 |
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
 Websites may encourage self-injury in teens, young adultsYoung adults and teens may believe that hurting themselves is normal and acceptable after watching videos and other media on Web-sharing sites like YouTube, new research indicates. The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, warn professionals and parents to be aware of the availability and dangers of such material for at-risk teens and young adults. Deliberate self-injury without the intent of committing suicide is called “nonsuicidal self-injury” or NSSI. An estimated 14% to 24% of youth and young adults engage in this destructive behavior, according to the study. NSSI can also include relationship challenges, mental health symptoms, and risk for suicide and death, the study noted. Common forms of self-injury include cutting, burning, picking and embedding objects to cause pain or harm. While other studies have looked at the availability of online information about self-injury, the authors focused on the scope of self-injury in videos uploaded on YouTube and watched by youth. They described their work as the first such study and noted that their findings could be relevant in risk, prevention and managing self-injury. The authors focused on YouTube because, according to the site, since its inception in 2005 “YouTube is the world's most popular online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos.” Using the site’s search function the researchers looked for the terms “self-harm” and “self-injury,” identifying the site’s top 50 viewed videos containing a live person, and the top 50 viewed videos with words and photos or visual elements. The top 100 items that the study focused on were viewed over 2 million times, according to the analysis, and most – 80% - were available to a general audience. The analysis of the self-injury content found that 53% was delivered in a factual or educational tone, while 51% was delivered in a melancholic tone. Pictures and videos commonly showed explicit demonstrations of the self-harming behavior. Cutting was the most common type of behavior; more than half of the videos did not contain warnings about the graphic nature of the behavior. The average age of uploaders of the self-injury material was 25.39 years, according to the findings, and 95% were female. The authors surmise that the actual average age is probably younger because many YouTube users say they are older in order to access more content. The study concludes that the findings about the volume and nature of self-injury content on YouTube show "an alarming new trend among youth and young adults and a significant issue for researchers and mental health workers." The videos may be a focus for communities of youth in which self-injury is encouraged and viewed as normal and exciting, which could potentially increase the risk for self-injury. The study warns that health professionals need to be aware of this type and source of content, and to inquire about it when working with youth who practice self-injury because sites like YouTube can reach youth who may not openly discuss their behavior. Self-harming is not typical behavior for otherwise untroubled teens and young adults, explained Dr. Charles Raison, an Emory University psychiatrist and CNNHealth.com's mental health expert. It’s an action that kids with psychiatric problems may try. “NSSI is a young person’s affliction…one in ten will kill themselves," he said. "A lot of people will outgrow the behavior.” Raison said that it’s common for troubled young people to share information about hurting themselves. Treatments can include antidepressants, antipsychotic drugs and psychotherapy.
Next entry »What are those white lumps in my tonsils?
« Previous entryYes, oral sex is sex, and it can boost cancer risk
|
  About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love. Recent Comments
 |
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
© 2010 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertise with us | About us | Contact us | Help | Advertising Practices
How about people watch their kids and actually be parents instead of blaming tv and the web for everything.
So exactly why do you have a problem with parents knowing about these websites so that they can better protect their children? Do you think they or their children are better off with the parents ignorant of these dangers?
They should warn parents about letting their kids look at your youtube channel... scary stuff
@Paul, name all of the websites your kid went to.
My son was cutting over a year ago. I knew right off the bat it wasn't something he came up with on his own. When I was a kid, I never thought to cut myself. So, I knew it was his friends and the internet that gave him the idea. It's easy for you guys to say "be a parent, watch your kids, stop blaming the internet". But, when your child is doing this when alone in their bedroom, bathroom, etc. There's nothing you can do to stop it if they are hiding it so well. My normal "shakedowns" of his room turned up a few razors. Anyway, turns out he was depressed. We had no idea, these kids hide it very well. We got him someone to talk to, he's over it. He also tries to talk to other kids who cut and tell them why it doesn't make sense to do so.
@ G – Most routers track that stuff. What to know where anyone in your site is going? Turn on the tracking on your internet router. Have you even tried to find a solution are did you give up because it was "hard"
@scott – ok, so your kid hide in his bedroom. Whats your kid doing the rest of the time? I guarantee your kid didn't only show signs of issues while hiding in his bedroom.
