Kids Are Watching Deadly Violence on Social Media. What Parents Can Do

"How you handle the conversation is less about age and more about what you know of your child and how likely they are to be impacted by the events, Deborah Gilboa, a family doctor and resilience expert, tells TODAY.com. Of course, these discussions depend on whether or not parents know for certain that their child has been exposed to graphic content."

"There is a video of it and it's pretty hard, gross and scary. If you haven't seen it, I'm really glad, because I can't see what good it does. If your child did see it, ask: What did you think about the video? How did it affect you? says Gilboa. Explain that what they saw might have landed pretty hard in their brain."

Graphic videos of violent attacks are spreading online and many tweens and teens have searched for or watched them unwittingly. How to handle conversations is less about age and more about what parents know of their child and how likely they are to be impacted. Parents should ask whether a child heard about or saw a video; if not, warn that the video is hard, gross and scary and that avoiding it is preferable. If a child did see it, ask what they thought and how it affected them, and explain the image may have landed hard in their brain. Watch for sleep problems, behavioral changes, sadness, anxiety or headaches, decide what lesson or value to reinforce, and help the child process and reduce intrusive visuals.

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