Against a backdrop of violent killings across the United States, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has announced that it will focus on developing new approaches to help protect children, adolescents and young adults from the violence that plagues our modern lives.
“Today, it is not enough to issue another press statement expressing outrage and sadness, urging our national leaders to fix the broken systems that are failing our children and their families,” said Benard P. Dreyer, M.D., AAP president, in a statement.
The AAP took on the new initiative in response to the horrific killings of two black men in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in addition to the slaying of five police officers in Dallas. Since the announcement, a gunman ambushed and killed three law enforcement officers and wounded three others in Baton Rouge on Sunday.
Dreyer highlights the troubling images that have entered homes around the country in recent weeks. Images such as a 4-year-old toddler who watched her mother’s fiancé being shot to death in a Minnesota suburb, and a 15-year-old teenager who was depicted crying in a press conference after the death of his father, who was shot to death in Baton Rouge. The stories of five police officers who were killed--and others wounded--while trying to protect peaceful protesters are equally troubling, he adds.
The “toxic stress” related to racism and violence has a significant impact on children’s health, behavior and learning, Jack Shonkoff, M.D., director of Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, told STAT News.
Children’s brain development, cardiovascular health, immunity from disease and mental health can be affected by watching these news stories unfold on television, Shonkoff, who isn’t involved in the AAP’s current initiative, told STAT News.
The AAP also provided guidance on protecting children under the age of 6 from on-screen violence, while recommending that video games no longer award points for killing living targets. Further, the AAP recommends that the news media stop minimizing the link between virtual and real violence.
The AAP plans to release news about the initiative’s members, agenda and goals in the short term. The focus of this work will be on racism, religious intolerance, terrorism and other forms of intolerance, according to a statement.
- read the AAP’s announcement
- check out the STAT News article
- read out the AAP’s guidance