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How can a 6 year old shoot his teacher? Easy access to weapons and audiovisual violence increase the risk

2023-01-13T15:38:41.464Z


One study found that exposure to movies and video games encouraged minors to reach for a gun hidden in a drawer and pull the trigger, pointing it at themselves or friends.


By Brad Bushman and Dan Romer -

The Conversation

Following the shocking incident in which a first grader shot and seriously injured an elementary school teacher in Newport News, Virginia, the city's mayor asked this question: “How did this happen?”

Other details are now known: the child took the firearm from home and it was legally purchased by his mother.

Many other aspects of the incident have yet to be established, including the multiple probable factors that resulted in the boy shooting his teacher.

But as experts in media use and its connections to violence, we've already written about some disturbing findings that explain how children are influenced by gun violence depicted in media like TV, movies, and video games.

What makes this more concerning is the fact that millions of children in the United States have easy access to firearms in their homes, a fact that increases the risk of deaths by shooting, including suicides.

A candle is lit during a vigil held Monday, January 9, by residents of Newport News, Va., in honor of first grade teacher Abby Zwerner, who was critically injured by a 6-year-old boy with a firearm.John C Clark/AP

The effect of media violence on children

Research has shown that the depiction of gun violence is increasing both in movies and on television.

Our research found that acts of gun violence in PG-13 movies have nearly tripled in the 30 years since the rating was introduced in 1984. And PG-13 movies aren't seen exclusively by teens and older.

In a 2019 survey of adults, 12% said they were allowed to watch PG-13 movies when they were between the ages of 6 and 9, and 6% said they watched those movies even earlier.

Although some skeptics say violent shows and videos don't make children more aggressive, a large 2015 survey found that most pediatricians and media scholars agree there is a link.

[6-year-old boy who shot teacher at Virginia school carried his mother's gun in his backpack]

Violent media can lead children to engage in more dangerous behavior if they find a real weapon.

In one of our studies, exposure to gun movies and video games was found to encourage 8- to 12-year-old boys to reach for a real gun that was hidden in a drawer and pull the trigger, even while pointing it at themselves or a gun. friend.

This behavior was observed by a hidden camera.

Here's what can happen if parents don't keep a gun in a safe place at home.

Total Dismay: 6-Year-Old Shoots His Teacher in Virginia

Jan 9, 202303:58

The child in the Virginia school shooting was under the age of 8, but there is no reason to believe that the effects our study found would be any different in a younger child.

In fact, the effects may be stronger in younger children because children under the age of 8 may have more difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy.

Violence in the media can desensitize children to violence.

In one study, researchers found that "children exposed to multiple sources of violence may become desensitized, increasing the likelihood that they will imitate aggressive behaviors they see as normal."

[The Virginia school district where a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher has had three shootings in 17 months]

Movies containing PG-13 rated gun violence portray the use of weapons unrealistically.

The effects of gun use in such movies are often sanitized so there is rarely much blood or serious damage seen, unlike what is usually shown in R-rated movies. This could give the child the feeling that using a weapon to harm someone is not as dangerous as it really could be.

What worries us about these findings is that they come at a time of increased media consumption by younger children.

A 2021 report from Common Sense Media found that children's media use has increased faster in the two years since the pandemic than in the previous four years.

Research has shown that children between the ages of 5 and 11 spent an average of more than three hours a day in front of screens and consuming media during the pandemic.

A 9-year-old boy dies from being shot

Jan 2, 202300:22

weapons in the home

Children are naturally curious and adults often underestimate their ability to find hidden weapons around the home.

As one firearms expert noted, “Their brains are developing.

That same curiosity that can inspire them to pick up a book and want to learn to read can inspire them to look for their parents' gun.

And the United States has far more civilian-owned guns per capita than any other country in the world, with 120.5 guns per 100 people;

the next highest country is Yemen, with 52.8 weapons per 100 inhabitants.

[He told her “mommy everything is going to be fine”.

Shortly after the water tore it from his hands and they are still looking for him in California]

The United States is also an outlier when it comes to gun-related violence, with rates some 23 times higher than in other developed countries.

Figures from the nonprofit organization Everytown for Gun Safety show that every year more than 300 people are injured or killed in accidental shootings by children.

To the best of our knowledge, no data is available on the number of people intentionally shot by children.

A sign with Happy New Year wishes could be seen at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, on January 7.

A 6-year-old boy is suspected of shooting a female teacher in a school classroom on Friday, January 6. Jay Paul / Getty Images

It is vital that firearms owners keep them locked up, unloaded, and with ammunition stored separately, especially if there are children in the home.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all weapons be secured to decrease "the risk of injury from unintentional firearms and intentional shooting."

About a third of households with children have guns, but less than half of owners insure their guns.

In 2022, an estimated 4.6 million children in the United States live in a home with weapons loaded and unlocked.

What drove a Virginia school boy to shoot his teacher is not publicly known.

But what studies clearly show is that exposure to gun violence in the media, and easy access to firearms in the home, serve to increase the risks of any child picking up a gun.

Brad Bushman

is a professor in the Rinehart Chair of Mass Communication at The Ohio State University.

Dan Romer

is director of research at the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2023-01-13

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