Teenagers today are faced with a far wider range of media influences, subcultures, and social choices than ever before. That is why the news that two 12-year old teenage girls lured another 12-year old girl into a game of hide-n-seek that almost turned deadly is so shocking. Just the bizarre nature of the attack has stunned parents and families across the country. And who is this Internet meme “Slender Man” anyway?
As a child psychiatrist, who has treated children, teens and young adults for more than 30 years, this is truly an unsettling story. Slender Man is featured on the Creepypasta Wiki website. A website that compiles tales of fictional horror, where much of the fascination with Slender Man is rooted in the overall mystery of him and his purpose – that remains unknown. He is known to kidnap children, and they are never found.
Apparently, according to a news report by NBC affiliate WGBA in Green Bay, WI., one of the attackers told law enforcement that they wanted to” become “proxies” of the faceless character, and would have to prove their dedication with killing. They planned to take their victim’s body to a part of Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin’s north woods, where Slender Man supposedly lives.”
So what happened here? How could two young girls do something like this? Unlike the “good ole days” when news was disseminated by media outlets today it pours out on hundreds of channels and countless websites. Children are thus exposed to an enormous amount of gore, disaster, and sexually charged and other possibly trauma-inducing topics and themes. Music videos (not to mention the lyrics) depict graphic sex and violence as if it were completely normal and desirable, and many radio shows and Internet websites seem obsessed with different forms of violence and cult followings. For many adults, we turn this stuff off, but for children and young adults they aren’t always so quick to do so. This has a confusing and deeply disturbing impact on youngsters.
For many years, there has been debate over the effect of media on childhood development. The tide has been changing to considering that exposure to media violence is a negative phenomenon. Of course, there would only be a very small minority of children who would ingest such material and act it out as these girls have, but never the less we have to know what our kids are exposed to. It seems like these girls were overly vulnerable to the effects of what they saw and their immaturity might have been a factor. But also in general there are types of developmentally fragile young people who should be sheltered from such material. The degree of being able to separate fantasy from reality varies from one child to another. As young people get older, we expect that the degree of impressibility decreases, but not for all children. So we must know our children and know what they watch and listen to and not be shy about limiting exposure.
DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this blog is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended as medical or psychiatric advice for individual conditions or treatment and does not substitute for a medical or psychiatric examination. A psychiatrist must make a determination about any treatment or prescription. Dr. Paul does not assume any responsibility or risk for the use of any information contained within this blog.
