Introduction
While focusing on societal concerns, it is possible to pay attention to the risks of developing aggressive social behaviors that are typical of young people today. Social media can be discussed as modern triggers of the development of aggressive behaviors related to online and face-to-face communications (Patton, Eschmann, & Butler, 2013).
The recent events that have attracted the attention of school counselors, educators, and social workers are shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, as well as the following reaction to the event that can be observed in social media (Identifying aggressive social media behavior, 2016). The problem is in the fact that posts and messages in social media that have followed shootings include images, slogans, and texts provoking violence and aggressive behaviors in young people, and more attention should be paid to discussing the impact of this event on the school counseling practice.
The Recent Event: Shootings and Aggression in Social Media
Shootings, conflicts with police officers, riots, and violence based on racial prejudice, and stereotypes are societal concerns that can have a direct effect on youth development in the United States. Shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in July of 2016 have attracted the attention of the public and provoked the authorities’ reactions (Identifying aggressive social media behavior, 2016). However, much attention should also be paid to the response to shootings that was provided in the social media.
The tendency to share aggressive messages and post claims that accentuate the necessity of uniting and demonstrating violence to address injustice and force is regarded by counselors as dangerous (Strasburger, Hogan, Mulligan, Ameenuddin, & Christakis, 2013). The reason is that such posts on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, and videos on YouTube, as well as other media, appeal to the youth, and provoke not only their passive-aggressive online behaviors but also destructive behaviors typical of face-to-face interactions.
Trends Associated with Social Media and Youth Violence
Today, young people spend much time using social media, and this aspect influences their behavior. The content available with the help of social media is often violent in its nature. School counselors should educate parents regarding potential threats associated with the use of social networks having aggressive posts and messages.
It is also important to work with students in order to explain how networks can affect their behaviors and what criteria they can use in order to assess the content of violent messages, posts, images, or videos (Halpern & Gibbs, 2013; Pozios, Kambam, & Bender, 2013). Thus, the Arab Spring demonstrated that social media can be actively utilized for the mobilization of users in order to participate in riots and express their social position or political views (Breuer, Landman, & Farquhar, 2015). As a result, it is possible to observe aggressive posts in media and focus on violent actions using different behavioral patterns.
From this point, there is a tendency to use social networks in order to react to such events as shootings and conflicts and provoke new violent actions. Posts in social media that demonstrate examples of violence can be discussed as having medium risk, but posts demonstrating the access to weapons or including claims for aggressive actions can be considered as having a high risk for the youth (Identifying aggressive social media behavior, 2016).
However, there are also counselors and psychologists who note that there are no direct relationships between watching or reading aggressive posts and acting violently (Patton et al., 2013). In spite of the fact that school counselors continue to debate how violence in social media can influence students’ behaviors, it is almost impossible to ignore the tendency of spreading violent content online.
Impact of the Event on School Counseling Profession
The media coverage of shootings with the focus on deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile is associated with the tendency to attract public attention to the problem by means of aggression and violence. As a result, young people become exposed to many aggressive messages that can provoke stress, instability, and even antisocial behaviors (Pozios et al., 2013). The discussed event is only one example, and the problem is in the fact that thousands of similar posts are observed by students daily (Halpern & Gibbs, 2013). Therefore, this issue also influences the practice of school counselors who need to improve their strategies of working with students who can demonstrate active and passive-aggressive behaviors.
From this point, the practice of school counseling can be influenced significantly, and this issue should be discussed from several perspectives. On the one hand, the discussed event and the tendency of spreading aggressive posts in social media influence the population with which school counselors interact. Those students who demonstrate the increased attention to discussed events or whose level of anxiety high requires the counselors’ assistance (Patton et al., 2013). In addition, it is also necessary to conduct conversations regarding the safe use of social media in order to avoid stress. Furthermore, those students who are significantly affected by passive aggression in the context of social networks often require support. On the other hand, the discussed event is complex, and its consequences associated with the use of social media require the additional attention of counselors who need to revise their approach to conducting sessions and communicating with students.
Conclusion
In addition to the issues associated with social conflicts, it is also important to concentrate on such events as shootings and mass violence. Currently, young people receive information about these events from different sources, and using social media, they can also react to these events actively. However, the problem is in the fact that the spread of violent posts and aggressive messages in social networks can become the trigger for further antisocial behavior, and the task of a school counselor is to address this problem appropriately.
From this perspective, it is possible to observe the direct impact of shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile and the associated media coverage on the practice of school counselors and further tendencies in their work. In order to assist students in coping with the information available to them with the help of social media, school counselors should pay attention to the psychological state of young people who demonstrate the increased interest in shootings or aggressive posts in social media. They also should change the traditional strategies of communicating with students in order to learn more facts about the role that social media play in the life of this or that student. These steps are important to address the current tendency of using social media in order to popularize violent actions among young people.
References
Breuer, A., Landman, T., & Farquhar, D. (2015). Social media and protest mobilization: Evidence from the Tunisian revolution. Democratization, 22(4), 764-792.
Halpern, D., & Gibbs, J. (2013). Social media as a catalyst for online deliberation? Exploring the affordances of Facebook and YouTube for political expression. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 1159-1168.
Identifying aggressive social media behavior may prevent violence, save lives. (2016).
Patton, D. U., Eschmann, R. D., & Butler, D. A. (2013). Internet banging: New trends in social media, gang violence, masculinity, and hip hop. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(5), 54-59.
Pozios, V., Kambam, P., & Bender, E. (2013). Does media violence lead to the real thing? The New York Times. Web.
Strasburger, V. C., Hogan, M. J., Mulligan, D. A., Ameenuddin, N., & Christakis, D. A. (2013). Children, adolescents, and the media. Pediatrics, 132(5), 958-961.