I hid stuff my parents all the time. I can guarantee they didn't know everything I did, and still don't. But I can guarantee they wouldn't be surprised about any of it. They raised me. I spent my childhood playing the most violent games I could get my hands on, I was on the internet late a night surfing for topics that kids should be search for at a time before there were any safe guards or easy ways to track what I was doing and I turned out ok. But my parents are what made the difference. Kids today are surrounded by more than we were as kids. Perhaps the job is more involved than it was before. But the bottom line hasn't changed. We still have to talk to our kids, we have to teach our kids, we have to lead by example, and know we wont be there 100% of the time to protect our kids so we have to use the time we do have wisely.
@Jeff
Actually, we were surprised when we found out he was cutting. My son is pretty much even keel all the time. Something exciting happens, or something bad happens, he never gets too excited or shows much emotion. Never isolated himself from us or others or anything like that. Clearly I knew something was up, hence the "shakedowns" of his room.
As for interent usage, I'm not blaming the internet for his cutting. But I know for a fact, that's where the idea came from, he said so himself. My kids are totally limited with where they can go on the internet and time limits, but some sites slip through at times. You also can't totally shelter kids either, they will surely go off the deep end when given the chance.
As his parent, this was a learning experience for me. I made a difference by talking to him and getting him the help he needed to talk out his depression. I continue to talk to him and do so with my daughter as well. I assumed if he had a problem with anything he would come to me as we are very close, but I understand kids can't tell their parents everything.
Oddly enough, that is part of the problem. NSSI is often caused by parents watching too much.
The focus was more on women (25-39). These kind of behaviors develop throughout the post adolescent years. It's simple to cryout and say, "what are our children watching?!?", but the fact of the matter is that we are all exposed.
I know friends who self cut back in the 80s, when there was no internet or even a thought of the internet. It may be more prevalent today, but the fact of the matter is some kids have a harder time getting through adolescence than others. I cannot imagine how difficult it is to be a parent in this day and age (I decided not to have kids), but the only think I could suggest which would have made MY life easier back in the 80s was if my parents (who were busy all the time with working and trying to support us, raise funds for college, etc), had spent more quality, interactive time with me. I don't blame them, but just suggesting that folks should put as much priority into their kids / spouses / parents / family and friends as possible. That is what is important in life. We ALL would do better in life (less stress, less depression, more joy) if this was the case.
If kids are going to voluntarily injure themselves, they have issues, regardless if there's a website promoting self injury or not. This article just sounds like another alarmist "Oh my god the internets is going to kill us all".
I'm sorry Jason, but that is just an absurd statement. Kids are impressionable, very, and I can easily imagine some kids seeing this stuff on the internet, one of them is stupid enough to try it, another thinks that's "cool" or "tough" and he/she tries it...and you know where it can go from there. Just saying that kids will be kids, is just a really pathetic attempt at "logic". And, as someone who has done some pretty crazy stuff in my day, I never cut myself for fun or on purpose (though injuries were never in short supply), but had there been YouTube videos of people cutting themselves, or even the internet for that matter, who knows what ideas might have popped (been placed) into my head. There is no simple answer, to any question of importance anyways, and while there may be obvious contributors to certain type of behavior, there are always many other factors that need to be considered.
First off, I'm sick of people saying, well I did this and it didn't effect me, or, I know for a fact it wasn't this because I was exposed to that and I didn't cut myself. What you people have to understand is that each one of us is different. All of our thoughts and emotions are nothing more than chemical reactions in our body, those go out of whack, we go out of whack. Quit comapring others to yourself, what works for one does not work for another. Treat that person as themself, learn about them, and how THEY feel about things, and how THEY interpret things, not who you interpret it. Maybe then you will be able to help them and get closer with them.
Your children are simply weak. They live sheltered indoors, and their only threats to life are the insults hurled at them from the internet.
Our kids should be outside, running around, settling disputes with the gloves on – 3 rounds followed by a handshake, and learning to solve problems for themselves.
We have enabled our society to the point of this disturbing trend. Time to bring the rich man down...
Wholly agreed, with the exception of the "three rounds" thing. All that tells a kid is "people bigger than you will f–k you over unless you become devious." – which is a stupid thing to teach.
you can take a boxing match and analogize it anyway you wish
there's an idea– let's return to the social code of the Neanderthals. I suppose you think Gandhi, Jesus and MLK were wussies.
Videos are not causing self-mutilation, which is clearly linked to touch deprivation in infancy. Similar self-injury has been observed in cats and monkeys raised in isolation and deprived of affection. Harlow's monkeys raised in isolation bit themselves, as can be seen in videos. This connection has been pointed out by developmental neuropsychologist James W. Prescott. It's ignored because it's outside the current paradigm, and perhaps because of a fear that mothers will be blamed, but it has much more to do with American cultural norms and increasing economic pressures on families than with anything mothers do or don't do. Cross-cultural studies provide strong support for a sensory-deprivation connection to cutting.
