7 Ways to Curb Kids' Exposure to Violence

A 2002 study found that 21st-century children spend an average of 53 hours a week with media and technology — more time than they spend on any other single activity: school, family, sports, and sleep.

The AAP advises limiting children's TV and entertainment screen time to two hours or less per day (one hour or less per day for video game playing), and to educational, nonviolent content. Know the ratings of the TV shows and movies your children watch before they're allowed to tune in, and pay attention to the type of media you're taking in while your kids are around. The AAP also encourages parents to look into a video game's rating and content before allowing a child to buy or download it. Every week, violent video games and online games/apps hit the market and become top-sellers. The AAP notes that parents should encourage play of nonviolent games that involve multiple players. "A typical scenario pits our young hero against a horde of hostile foes," the AAP says. "Too much time spent absorbed in violent fantasy may foster social isolation."

Consider using your TV's and electronic device's parental controls and time-limit settings to help you keep tabs on your child's media and tech use. Also, check out sites like Common Sense Media for reviews and age ratings of various media for kids.

Exposure to physical or sexual abuse is a serious risk factor for violence in children, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. If you or your child have been victims of or witnesses to domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Learn about the warning signs and definition of abuse — it goes beyond physical harm and can include verbal threats, emotional abuse, sexual coercion, and controlling behavior.

The sooner you can plan your "path to safety" and end your child's exposure to abuse, the safer she will be and the better the chance to help prevent her from becoming violent someday.

"Tell your children that violence is never right, even when someone they love is being violent," the NDVH advises. "Tell them that neither you, nor they, are at fault or are the cause of the violence, and that when anyone is being violent, it is important to stay safe."

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) says that violent or aggressive behavior can begin as early as preschool. Adults may shrug it off as the child "just being a kid," but some violent behavior in children and teens should raise a red flag, including: explosive temper tantrums, physical aggression, fighting, threats or attempts to hurt others (including homicidal thoughts), use of weapons, cruelty toward animals, fire-setting, intentional destruction of property, and vandalism.

"Parents and teachers should be careful not to minimize these behaviors in children," the AACAP says. Kids may not "grow out of it." Adults should speak up if their child is a victim of such behavior, and seek professional mental health treatment if their own child has intense and frequent outbursts or other "red flag" behaviors — especially if they overlap with other risk factors for violence, such as: a family history of violence, exposure to violence in the media or community, presence of firearms in the home, personal use of drugs or alcohol, family stress (divorce, physical/sexual abuse, or parent's substance abuse), or socioeconomic issues (poverty or parent's unemployment). The earlier a child gets treatment — with continued follow-up care — the better the chance of reducing the impact of these factors for violence.

In addition to help that may be available through your child's school, there are many additional resources for families dealing with children who are violent or at-risk for becoming violent:

• Support groups
• Boys Town
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America
• Big Brothers Big Sisters