Israeli parents may believe that showing their children clips of terror attacks keeps their family informed of the situation – but it is harming the nation’s children.
80% of child viewers who have seen clips of terror attacks over the past month have experienced signs of post-traumatic stress, a study from the Tom Institute released Wednesday revealed – specifically, agoraphobia, or fear of public places.
64% of children exposed to the clips now fear leaving their homes; the children also are 1.5 times more likely to be actively concerned about terror than children who do not see news clips.
Some 92% of the 300 parents polled said they believe sheltering their children from the videos would lessen their childrens’ fears over the security situation, the study revealed – but just 50% of Israeli parents limit or prohibit their children from looking at news videos online.
Despite this, the parents seem to be acutely aware of the situation: 94% stated their children had, at some point over the past month, expressed fears or worries over the wave of terror against Jews and Israelis nationwide.