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Sumerson, who is also the co-founding editor of Psychology of Popular Media Culture, added that children and teens need to understand that there are consequences when violent attacks on others are committed.

“Children and teens need to fully understand the consequences of fighting,” Sumerson said. “If they do not find it to comprehend the consequences, it might seem more acceptable. These videos are legal taboo, since they are actually accessible to minors. The taboo factor is appealing, like some entertainers who use sex as part of their routine.”

She went on further to explain that if there are no consequences to fighting or attacking others, violent videos are glamorizing fighting as a opposed to deterring it. Sumerson thinks that sites like YouTube, which has offices around the globe including Washington, D.C., could try to regulate the violent videos.

“YouTube could regulate these types of videos to make them more difficult for children and teens to access them,” Sumerson shared. “They could implement a rating system, like the movies, where legal adults would only be able to watch them. In addition, they share a disclaimer that these actions could have legal and physical consequences.”

YouTube does have a “Safety Mode,” which sets age restrictions to watch potentially inappropriate videos, but it’s easy to get around that by changing one’s birthday in their profile.

Miller, on the other hand, thinks that YouTube is legally doing what it needs to do in terms of what type of content is posted to the video sharing site.

“I’m fairly certain that YouTube is legally doing what it needs to do,” she explained. “It bans hate speech and turns over information to law enforcement when its videos are involved in investigations…If enough people mobilize around this issue, it may end up banning certain videos.”

In terms of the possible psychological effects teens and children are facing, Miller asserted that violent behavior is becoming normalized in those individuals who are seeking feedback from a wider audience than the one they may or may not have at home.

“So psychologically I think kids are affected in that these videos normalize the behavior a bit and there is more of a delay in their conscience shutting down the decision to act on such impulses,” Miller said. “But I do not believe that this is the root cause of such violence or even close. Even without YouTube, kids can find out about other kids engaging in this behavior.”

Regina F. Graham


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