Used correctly, the media can serve an important role in the development of emotional maturity and positive social behavior. Violence and high passion have been staples of drama since long before Shakespeare. With appropriate understanding, media can illuminate the danger and inhumanity of violence without the child having to experience it directly. It is how we understand human violence and how we act upon that understanding that makes the difference. The potential for violence does not arise from an outside force, it lies within each of us.
Children have fewer checks on primal violent urges than adults.
As parents and pediatricians, we hope to contain and rechannel those urges. Unprotected use of media can warp psychological development that allows awareness of human suffering to control violent desires. Knowing media and how they work will allow children to recognize and direct their effects, to use them wisely, and to learn of human suffering through ways that allow them to grow up healthy and safe. National Center for Juvenile Justice. Am J Public Health.