians are advised to monitor for early signs of distress. The saturation of feeds with political violence complicates adult mediation and raises questions about how to protect and support children's emotional well-being.
Read at Psychology Today
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