Hush you! Now you've done gone and ruined a good internet scare with facts. Sheesh. These companies spend good money to whip up this tripe. Actually stating facts is wasting their hard-spent cash!
Um... that's a kind of simplistic explanation. Although I don't doubt that kids deprived of physical touch are more likely to cut, there are a lot of kids with loving parents who also do this. I think a more accurate statement would be that kids who cut suffer from depression and anxiety, which may result from lack of physical affection from their parents or may result from a whole host of other things. The first axiom of science is that correlation doesn't equal causation.
the solution is simple - stop having kids.
My best friend in high school did this, and that was before the Internet. She had two parents who adored her and hugged her all the time. I get that there is a correlation, but not all kids who do this have parents who didn't hold them enough. She learned this from another friend. Is the Internet to blame for the increase? Eh, I'm voting no. My father was a guidance counselor in the 90s, and he came home upset because there had been a huge uptick in the number of students coming in with cut marks. We forget that high school is a terrible time for some people, myself included. Keep telling your kids that you love them and do things with them that are meaningful–that's what got my friend to stop.
Pediatrics is a good journal but this sounds like a student project rather than a peer-reviewed study. Newsflash: there's all kinds of weird stuff on the internet. If your kid is doing something weird it's because they're weird not because of anything they saw or read.
everyone has so much content to fill online so they hire any idiot with a keyboard and call them journalists. most of this probably came from wikipedia.
The internet promotes everything.
And that's why you turned to coprophagy?
Don't worry. It only promotes doing hurtful things in stupid teens that were already pre-destined to hurt themselves or others anyway. Better if they hurt only themselves.
Self mutilation is a common practice around the world in many different cultures involving many different age groups. Just because some teenager does it doesn't make that kid crazy. I'm not saying that every kid in our culture that cuts him or her self isn't troubled. But, let's not lump them all into one category. Look at fraternities. These guys get brands burned into their skin and the like. They aren't crazy. Just young.
Kind of like having a tatoo when you're a teenager. Big mistake.
SO PUTTING ON THESE ROCKETSKATES AND HITTING THIS BRICK WALL IS A BAD IDEA
Yes. Yes, that's a bad idea
Warn, warn, warn. Scare, scare, scare. Freak out, freak out, freak out. (Yawn, boring boring boring)
YouTube has a number of stated policies, including those which prohibit copyright infringement, harmful activities, and propagation of race-hate and other hateful speech against minorities. Yet only the first policy is rigorously enforced, that which protects copyright holders' rights. Why is this? In your article, a YouTube spokesperson quite correctly points out that there is a massive volume of material uploaded every day, and goes on to say that "YouTube... relies on users to flag offensive videos, which employees can then evaluate."
What I wish to point out here is that flagging offensive material brings no response at all from YouTube. In recent months there has been an extraordinary growth of Nazi YouTube activity, not merely revisionist history or skinhead bands, but violent, hate-filled material which calls for an active genocidal response from viewers. Many link to an on-line publication called "The Urban Terrorists' Handbook" which gives detailed instruction on the handling of explosives and firearms and the manufacture of nail-bombs. One user proudly proclaims that he is a serving US soldier and says "thank God my superiors don't know I'm an extremist terrorist".
Several concerned YouTube users, myself included, have been repeatedly flagging this content for at least a month now. We submit repeated YouTube Safety reports and give details of the extreme and illegal nature of the material. And no action whatsoever has resulted: no replies, no blocking of users, no comment.
These YouTube neo-Nazis are astonishingly bold. They have openly Nazi usernames like "TheFemaleNazi" and "AryanArmy", and use swastikas and SS logos as their user logos. They now have taken to spamming other users with their material, which is to say that unlike in "real life", they actively reach out to find you. Given the absolute lack of response from YouTube in enforcing its own stated policy, even when pressed, the Nazis are clearly justified in their belief that they can freely and openly use YouTube as an efficient recruitment tool.
I therefore call on all YouTube users and others concerned to make their dissatisfaction with YouTube "safety" procedures known to the corporation.
Is everyone nuts? It seems that we all belong to some group of wackos. Get a life, don't intentionally hurt your self you nut. NSSI my butt, it's just plain stupidity. Lets research and study this terrible affliction. Most important lets spend a lot of money to study a bunch of silliness.
