Are You Frightened? Children’s Cognitive and Affective Reactions to News Coverage of School Shootings

Abstract

As news involving violence can frighten children, people worry that news portrayals of gun violence are often appalling. Based on cultivation theory and the theory of cognitive development, this study examined parents’ perceptions of the children’s exposure and reactions to news coverage of school shootings. A survey of U.S. parents (N = 266) demonstrated that children’s exposure to news coverage of school shootings is positively related to children’s frightened responses, according to the parents’ perspective. Parents reported that children more exposed to the news are more likely to perceive the world as dangerous. Children’s frightened reactions were a mediator that explains the relationship. Parents also answered that depending on children’s cognitive developmental stages, children showed different coping strategies to frightening news. Parental mediation did not have a significant relationship with children’s frightened responses. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.