It is no wonder young people are confused about the nature of interpersonal relationships, their own safety and the use of violence to resolve conflicts. As child health professionals, we must be aware of the ubiquitous and powerful presence of media in our patients' lives. In this epidemic of school shootings, I have been struck by the stunned, haunted looks in the eyes of the young people accused of the killings. They appear to be in shock, surprised and devastated by what they have done. As an adolescent physician, I cannot help but see them as our patients.
Adolescence represents a series of increasingly difficult developmental tasks.
Starting from childhood's magical thinking and impulsive behavior that parents must contain, one must develop abstract thought and social controls to deal with adult realities. If this developmental process occurs in a violent environment, it can become distorted. He said he is not surprised that teens who spend hundreds of hours perfecting skills on video games are able to kill so effectively the first time they use a real gun. And we should not be surprised by teens' stunned disbelief at the carnage. The media are not going away.