It's people like you that push kids to SI in the first place. It's a form of emotional release when they can find no other. Your ignorance and lack of understanding keeps you from seeing that this is a problem and affects a lot more people than you could ever imagine. Also, would not alcohol and drugs be considered SI as well?
You clearly have never experienced severe depression or the strong desire to harm yourself, coupled with a teenage level of maturity and ability to cope. Therefore, please refrain from name-calling. The last thing that would help a person who is that miserable and lost is for someone to say, "You're just being silly." They need professional help, not name-calling. They deserve to be taken seriously.
You know what, if someone thinks that riding a bike off of a roof isn't stupid, well, that's just natural selection at work!
Teenager brains do not work the same as adult brains. They need someone to care and give guidance, not someone who just says, "That was a stupid thing to do." It doesn't teach them how to cope with a strong desire to self harm. It would just make them feel worse.
We keep hearing that stupid decisions are due to something, whether drugs, alcohol, genetics, bad parents, whine, whine, whine. Many teenagers make good choices all the time and become great adults. You are full of crap, whatever differences there are can EASILY be controlled if they want to. Stop enabling the dumbification of our entire society lia2512. You people need to be sterilized due to complete lack of intelligence. My entire group of friends in high school did nothing stupid, studied hard, got good jobs and live great lives. Yet we drove our parents cars all the time and we allowed to go wherever we wanted. Some people are just weak, irresponsible, or just plain stupid (like you), but we can't keep giving them a free ride through life and tell them it's just their chemistry makeup.
Oh yes, with your need to keep calling people "stupid," it's obvious you must have a wonderful happy life!
The internet is so vast that it's largely trivial to find content encouraging X. You can also easily find content *discouraging* X. So, the fact that folks found content encouraging self-injury simply means they went looking for it. I went looking for self-injury prevention and guess what – I found a TON of stuff out there on that subject, too!
Teenage depression, self injury, eating disorders, drug use, etc. are serious issues that we should not be in denial about. Many parents are mentally distant from their teens for various reasons and almost all are unaware of what the teens are doing online. Remembering being a naive teenager, I believe most teenagers do not belong on the Internet, unless it's to do homework.
Spend time with your teenagers teaching them life skills, how to do and make things, fix things, and hobbies, and how to cope and deal with difficult situations and feelings. It may help them feel less lost and hopeless and less likely to want to harm themselves when depression sets in.
Please. Do some research. Kids self-harm because it's a behavior that manifests itself naturally in some teenagers and adults as an expression of pain and inner rage. It's a way of letting things out when nothing else works.
I'm not saying it's good, and in fact anybody who is cutting or harming themselves really needs to talk to a therapist or psychologist. But to say that a web site is causing this behavior is dumb. It's been around forever. Deal with it and talk about it, but don't blame boogeymen.
Kids at my school that cut them selfs are just weak. They are gonna do it no matter what. Its not youtubes fault.
John, you are very right.
The question is of Tube's policy. In governance of content permissible to be posted, what is acceptable and what's not? Is obscenity acceptable? Then nudity is fair game. If obscenity is not permitted, how can they permit self mutilation? Horrifying and irresponsible! Rajeev Rawat, Sunnyvale, CA
Self mutilation is a cry for help. But what people have to understand it it's also a form of depression. It's the one thing they can control, when their llives are completely out of control. It feels great. It's a release of stress and anxiety. As much as they will try to keep it hidden, they also secretly wish someone will find out. Not just any someone but someone who won't be judgemental of what they see. Someone who won't freak out and call 911 or their parents. Not right away anyway. Home life may be the reason for the cutting in the first place. They need someone who will stick with them from beginning to end, and help them get better. They need consistant understanding, love and support. But too much of that can also be a trigger to relapse. All that attention can lead to feeling overwhelmed, that all good things must end, and they will once again be alone with no one around will understand and help them. It's a tricky thing. One you never really recover from. Just like an alcoholic or a drug addict. You'll always want to go back to drinking or drugs, it's a battle of wills, especially when things get stressful. Cutters have to be taught better ways of coping with stress. And they need to have at least one person in their lives they can rely on to help them when they feel week.
This is so incredibly stupid. If you watch the videos in question, there is no possible way to think that the videos are anything other than a call for kids to STOP harming themselves.
A quote from the article: "The videos may be a focus for communities of youth in which self-injury is encouraged and viewed as normal and exciting, which could potentially increase the risk for self-injury."
