Violence among Kuwaiti youngsters rises: experts

Violence among Kuwaiti youngsters rises: experts Violent media materials blamed

KUWAIT CITY, April 6, (KUNA): Violence is an increasing phenomenon among youngsters in Kuwait’s modern society due to media sensationalism, becoming a heavy concern for families, and educational, social and psychological professionals.

What aggravates the impact of this phenomenon are some of the messages and concepts presented by the media, such as the violent contents that get translated into the behavior of youngsters, a number of specialists studying “youth violence” told KUNA.

According to these specialists, the definition of violence is any irresponsible act that leads to damage or harm to others, whether physically or psychologically, or any act or threat involving the use of force and aims to harm others physically or psychologically.
Youth violence is divided into three categories; violence directed against teachers and their properties, another against the institutions of the society, and violence amongst students, the specialists noted, indicating that violence in general is a result of frustration, psychological imbalance or the absence of educational guidance.

“Cross-sectional statistics show that the prevalence of violence rises among males more than it does between females due to several reasons, such as lack of family care for students, the weak role of schools in guiding and consulting, lack of faith, in addition to violent horror movies that attract most teenagers,” Psychology professor at Kuwait University Dr Amthal Al-Huwailah told KUNA.
Dr Al-Huwailah added “Such a problem can be solved through continuous cooperation between home and school according to modern educational methods parallel to the ongoing cooperation of the police and educational institutions as well as the mutual consultation between them.

Psyche
“Activating the role of school guides and increasing the number of counselors, in addition to resorting to religious advisors, psychologists and social workers will help eliminate this phenomenon.” For his part, media professor at Kuwait University Dr Mahmoud Abdulnabi Al-Mousawi said that media and social networking websites have a major role in affecting the psyche of people by teaching them negative perceptions that may lead to corrupting one’s behavior.
Media materials in the past, such as TV series and telefilms were of greater influence than they are now because of the lack of social networking means as opposed to the case nowadays with Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, Dr Al-Mousawi added.
The media is not broadcasting enough awareness programs aimed at improving the behavior of youngsters, but it is usually sending out violent messages and concepts through TV series revolving around robberies, beatings and killings, he noted.
Dr Al-Mousawi suggested that the media must tighten control on TV series by minimizing showing scenes of violence and replacing them with awareness programs for the benefit of children and adolescents instead.
Some of the bodies responsible for addressing the phenomenon are neglecting the spread of awareness and containing youngsters, said Member of Kuwait Lawyer Association and Member of Kuwait Society for Human Rights Mishary Al-Jabr.
He noted that the laws need to be amended by Kuwait’s legislature, suggesting forming a committee of psychiatrists and psychologists to study this phenomenon in order to provide advice for the youngsters.
Attorney Fatima Jawad Safar said that penalty laws are convenient to the Kuwaiti constitution, but lack application, indicating that the reasons behind this phenomenon is caused by leisure time and lack of awareness.

Leave a Reply