Specialist Doctor Level 2 Nguyen Thanh Sang, Head of the Clinical Psychology - Rehabilitation - Traditional Medicine Department at Children's Hospital 2, notes that it is common to see children repeatedly watching videos and livestreams from online content creators that feature vulgar language, violent content, or aggressive behavior.

According to the doctor, repeated exposure to such content can lead to "emotional desensitization," where emotional responses to a stimulus decrease after multiple exposures. This condition is particularly concerning when it affects young children, occurs frequently, and lacks adult guidance and explanation.

Initially, a child might react with fear, discomfort, or strong disapproval when encountering violent scenes or offensive language. However, after repeated exposure, these reactions may fade. The child no longer perceives the content as unusual or alarming.

The impact extends beyond emotions. Children may experience reduced empathy, show less willingness to help others, and easily imitate aggressive speech patterns. Over time, harmful language can become normalized as a typical way of communicating. Prolonged exposure to violent content can impair a child's ability to regulate emotions and empathy, consequently affecting their social relationships.

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Doctor Sang explains that children can also develop distorted perceptions through observation and imitation. For instance, they might gradually accept verbal abuse, insults, or aggressive language as permissible behaviors. Frequent exposure to highly stimulating content can also lead children to require increasingly dramatic content to elicit a similar emotional response.

However, the degree of impact varies among children. Risk factors include the frequency and duration of exposure, the child's age, and the level of parental involvement. While watching a single inappropriate video will not necessarily make a child insensitive, early, frequent, and undirected exposure increases the risk.

Doctor Sang advises parents to proactively discuss viewed content with their children, helping them distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate material, and identify acceptable behaviors in real life.

Instead of merely prohibiting screen time, parents can set limits on device usage duration and content, clearly explaining the reasons. Parents must also model appropriate behavior, demonstrating disapproval of offensive language and actions online.

Additionally, fostering empathy in daily life, such as encouraging children to care for others, pets, or share their feelings, helps children develop better emotional recognition and regulation skills. If a child consistently exhibits apathy, aggression, or prolonged imitation of harmful speech and behavior, parents should seek assessment and appropriate support from a child psychologist.

Le Phuong