Wow. That is dumb. There are no communities of youth in which self-injury is encouraged and viewed as normal and exciting. This is a sad, lonesome condition.
These videos are helpful. If you don't think so, you are an F-ing idiot.
Such communities only exist in the minds of bad TV writers and people who have never interacted with cutters....
The only communities of cutters I have seen could be more described as 'this sucks, but it is how I get through the day'
A bit pent up Joseph?
My daughter experimented with cutting. I saw it and told her if I ever saw another mark on her body I would skin her alive and role her in salt. She has never done it again
That's what you think. She'll find another, probably more harmful, way of release. People don't just cut their arms, they cut everywhere. Also, starvation and purging work just like SI and feel just as good. Threatening your daughter will not help her, it will only make her feel more trapped and make her more liable to break and really hurt herself.
That's what my mom would have said too. My coworker said she did it once when she was a teen and her mom said "You want to cut yourself?" and called 911 and had her admitted to the ER where they handcuffed her to the bed and admitted her to a psych unit. Her mom didn't play around with sympathy and she said she never did it again.
Wow. Way to do the absolute worst possible thing. She is probably covered in cuts where you can not see them.
Oh that's a great idea, C. Then when she commits suicide you can say you had no idea it was coming.
While you're at it, why don't you tear the speedometer out of your dashboard too? Then when you get pulled over for going 60mph in a school zone, you can tell the officer you had no idea your car was going that fast.
Oh and by the way... what parent could (seriously or not) think of the idea of skinning their own kids and rolling them in salt? You are a sick person – a truly sick person. I wonder what other methods of self harm your daughter uses to keep it hidden from you. I can only hope she finds people who care more about her than you, before it's too late.
@JustMe
Yeah, and the last SI girl I knew who had parents who went that route ended up trying to commit suicide first chance she got after that, and years later refuses to go to a doctor because of experiences with forced hospitalization. Short term fix, long term damage.
John, wow, I am so sorry you have such deep issues with your parents. Okay, no I did not actually tell her I would skin her and role her in salt. I cried for 3 days when I found out, is that what you want to hear. Then I got angry and asked her why she would want to even do that with all of the blessings she has. She didnt have an answer. I told her if she wanted to hurt herself she would have to wait until she was not living under my roof. My roof my rules, if you have a problem come to me, if I cant help go to your counselor at school, if they cant help ask me and I will make an appt to the doctor. I am sick of teenagers being spoiled and coddled, this country is raising a generation of wusses.
John, no one could love this child more than me. I would rip my beating heart out for her, and she knows it. She is quite manipulative. Its amazing what you were able to ascertain from my one line.
Manipulative behavior could be form a person who feels insecure or lost and is trying to gain power of their life through gaining power over others. Try spending time with her on a regular basis just talking, and really really try not to come across as condescending or judgmental.
Yeah, well people also said that listening to Slipknot and KoRn would promote self-harm, but really, it only encourages kids with existing susceptibility. Again, common sense rules the day – those with it won't follow suit, those without it will.
Oh, bullpuckey on kids doing it because of touch deprivation. I know so many teen girls who were loved and wanted, nursed and held and cuddled. And they still cut themselves, because they are looking for attention. People see cuts on their arms and go 'Omg, she's suicidal, are you ok? Omg, why did you do that, you know you can come to me, what's wrong, talk to me.' Rushed off to counselors so they can talk about themselves some more. It makes them the center of attention. I'm not saying all kids that do this don't have some issues but I work with someone whose daughters have both done this and that's all it is. And the two young women I work with said they did it too and that's all it was (now that they're grown and admit it,) My mom would have said that's a freakin' stupid thing to do if I'd done it. They see other girls do it and do it themselves. They'd do it without videos.
JustMe, thank you. I have four children, my daughter that I caught cutting is always seeking the attention. Of the four I was not surprised that she did this. I have caught her in the most horrible lies about me. No, I dont sneak. She will facebook a bold face lie and it kills me. My mother is a clinical liar and the only thing I can think is that it may be genetic?? I dont get it, we have such a wonderful life. Not perfect, but she has both parents who still love each other, we live in a nice home, she gets to do whatever she wants to sign up for, I honestly have cried rivers over this child. I dont know what to do. But I refuse to coddle her
Are you saying that it would be a better idea to ignore the problem? Is it really better to risk someone turning to suicide then give some attention to kids who are desperate for it? Come on.
