Children are potentially quite vulnerable to the effects of violence because violence exposure may alter the timing of typical developmental trajectories (Boney-McCoy & Finkelhor 1995). That is, violence initially may result in primary effects, such as anxiety, depression, or PTSD symptoms, which cause secondary reactions by disrupting children’s progression through age-appropriate developmental tasks. For example, exposure to violence in young children can result in regressive symptoms, such as increased bedwetting, decreased verbalization, or separation anxiety (Osofsky 1995). These symptoms secondarily may affect children’s socialization skills or ability to concentrate in school. Moreover, at a time when children may have difficulty with typical developmental tasks, exposure to violence can result in having to acknowledge and cope with adult issues. As Garbarino and colleagues note, “in Western culture, childhood is regarded as a period of special protection and rights” (1992:1). The home and the neighborhood, generally considered the primary safe havens for the child, lose those protective and comforting qualities in the aftermath of family or neighborhood violence
Krista S on 16 Jun 10In the context of middle class families, elements in the techno-subsystem (e.g., Internet access) may not necessarily facilitate child cognitive development; effective use of those elements, highly dependent upon parent behavior, may promote development. For example, Cho and Cheon (2005) surveyed families and found that parents' perceived control, obtained through shared web activities and family cohesion, reduced children's exposure to negative Internet content. Using the Internet at home to learn was reported in 65 cases, to play was reported in 57 cases, to browse in 35 cases, and to communicate in 27 cases. Fuchs and Wößmann (2005) inferred, having controlled for socioeconomic status, "a negative relationship between home computer availability and academic achievement, but a positive relationship between home computer use for Internet communication" (p. 581). DeBell and Chapman (2006) concluded that Internet use promotes cognitive development in children, "specifically in the area of visual intelligence, where certain computer activities -- particularly games -- may enhance the ability to monitor several visual stimuli at once, to read diagrams, recognize icons, and visualize spatial relationships" (p. 3). Van Deventer and White (2002) observed proficient 10- and 11-year-old video gamers and noted extremely high levels of self-monitoring, pattern recognition, and visual memory. In a comprehensive review of the literature of the time (when interactive digital games were relatively unsophisticated), Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, and Gross (2000) concluded that "children who play computer games can improve their visual intelligence" (p. 128). It should be noted, however, that playing video games has also been linked to childhood distractibility, over-arousal, hostility, and aggression (Anderson, Gentile, & Buckley, 2007; Funk, Chan, Brouwer, & Curtiss, 2006).
