Parents and society need better tools to shelter young people from the onslaught of violent images in video games and the new media, say children's rights advocates.
By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 22/12/09
The internet and video games are exposing young Tunisians to virtual violence that is seeping into the real world, according to children's advocates who met last week in Tunis to strategise on solutions.
"Digital violence is one of the most serious forms of violence practiced against children," the director general of the Observatory for Media, Training, Documentation and Studies on the Protection of Children's Rights, Adil al-Hentati, said at the December 17th event.
The conference gathered officials from various UN and Tunisian child welfare organisations to devise better ways to protect children from increasing rates of violence, which some say have been spurred by the emergence of the new media.
Presenters at the event also introduced a national program for combating violence against children and disseminating a culture of non-violence.
The program "is ...part of our efforts to enhance the protection of children so that they may not turn into a source of violence", said Tunisian Minister for Women, Family, Children and the Elderly Sarra Kanoun Jarraya as she delivered the conference's opening address. She said the proposed program will implement recommendations made by the UN secretary general in 2005.
The conference covered three main themes: promoting prevention of violence, strengthening the capability of civil society to prevent violence and enhancing the means of monitoring violence for research and study.
"The modern means of communication plays an important role in the spread of violence and turning scenes of violence into a normal thing for children," said Salwa Mallaf, who works to protect children's rights.
In Tunisia, schools recorded more than 2,000 cases of violence in the 2004-05 academic year.
"Children now exchange scenes of killing and violence, usually accompanied by sarcastic comments, as if violence, killing and scenes of blood no longer affect their feelings," she added. "This is an extremely serious thing, and all the components of society have to deal with it before it's too late."
UNICEF's Tunisia representative, Maria-Luisa Fornara, said there are "275 million children who are exposed to different forms of violence" all over the world.
Fornara welcomed Tunisia's efforts to prevent violence against children by implementing national programs. She also called for "strengthening the prevention side, given the close link between the violence against children and their behaviors in adolescence and middle age".
However, not all violence carried out by children is a result of the internet and video games, nanny Basma Mallakh pointed out.
"Family factors represent a main reason for the spread of the culture of violence among children," she said. "These factors include depriving children of parents' care and love at a very early age, family disputes, family disintegration and discrimination in the treatment of children."
A 2008 report by the World Health Organization claims that 150 million girls and 75 million boys under the age of 18 are victims of sexual violence. Between 133 and 275 million children are exposed to domestic violence, according to a 2008 International Labor Organization report.
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/12/22/feature-02.
By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 22/12/09
The internet and video games are exposing young Tunisians to virtual violence that is seeping into the real world, according to children's advocates who met last week in Tunis to strategise on solutions.
"Digital violence is one of the most serious forms of violence practiced against children," the director general of the Observatory for Media, Training, Documentation and Studies on the Protection of Children's Rights, Adil al-Hentati, said at the December 17th event.
The conference gathered officials from various UN and Tunisian child welfare organisations to devise better ways to protect children from increasing rates of violence, which some say have been spurred by the emergence of the new media.
Presenters at the event also introduced a national program for combating violence against children and disseminating a culture of non-violence.
The program "is ...part of our efforts to enhance the protection of children so that they may not turn into a source of violence", said Tunisian Minister for Women, Family, Children and the Elderly Sarra Kanoun Jarraya as she delivered the conference's opening address. She said the proposed program will implement recommendations made by the UN secretary general in 2005.
The conference covered three main themes: promoting prevention of violence, strengthening the capability of civil society to prevent violence and enhancing the means of monitoring violence for research and study.
"The modern means of communication plays an important role in the spread of violence and turning scenes of violence into a normal thing for children," said Salwa Mallaf, who works to protect children's rights.
In Tunisia, schools recorded more than 2,000 cases of violence in the 2004-05 academic year.
"Children now exchange scenes of killing and violence, usually accompanied by sarcastic comments, as if violence, killing and scenes of blood no longer affect their feelings," she added. "This is an extremely serious thing, and all the components of society have to deal with it before it's too late."
UNICEF's Tunisia representative, Maria-Luisa Fornara, said there are "275 million children who are exposed to different forms of violence" all over the world.
Fornara welcomed Tunisia's efforts to prevent violence against children by implementing national programs. She also called for "strengthening the prevention side, given the close link between the violence against children and their behaviors in adolescence and middle age".
However, not all violence carried out by children is a result of the internet and video games, nanny Basma Mallakh pointed out.
"Family factors represent a main reason for the spread of the culture of violence among children," she said. "These factors include depriving children of parents' care and love at a very early age, family disputes, family disintegration and discrimination in the treatment of children."
A 2008 report by the World Health Organization claims that 150 million girls and 75 million boys under the age of 18 are victims of sexual violence. Between 133 and 275 million children are exposed to domestic violence, according to a 2008 International Labor Organization report.
Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/12/22/feature-02.
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