And I have this to say to C: Every child is different. Some kids need more love and attention than others, C. Is letting her know that you care about her and if she cuts really coddling her? I thought that was just being a good parent.
I dont think I ever said I didnt give her more because she is like this. I just dont coddle my kids. They get 'I love you's' and hugs and kisses galore. That is what is so perplexing. She does get the most attention. It kills me as it would kill any parent that this is happening. Yes, and you are correct each child is different, remember I have 4. Some people are just the way they are no matter how well you treat them. It is internal and they have to come out of it within
hey my teen learned about cutting in her 7th grade band class. apparrently anoher student was cutting while in class. she is currently hospitalized due to all the crap she learned at school. prrobably the non-social kids are picking it up off youtube. my teen did inform me she was able to locate the recipe to make "angel dust" on the web tho. nice! question is, how does she know about a drug that noone has fooled with since the 1980's and why did she look for the recipe? probably my fault but i sure didnt send her to school for cutting lessons!
I've seen teens talk about this numerous times anonymously on SecretRegrets . com. Often, others who have beaten this self-harm addiction offer supportive words and encouragement on how to stop it. Another great resource for teens to find help is ReachOut . com
Please, let's stop with the generalizations about the cause of this. Saying that self-injurers are all "weak", trying to get attention, or copying what they've seen on the Internet is just nonsense. I started self-injuring when I was about 8 years old. I didn't learn it from anyone or anything. I was being abused by my mother, and I had no escape. Self-injury became my coping mechanism. I cannot stop myself from doing it; it's a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. As an adult I am getting counseling and taking medication. Most of the other self-injurers I've met in support groups were also abused as children. And as some commenters mentioned already, we could have easily ended up using alcohol, drugs, or other means to deal with our abuse, instead of self-injury. I am sure that there are many people who self-injure for less compelling reasons, but I can assure you that the self-injurers I know absolutely hate that they do it and would be thrilled to be able to stop.
Well said! I started when I was around 10. No one told me about it. I thought I was the only one who did it. When my parents found out they threatened me. I know now they meant well and were just scared, but it only made things worse. What I needed and what all kids need is unconditional and unjudgemental love and support. People are foolish to think that threats and screaming will save your child from an emotional disorder. Anyone who suffers from an emotional disorder or has destructive behavior (drinking, eating disorders etc) is not weak or stupid. They're ill and need understanding and support.
As I read through the rest of these comments, people really are ignorant as to what is going on in the world today. Nobody is blaming youtube for their child cutting. It's just a source for ideas or information just as a child's peers have influence as well. Kids DO NOT (for the most part) come up with the idea of cutting when depressed all by themselves.
Before posting a response to an article, get educated about it. Read something instead of spewing your "know it all mentality" mouth all over a message board.
Funny, the young people on here who post and do not have teenage kids have no idea what they are in for in the future.
I guess the bottom line is this; when I was growing up, I could only be influenced by the people I had direct contact with, TV, or reading books/magazines. Kids today have all of the above and in addition to that, the internet, online gaming, etc. They can be influenced by people they normally would never be in touch with if not for modern technology. That can be a good thing or a bad thing.
Some people on this board posted some excellent comments and clearly have done their homework on the subject.
Done with this topic. I refuse to get into a virtual punching match with idiots.
Freedom of exposure sometimes results in freedom to abuse one self! Its a world gone mad baby!
I just became a fan of self harm on facebook
Once again, it sounds as if some – certainly not all – parents would rather have another excuse to point to than take responsibility and get involved close up and personal with the raising of their children. This isn't a perfect world for sure but knowing about potential dangers in it and doing something proactive to insure a child is not hurt by them are two very different things. Knowing that most fast food is usually an unhealthy choice is one thing. Taking the time and energy to prepare nutritious meals for one's own child is quite another. The former requires limited knowledge on a subject. The latter requires continuous involvement in your child's life.
Young people have been doing that long before there was an internet, quit trying to lay blame on newer technologies, and look to the old
you guys are dumb if you think the internet isn't responsible. i'm 21, i was a teenager not too long ago. i know all about this stuff.
take that second youtube video for instance. you see a "cool looking" emo chick, holding a razer, clearly about to cut herself because she's depressed. it's also gonna be backed by an evanescence song. now what is a depressed 14 year old gonna do? think about cutting themselves.
also, the first video. a bunch of depressed 14 year olds holding up their self-inflicted injuries like some zombie army. depressed? lonely? come join our zombie army.
believe me, the internet plays a part.
