As parents, we did everything we could to teach our kids how to use social media responsibly and monitor their usage, but it still wasn't enough. Our sons, Carson and David, suffered from relentless cyberbullying that resulted in them taking their own lives. As we navigated our own grief and struggled to understand the pain that overwhelmed our sons, we met each other - and even more "survivor parents" who have experienced similar loss.
Sadmir and his board game companions are just some of the 300 patients at the gaming disorder clinic, Australia's only publicly-run institution of its type, helping patients wean themselves off excessive online gaming habits. The room where they meet is a simple space in a faceless hospital but in the corner, there's a pile of boardgames on a chair. Jenga, Uno and Sushi Go are also popular choices at the informal group which is attended by both patients and clinicians.
By better understanding young shooters and the factors that influence the propensity to commit these crimes, we may be able to reduce the incidence of mass shootings. This post focuses on factors unique to the online ecosystems that many young people, especially young men, inhabit. While there isn't a universally accepted definition of a "mass shooting," roughly following The Violence Project and other researchers,
"As one of the first countries in the EU, Denmark is now taking a groundbreaking step towards introducing age limits on social media," said the country's digitalization ministry in a statement. "This is done to protect children and young people in the digital world." "As a starting point, children under the age of 15 should not have access to platforms that may expose them to harmful content or harmful features," the statement said.
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