Violence shown on TV desensitising children
Shahid Husain
Karachi: Six-year-old Rubab, a student of Class-III, is now afraid to even step out of the house due to the violence being displayed by various private television channels sharing the country’s airwaves.
“TV people are very bad as they always show firing incidents. I get scared of putting on the television and don’t feel like going as I am scared of the Taliban,” said the little girl.
Violence constantly being displayed on some channels is not only taking its toll on adults, but is also transforming children into human beings who lack empathy, believes renowned psychiatrist and educationist Prof Haroon Ahmed.
However, little Rubab is one of those children who despite being exposed to the violence being shown on television remains hopeful that she will realise her dreams of becoming a doctor. “By that time, the violence would have come to and end,” she says.
Some TV channels in Pakistan air acts of terrorism, suicide bombings and the brutality of the Taliban without any restrictions because a large number of the staff at media organisations lack the necessary training. As a result, children are being greatly affected. “They are devoid of the most important human emotion, which is empathy,” believes Prof Ahmed.
The population of children in Pakistan is 73,691,000 and 23 percent of them are under the age of five. This segment is the most vulnerable to the violence shown on television.
“There is no code of conduct in the Pakistan media, especially the electronic media,” says Dr Ali Wasif, a senior psychiatrist at the Dr Ziauddin Hospital in Nazimabad. “The way violence is portrayed on our TV channels not only affects adults but children as well,” he says.
“Certain groups of children could become influenced and use the same violent methods at a later stage in their lives.”
Dr Wasif says that the remaining children will be terrorised and live in constant fear throughout their lives.
He is of the opinion that violence shown on television could lead to fear, depression, post traumatic stress disorder and certain types of personality disorders.
Dr Wasif says that there is also a third group of children who tend to adopt an indifferent approach. “These youngsters just keep counting death tolls and display no empathy.”
Seven-year-old Shazwho is a student of Class III at a school in Gulistan-e-Johar. He says he is not afraid of violence. “I am not afraid of firing. I will become a police officer and apprehend the terrorists,” he says.
Source: The News
Date:7/14/2011
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