Just for the sake of clarity I would like to point out that the internet is just a delivery method for content and as such doesn't encourage or discourage anything, it's the people that create various websites, videos and/or stories that promote various activities.
People have been doing stupid things since the begining of time, yes even without Youtube or the internet to show them how, now we simply have more records of these activities.
yeah, the telegraph and 1950's television did lead to a spike in self mutilation. you're right.
yeah, i knew everything when i was 21 too... most 21 year old kids know everything, too bad they never get elected to public office or do anything of consequence with their extensive knowledge of everything. maybe you can explain why the electoral college makes more sense than a popular vote election?
i can 100 percent say that i know more about being a depressed teenager in contemporary society than you do.
(also the electoral college poses no advantage for me, as no matter what my state is going republican 90 percent of the time)
and just because an opinion comes from someone younger than you does not mean it has zero value.
This is a really old subject. Decades old. The internet has nothing to do with it. Send those kids to church, there they can learn some other great habits like judgment, and hate. Oh and telling other people whats wrong with THERE kids. What happened to just beating off to get rid of stress?
A few more points-it's a very complicated and difficult task these days to have a balance between over-protecting your kids and giving them the freedom they deserve and need. As I said, the younger people on this board with small children or not with children yet, wait until you have a couple of teens yourself. Imagine the technology you will be battling against at that time? You think text messaging and the internet of today is it? Guess again, more to come for sure. Hell, I bought my son a stick shift car so he would have less of an opportunity to text. Just one of those things not spoken about, but gets the job done. It works too, I have checked his texting when he's out and none driving as of yet.
@Seb, nobody said people weren't cutting before the internet, the internet is a way to pass on the idea to the masses. Is it not? Is it not the biggest source of communication today? We're doing it right now.
@Tim, Excellent point, I totally forgot about the music they listen to as well. Sometimes it just piles on the depression.
What is really happening is the lack of god in our nation. Satan is destroying our families by attacking our most precious comodiaty our children
you kids are definitely cutting.
Generally speaking, forcing your views on others doesn't end well for anyone, Will. I'm spiritual, but do not believe in the same way you do. Please do not pile your tripe on my plate.
Maybe I'm missing something, but people have gotten more spiritual, just not religious lately. Sorry the church really doesn't do much for anyone these days.
i know that it was a fad back in the late 60's and early seventies that teenaged girls sometimes carved their boyfreinds' name or initials on their arms or thighs, using razor blades. Kids today use self mutilation in many forms, such as tatoos and body piercings. some even going as far as piercing genitalia. It is a cry for attention and a fashion statement for some.
JUSTME-Lucky for your coworkers mother she went thru that once back then because now it so does not warrant a trip to the psych unit let alone a trip to the ER. Its sad to read so many people's thoughts that just can't comprehend on the simplest level that some of these kids are just wired slightly different. How lucky for you to not have to deal with this and more.
have any of you gone through this personally? if not then maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge. self injury is a serious mental problem and you don't need the internet, friends or television to teach you it. it stems from severe depression and a need to find something to feel good. and people who s.i aren't trying to seem "cool" they are trying to hide it and fight through the compulsions alone with no support. take it from someone who has been there. when i was a teenager i cut myself. it brings euphoric feelings and no matter how much you want to stop the compulsion is incredibly hard to fight. thankfully i had friends and family who found out and cared enough to help. but even almost 10 years later its still follows you. its no different than fighting alcoholism or drug addiction.
Yeah, and Road Runner cartoons breed violence. Riiiight.
There are so many reasons teenagers can cut themselves there really is no place to start. It's easy to generalize to poor parenting or media influence because that takes the responsibility off of the poster.
But this is a societal problem. The roles that teenagers play in society are to frighten adults and spend money; its a time when a person first begins to experience the hypocrisy of life and to be honest society takes a little bit of adjusting before we accept it.
The best we can do is guide them away from actions that will really hurt themselves; but blaming the Internet won't do a bit of good because while the Internet may hear you it won't really listen. Just like a teenager =)
I think some people that have posted here really don't understand the reasons for self injury. Not all of us that self injure are triggered by youtube videos, I never go on youtube, if I do, it's to listen to a song and that's it. I never spend my time on google researching self injury, unless I'm looking for alternatives and I don't think people that self injure usually get there ideas from a Youtube video. I have friends that used to self harm, they all received professional help for there issues and haven't self harmed recently. I myself self harm and have been for the past two and a half, almost three years and am getting professional help. I didn't start it because of some Youtube video, I started it when my life was really messed up as a way to either feel something different than what I was feeling inside or to deal with anger and frustration. Some people that self injure have rather horrible backgrounds and don't learn the right ways to cope and deal with things in there lives. We can't always blame the media for these things.
