Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented billionaire Elon Musk with the horrors of the October 7 massacre/Amos Ben Gershom
All parents are trying to protect their children in the last months but the truth is that this is a very difficult event to manage.
According to studies, about 40% of children in Israel have been exposed to vulnerability or inappropriate content online, and in particular to violence or bullying as well as content of a sexual nature.
A Bezeq report shows that in the first week after the outbreak of the Iron Swords War, there was a general increase of 35% in the time spent using the Internet;
In addition to this, according to the report, there was a significant increase of 44% in the use of social networks, and a 21% increase in the consumption of live media streaming services.
In 2023, there was also an increase among those who testify that social networks harm their sleep quality and hours - 63% in 2023 compared to 58% in 2019.
Starting with the Seventh of October, Israeli children are exposed to the horrors of war on the Internet, which results in significant damage to mental health.
In the age of social networks, in which every child from infancy is exposed to many contents throughout the network, we have no control over the browsing space and the displayed contents.
The age of using digital is decreasing.
If in 2014 the average age for receiving a mobile phone was 11, in 2023 it will drop to 6.7, meaning that if in the past parents would have allowed phones starting in the fifth grade, today the age has dropped for children in the first grade.
If in 2015 only about a third of children between the ages of 6 and 9 owned a mobile phone, in 2023 it will be almost 60%.
About 40% of parents of children aged 8-14 reported that their children were exposed to vulnerability or content of a sexual or violent nature online.
A crying student/ShutterStock
Dr. Yaron Sela, a clinical psychologist, a lecturer at Reichman University, says that the testimonies, photos and video clips of the atrocities recorded on October 7 were distributed on various digital platforms and social networks. The main danger of exposure to them is the development of psychological distress known as "secondary traumatic stress" ) These are basically physical, emotional and cognitive symptoms similar to post-traumatic syndrome (PTSD), but those that arise not as a result of a direct traumatic event (as experienced by the residents of the Gaza Envelope), but from watching the experiences of the traumatic witnesses.
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Patients exposed to these testimonies complain of intrusive thoughts ("the images can't get out of my head"), difficulty sleeping ("I have nightmares at night"), little energy and motivation ("I have no energy for anything") and in extreme cases even increased alertness to danger ("I have to . to check the door, the children and the street many, many times, to see that everything is fine").
In a certain sense, the secondary trauma can be compared to a kind of epidemic like the corona virus, only in the mental sense.
Just as in Corona we were careful not to get infected and not to infect others with the virus, here too, we need to do as much as we can not to get infected and not to infect others.
The intention is to completely avoid viewing the photos and videos of the atrocities.
And if we have seen, be careful not to continue to share with others, but to consult with professionals if necessary."
The Israeli Center for Online Safety in collaboration with the National Student Council launched a broad campaign on the issue. According to Ohad Ezran, VP of the Israeli Center for Online Safety, child protection online is a field in which An earthquake, children develop symptoms of battle shock at a young age, there are private and welcome initiatives by parents who take reality into their own hands and deal with the problem actively, such as removing cell phones from schools, but unfortunately this is not enough.
We call on the decision makers to take responsibility and protect our children in any way."
More on the same topic:
Children
trauma
The war in Gaza