British box art for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Barbara Mason-Dobbs, Charlotte, N.C.
♦Some teens act like it’s cool to show they feel nothing when watching extreme violence. Some teens may brag how they can drink more and feel nothing, get high and feel nothing, watch porn and feel nothing, and watch violence and feel nothing. In fact, you might notice some teens laughing when they see violence on TV or when someone falls and gets hurt. Some watch beat-downs on WorldStarHipHop.com and YouTube for laughs or gleefully participate in killing sprees and knock-out sequences in video games like Grand Theft Auto. Why? The facts are that teens have yet to fully develop empathy, and they may feel peer pressure toward moral disengagement.
It’s time to note the connection between the teen segment of the population likely to erupt with mass murder attempts, even play the knock out game, and teen aggressiveness spawned by exposure to senseless violence. One study, seen at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/269400.php, shows that teens who achieve “moral disengagement” during participation in video games such as Grand Theft Auto show “less self-restraint”. Those conducting the study connect teen aggression with violent video games. “We have consistently found in a number of studies that those who play violent games act more aggressively,” states Brad Bushman, co-author of the study. Bushman also notes that “very few teens were unaffected by violent video games, but this study helps us address the question of who is most likely to be affected. Those who are most morally disengaged are likely to be the ones who show less self-restraint after playing.”
Teens have emotional poles that are at odds. Teens are still learning empathy, one study reveals at http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304561004579137514122387446. Teens may also be quite sensitive to their own feelings. They may be highly sensitive to the feedback from their peers, as noted at http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/teens-brains-are-more-sensitive-to-rewarding-feedback-from-peers.html . Ugo Utne, specialist in teen psychology, explains that teenage years are when young people choose among skill sets they see modeled by others, including adults, and that detachment is part of the process.
While schools are beginning to feature more emotional curriculum such as empathy skills, parents will likely find that they, too, must teach more of this skill. Empathy is a natural element of the human survival mechanism, a UVA study determines at http://news.virginia.edu/content/human-brains-are-hardwired-empathy-friendship-study-shows. Teens also detach to learn more about their own values. Utne’s series, Promoting Empathy With Your Teen at http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/promoting-empathy-your-teen, features a series of perspectives that includes how the seeming lack of empathy in teens may be due to detachment needed for self-discovery.
At such a critical stage of self-discovery in which detachment is a natural mechanism, we might consider saying “stop” instead of permitting teens to detach and desensitize while viewing gratuitous violence, wielding virtual weapons of mass murder, or knocking out others in graphic video games. Even tougher is teaching teens that positive peer feedback for moral disengagement in video games, bullying, or watching gratuitous violence isn’t valid.
Since “coolness” may be associated by how much meaningless violence or sex a teen can watch dispassionately, some adults may fear being “uncool” in the eyes of their dear ones. Thus, there is a challenge in preventing moral disengagement that can cause aggression in teens, but the truth is that sighs, eye-rolling and even temper-tantrums are a small and temporary price to pay. Moral disengagement is at play when teens laugh at WorldStar beat-downs and YouTubes of beatings or when teens show their coolness in the face of robbing banks, battering others, and blowing someone away in a video game. It occurs across social strata and is the root of dangerous trends.
Teens need to be restrained from reaching moral disengagement and to be taught that walking in another’s shoes is as much a key to survival as boiling water. This stance is not a Pollyanna one, ignoring our darker nature, it’s one that confronts it. We can model empathy and maintaining healthy personal boundaries. We can demonstrate moral engagement and assertiveness when we say “no” to what causes moral disengagement.