Who the heck would videotape themselves cutting and then put it on the internet?? I find that actually more disturbing than the actual cutting which, if you believe the stats in this article, seem to be around 25% of the population – thus I would consider an episode or phase in this somewhat normal.
Another generation of week individuals who lack all personal responsibility. What every happened to saying to yourself, "gee, this isn't a good idea, perhaps I shouldn't do this." People know cutting/hurting themselves is wrong. Even cutters know it's wrong. Enough with the blame game, sometimes looking in the mirror is the best thing to do. Accept responsibilities for your actions...
Oh hunnie, you think it's that easy? You'd have only slightly better luck bringing someone who hurts themselves around with that reasoning than you would bringing a drug addict around to that point of view. I'll be honest I'm glad you don't understand this, I'm glad that you can't understand this (and you can't, not really, unless you've studied on it or been there yourself)... but since you do not and obviously cannot I suggest you don't speak on it.
Are kids really that stupid now?
If so, I guess they should just go ahead and eliminate themselves. Survival of the fittest and pop control
I would consider my own obvious ignorance, if I were you, before calling anyone stupid and telling them to eliminate themselves.
So, what? Why is it that when these psycology grads (getting paid on the gov't dole btw) come up with an acronym for a contrived disorder, the parents of the kids whose deviant behavior is in question are quick to blame the social media outlets? Whatever happened to self-preservation and accountability? This "cutting or burning" behavior is simply childish and attention-seeking.
Sounds like crappy parenting to me! If you don't want your kids watching it. TURN IT OFF. Its not social media's fault that your child is too stupid to realize that hurting yourself is counter productive.
@Katie – Really, you think it's that easy to resolve? To look in the mirror? Let me tell you a short story, my son's girlfriend was a cutter as well, her parents did nothing about it and let her deal with it herself even after I sat down and discussed it with them to make them aware. You know where she is now? Dead. Took her own life December 10th 2010. She didn't do it with a blade either, that possibly went to deep. She took drastic action to end her life at the end of a gun barrel. The problem is a little bigger than the little world you live in. You leave these kids today to workout problems on their own, only bad things will happen most of the time.
And church? Really people? You think church will straighten out todays youth? My son had plenty of church growing up, doesn't matter. Nothing can compete with a teens mind, peers, and influences.
I have come to realize that most churches are just a business who use God as their spokesperson. Don't ever shove church down your kids throats, don't shove anything down their throats for that matter. Guide them in the right direction, whatever you feel that may be.
Scott, bravo. I self-injured since I was about 6 years old. I did it because I thought I was a horrible person. My second-grade Catholic school teacher, who I later learned was mentally ill, told me I was a monster, an abomination for being born with birth defects, that I was born disfigured as a result of my parents sinning against God. I was six and I didn't DARE question her. I was a kid, she was an adult and kids don't talk back to adults.
I went through a decade and a half of reconstructive surgery, endless bullying, deep depression. I used my self-injury as a form of punishment. If my dad didn't punish me for misbehaving severely enough, I'd hurt myself. I used to dig my nails into my wrists, or I'd pull my hair out. It was only till I got into college I actually started cutting. Never very deep, not enough to leave deep scars ,but enough to make me feel pain. I hated myself so much but I didn't have the nerve to take my life. Because of the bullies, I was so convinced I was a freak. Kids said I should've been aborted to my face–that's how ugly it got. I believed God hated me and I prayed that he'd strike me dead, because I couldn't do it myself. That teacher I had–she told me that I was a physical embodiment of evil and I was put here to show everyone what evil looked like. No one ever told me this was wrong, ever said the woman was nuts, no one ever chose to say those things were absolutely wrong. I gave up on hurting myself over 5 years ago. I still have urges, but I have ways of denying it. It has nothing to do with religion. I think of my 3 little nieces who love me and my family. My sisters, my parents who went through all this nightmare with me. That's what keeps me here still.
Yep, once again the internet is to blame. Not bad parenting, not lack of social skills from playing XBOX all day, its them there internets. Maybe my priorities were out of whack, but I was looking at videos of a different nature online at that age.
gaba gaba hay hay....its all a game we play.