The recent school shooting in Tacloban involving minors, along with the stabbing incident among elementary schoolchildren in Cavite, has raised anew troubling questions about youth violence in the Philippines.

What drives children and teenagers to commit such horrific acts? Do violent online games and social media content play a vital role? Does watching violent television shows make young people more violent?

There is no single answer, but the need to examine every possible influence on young minds, including the media they consume every day, has become imperative.

For years, psychologists have debated whether violent TV shows, online games, and social media content contribute to aggressive behavior among young people. The answer is not a simple yes or no.

Children do not become violent just because they watch a TV action series, play a shooting game, or scroll through graphic videos online. Poverty, broken families, bullying, gang influence, substance abuse, mental health problems, and child abuse all play major roles. Yet decades of research also show that repeated exposure to violent media should not be dismissed as harmless.

One of the most formative stages of life is adolescence, a period when young people are still developing their values, personalities, and sense of right and wrong. During these years, they learn not only from parents and teachers but also from celebrities, fictional heroes, online influencers, television, streaming platforms, and social media.

Yet instead of asking whether violent media causes violence, the more nuanced question is: How does repeated exposure to violent media shape the way young people think about violence?

Canadian-American psychologist Albert Bandura demonstrated through his famous Bobo doll experiments that children often learn by observing others. Subsequent research has reinforced this principle.

His findings have been reinforced by large meta-analyses that found repeated exposure to violent media is associated with higher levels of aggressive thoughts, hostile attitudes, and aggressive behavior among children and adolescents.

Studies published in Psychological Bulletin likewise found that violent media can make young people more likely to interpret ordinary conflicts as hostile and respond with anger or aggression.

Desensitization is another troubling effect. Research shows that repeated exposure to violence can gradually make children and teenagers less emotionally affected by suffering, injury, and cruelty.

Although they will not immediately imitate what they see on the screen, violence can slowly become familiar, acceptable, and less shocking than it should be. Over time, some adolescents may begin to view aggression as a legitimate way of responding to frustration, settling disputes, or achieving justice.

These concerns are especially relevant today because young Filipinos consume far more media than previous generations. The boundaries between television, streaming platforms, online videos, social media, and gaming have virtually disappeared. Violent content is now available anytime and anywhere, often delivered by algorithms that prioritize engagement.

Action dramas offer a timely Philippine case study. For years, Coco Martin's TV hits—from Ang Probinsyano and Batang Quiapo to the new Sigabo—have dominated prime-time television. Millions follow stories filled with shootings, fistfights, gang wars, kidnappings, revenge, and vigilante justice.

Crime stories, by themselves, may not be the problem. But how violence is portrayed could be. In many of these stories, heroes use force to achieve justice and are presented as morally justified even when they break the law. Revenge is often depicted as understandable, while violent characters remain admirable because they are fighting for family or a higher cause.

For impressionable adolescents, such narratives can blur the line between seeking justice and lawless vengeance, leaving the impression that violence is acceptable as long as the intention is good or the victim is deserving of it.

Critics have questioned how Batang Quiapo portrayed women. An article in FEU Advocate argued that rape, sexual assault, and abuse are repeatedly used as dramatic devices instead of opportunities to explore their devastating consequences. Female characters often exist to advance the storylines of male protagonists. Such portrayals risk trivializing violence against women and weakening the need for consent and justice.

Television, however, is only part of the picture. Violent online games repeatedly reward combat and aggression, while social media constantly exposes young users to videos of fights, assaults, bullying, and even real-life killings. Most players and viewers never become violent, but researchers caution that prolonged exposure, particularly among already vulnerable adolescents, may reinforce aggressive thinking and reduce sensitivity to violence.

None of this means that television, online games, or social media are solely responsible for youth violence. They are only one part of a much larger picture. But neither should they be treated as harmless distractions.

When violence is already prevalent in real life, media portrayals that glamorize aggression can reinforce the notion that violence is an acceptable or unavoidable part of everyday life.

Yet the answer is not censorship. The Philippines has painful historical memories of government censorship, including the banning of the popular Japanese series Voltes V during the martial law era, purportedly because of its violent content.

Instead, the better response is media literacy and responsibility. Parents should know what their children are watching and playing. Schools should strengthen media literacy so students learn to question what appears on their screens rather than simply absorb it. TV producers, streaming platforms, and game developers likewise have a responsibility to portray violence thoughtfully instead of glamorizing it.

Media alone does not create violent young people. But in a society saturated with violent entertainment, we cannot ignore how the stories young people watch, the games they play, and the digital content they consume every day help shape their understanding of courage, justice, conflict, and human dignity. ([email protected])