An Unemotional Society

Has social media affected the way adolescents show empathy and are they desensitized to violence?

[leomamaof3-blog]

"Empathy in the Time of Technology: How Storytelling is the key to Empathy"

P.J. Manney wrote an article in jetpress.org detailing his ideology of storytelling to maintain our empathy levels or improve them.

Storytelling creates imagination and articulates the feelings of the author. Being able to project yourself into the story on a regular basis, should increase your ability to empathize more with individuals.

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Is Technology Destroying Empathy? (Op-Ed)

Technology has long enabled people to connect, but it can also drive people apart, even damaging the empathy that keeps societies together — in an era of virtual reality and remote drone strikes, is technology helping or hurting humanity?

Here is an article written by author, P.J. Manney, he points at out that the key to maintaining empathy, is communication. Communicating through storytelling and drawing your readers in through social media can generate empathy in the virtual world. People who are constantly on social media, taking in both positive and negative news, could possibly become overwhelmed and it could require too much of a human being. One of Manney’s recommendations is to slow it down and practice being empathic by expanding your research on a particular group or through storytelling. 

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Two icons were lost this week to suicide, but their contributions to the world will never be forgotten. Kate Spade made the fashionably unattainable attainable and @anthonybourdain’s exploration of culture through food opened our eyes to the world. Both will be sorely missed.

Remember, no matter what you are going through, you don’t have to go through it alone. There are resources available to help you.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need it, Tumblr.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Available 24/7 at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

NAMI (@namiorg): Dedicated to improving the lives of anyone living with mental illness. Free to chat at 1-800-950-6264. Free support 24/7 Text NAMI to 741741

The Trevor Project (@thetrevorproject): Confidential suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ young people. Available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386.

[leomamaof3-blog]

Too much social media...compassion fatigue or lose of empathy? For the older generation that have already learned basic social skills without the internet could be suffering from compassion fatigue and its just simply too much to bear. For the younger generation, ages 10-16 are still learning social skills and have a hard time showing compassion and empathy. There has been more negative news and videos in social media than positive lately. Adolescents need more breaks from social media to not consumed in the violence and ultimately become desensitized.

[leomamaof3-blog]

"You turn on the television, and violence is there. You go to a movie, and violence is there." 1

Psychologist Craig Anderseon, PhD, DIrector of the Center for the study of Violence at Iowa State University, concluded that the "evidence strongly suggests that exposure to violent video games is a casual rish factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and agressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior."

Again, this particular study focused on adolescents between the ages of 10-14 years old. There was no evidence of long term effects among normal growing adolescents. Some long term risks depended on the environment in which the child is raised in. If they are constantly watching violent media and it plays out in their reality, they are more likely to grow up more aggressive.

If the teen has a mental illness, the aggression plays out more into the real world. Their brain is less likely to tell the difference between the two.

[leomamaof3-blog]

Parkland survivor David Hogg aims to 'create the NRA – except for the opposite issues'

Rather than head to college, Hogg plans to hit the campaign trail in key districts to increase the youth voter turnout rate

@loisbeckett does a interview with Parkland survivor David Hogg about his current activism on gun violence with hopes to get NRA backed candidates voted out of office. Hogg is part of the March for Our Lives organization that mainly focuses on officials that accept money from the NRA.

Hogg believes that not much has been done on the gun control issues as school shootings continue to happen. He added that, "You never get numb to these things, but I feel like American society gets kind of desensitized."

Are young people giving up on fighting gun control, because there has been no change? School shootings are becoming the norm and it seems the school system in general are desensitized. I haven't seen any changes to prevent violent acts done to the local high schools yet.

[leomamaof3-blog]

Funnyastech co-hosts David Ryan Polgar and Joe Leonardo hosted a podcast where JP Connolly spoke on teens, technology and empathy.

The podcast discusses the challenges of both teens and adults being taken over by their electronic devices. Connolly believes that the main reason that teens are drawn to social media are due to the parental role models. Parents are taking their attention away from their children and teens are replacing the need with social media. Good point! I think this may be only one factor for the reason of adolescents  struggling with empathy and emotions in general.

[leomamaof3-blog]

Is Technology Making Us Less Empathic?

The Internet desensitizes us to shocking images, diminishing our empathy.

Here is an article by Gary Small, MD. on “Is Technology making us less empathic?” He believes that prolonged exposure to the internet weakens our face to face contact skills. 

In another opinion article that he is co-writer on asked, “Is the internet killing empathy?” 

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/02/18/small.vorgan.internet.empathy/index.html?hpt=C2

In response, one comment stated, “People who don’t understand the often sick sense of humor that floats around the internet need to stay off the internet”

This is a good point for teenagers who are still developing and learning social skills. 

#comm372t #empathy #desensitation #darkhumor

[leomamaof3-blog]

Does Constant Violence Desensitize or Bore Teens?

A brain imaging study sheds little light on a controversial topic

Here is an article done by Jeremy Hsu with Live science in 2010.

"A new brain imaging study suggests that emotional responses to violence appear to diminish in teenage brains exposed to a stream of violent videos" according to Jeremy Hsu

A study conducted by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, MD, stated that "in the course of life with repeated exposures to violent media, you are shaping your brain networks to be more accommodating to aggression"

A psychologist at Texas A&M openly disagreed and stated that the study made a "huge number of assumptive leaps".

He believes that there needs to be more study and that the current study truly only shows that violent images become "less startling". The study was performed on boys between the ages of 14-17 years old. Although a very interesting article, the study does not pinpoint that violent video games or videos in general spills over to real-world life.

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INSIDE MY BLOG

Hello world! My name is Cierra Bastian and I am a junior at ODU, pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. I chose to blog about violence in social media and how it directly affects growing adolescents. I personally have been impacted from my own teenager having too much exposure to social media. For privacy reasons, I won't publish his name or go into much detail, but it’s something I want to share.

I have a 13-year-old teenager who was spending countless hours on YouTube and Instagram, without my knowledge. He wrote something on Instagram that he thought was "a joke" between him and his friends, but through text was perceived as a threat to society. Long story short, he was in trouble with the law briefly and had to undergo counseling to assess his mindset. During this, I researched his Instagram and YouTube and found that not only did he think certain violent acts were funny, but so did thousands of his peers. There were memes of violent things that have happen to people and shared though out Instagram. My teenager is a goofy kid that has a challenging time showing emotion and is socially awkward. He has always had these issues, but though social media, has magnified. He is desensitized to violence after watching YouTube and Instagram videos that record violent acts that go viral for entertainment. Although he has challenges, he is very caring and gentle towards mostly the elderly and children. He loves animals, especially cats and we discussed him becoming a Veterinarian. After limited social media dramatically, I noticed that he was having issues adjusting to “the real world” and making friends. Time to teach social skills and empathy all over again. This is the new generation.  

My work schedule was hectic, so I decided to downscale and focus on my family more and better monitor social media. I don't want social media teaching my children about violence or giving them bad advice. I know I'm not the only parent with a busy schedule and have went through their child's social media only to find inappropriate pictures/videos.

I want to research and share information I find that relates to the desensitization that occurs in the minds of adolescents. Hope you find my information useful. Happy blogging!