Producers’ Pick | Dr. Tom Kersting: Is Social Media Making Children More Violent?

Radio that makes you think this is the Brian kill me to know where there really crying and why you and that was so was one of the producers and of the network talk about the interview with the child. You don't really know if you put it-year-old on even of their articulately think the you want your point of view, but I'm not sure it's in their best interest, but then you find out these kids and their survival instinct putting blood on them. They were shocked to pretend they were dead. They kept calling 911 took the phone off of the sadly the one of the teachers had been shot dead you imagine that: number one repeatedly. We don't have all the intercepts but believe me, we will eventually get them and still was their best assessment to stand on the outside but nobody thinks that was the right thing to do.

I want to get to the police element of it, but I do want to talk about. I do want to talk about the school psychological part of it was bringing a duck time cursing you know… Tom always comes on, school psychologist, a best-selling author has a great perspective on this.

Is it just me. The doctors thing or things seem to be getting worse.

Well, you know, certainly look at the statistics of all the school shootings. It's absolutely getting worse. However, I was on a different show last weekend and want to really want to reiterate the parents is that we are seeing this stuff constantly in the news and so forth and out social media. But the truth is that, statistically speaking.

I know it's hard to hear this problem.

It is deceitful for our children to go to school that we need to really convey that message for children of the issues is that we have so much anxiety and so forth out if it's an epidemic among kids and, yes, if our kids will be older, we can talk about these issues, but if were younger, we want to really ascertain to make sure the kids know that it is safe to go to school. Trust that the schools are are following the proper protocols trust is lost as a free euros to be targeted in the call for help.

And then we find out the help was on the outside for 47 minutes, or maybe even longer.

It's just it's mind-boggling to think that was thought to be the correct decision. But what we would you do with were talking about all these different technologies to identify the dead that bloodthirsty kid in that high school.

The 17-year-old who comes an 18-year-old, we saw two times in the last three weeks to go on a shooting spree me would you do, how do you when you had this job.

How do you assess foods what kid will be a potential killer would kid is solemn, what kid just likes to wear black wood kid just has a broken family worked I worked at 25 years of private practice now only but on when we were pretty easy to identify. You know a kid that it was somewhat troubled. Of course, you never start that could to get the school.

I think the difference now Brian today is that everybody has some sort of a digital footprint.

Every shooter every DR incident that we see that person typically has been no putting little planting little seeds out there were gorgeous blatantly saying I'm going to do a beefier date. I think in my opinion you look at social media to Bible book is about whether what you look at social media have the ability to quickly to shut somebody down if they don't agree with their opinion and so forth. I think what social media needs to do babies beat me accountable for. That's a very heavy wet AppleWorks of the company is toasting him to go to school or kill my grandmother something that information should be ever sit behind their social media player company should be sending alerts figure out where this person is notifying the police and so that's what I would do a firefly control of your book disconnected how to protect your kids from the harmful effects of device dependencies, soaking the most these guys like the Buffalo guy was telling somebody on his digital footprints are still trying to investigate that.

And then we have this killer who's holding up clear bags of dead cats and laughing about in the passenger seat of a car putting out this video. Everybody that talks about them. Say how scared they were of him and now will dedicate more more that he was out there was actually about six interactions with police officers. So in the look of dad you look at Parkland. You look in Buffalo think I gave to 1/2 hours psychological analysis with a I guess state police officials in New York so you know it's not like we didn't see any of this coming, but what is your assessment of this in that. Are we thinking to ourselves or something were doing online or in today's lack of nuclear for the traditional nuclear families that is allowing them and coming off the pandemic is having a plethora of mentally damaged kids what you what my book is all about the public only explains the rights of the average kid nowadays is spending between 89 hours a day and a completely different planet called cyberspace parts of the way to mark the human brain works where where ever we are smart mind is spending the most time to repetitive messaging and so forth might actualize is that so that when you look at I call social media.

The tailpipe of the mainstream media because everything funnels out that the camera everywhere. Everything's captured the start of streetcorner Cameron or pocket and what we put our kids are marinating in all day long is buying links and behavior muggings and so forth.

That has now become the norm. So therefore, their brains are normalizing you take a sociopath like this in a recent shooter and you add that in the other layer of all of this you know the final incident and angering that so forth. That's just fueling that psychopathic mind go out and do something that severe. That's how I look@foxnewscontributortransom.com daily newsletter inviting you to join a conversation every week is been Dominic's podcast listen no Fox News contests.com Dr. time cursing our guests spent 25 years in the school system, New Jersey right so so when people want to blame the gun they want to blame social media. They want to blame parenting what how do we get on top of this right away because it seems like every day that we we don't go work towards a solution, we see another horrific scene you mentioned you said so little out of the current nuclear family and that the missing element in our society right now. That way you even families that you have two parents and no couple kids and so forth that really functioning like families and sit around the dinner table having dinner every night with one another, even if I talk about as well.

Even when you when you look in driving my daughter to school for the freshman high school by looking at rearview mirror. Every kid in the past with your spirit staring at therefore absolutely interaction interaction between parent and child, apparently to do any good at flipping right now.

Here's a crazy, statistically the average parent spends just 3 1/2 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with her children that assisted the statistic produced first and foremost his parents have to make time to sit and have deep conversations with their children on a daily basis. That is how you Cornett connection that parent shall connection that's our kids become confident that our kids become motivated and it's dark and become good citizens. I think it's great that is fantastic. In the meantime while we wait for that to happen while we see a lot of broken families, or family so good there on the thereon texted there are there on their phone. I can make a call on my car. In the meantime, how do we stop it.

People weren't talking about gun legislation now. Are you against due from what you saw you against giving teachers the option to be armed are you against having to armed officers in every school, big or small. So my father is a retired police officer. My brother is a deputy inspector with NYPD strike up a law enforcement family and my experience with the law enforcement families that they are the greatest of the best of the best. My brother and my father and there you know they are equipped and responsible to handle handle weapon and my dad always says he's a big advocate of having armed police officers at schools because he said that the best thing we've heard this before that protect the bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun in schools that do have no armed officers. Those are called soft targets so somebody that knows it is getting armed officers less likely to enter one of those schools and that's just enough that just, but common sense, so I am not against it by him.

Actually, for it because I don't see the teachers being the ones that you could be carrying out these mass shootings anything to protect our kids first and foremost is minimal and so the big picture I saw this debt today. I brought it to her and want to bring to our interview. Most students are frozen socially and emotionally. At the age they were when the pandemic started. According to the New York Times.

This is survey of 362, school counselors, 94% of the counselor since 94% said sure so it says that the student is showing signs of anxiety and depression that before Cova 1980% said students having more trouble regulating their emotions almost 3/4 say the kids are having more difficulty solving conflicts with friends that they had a year off from interacting in many cases, especially if the parents will want back to work and then bought kids, one from I hate solo I hate doing the laptop and I hate zooming to. I know I want the freedom of zooming and you haven't seen your friends in a while. Did you expect those type of high numbers I see it in my private practice product so the anxiety issue has been around for a while.

It's been an epidemic really since 2012 smart phones at first, but COBIT 19 was like the next what the next layer the icing on the cake and explain why what why kids are what you're missing more anxiety so you take a human being okay and they are sort of imprisoned in their own home. I use that term October 19 kids were not allowed to go to school. Most of them activities were canceled or isolated by themselves in their bedrooms in the bed was became their classrooms that would happen is the way that human brain works again is that we develop habits and comfort, so if you've been in your bedroom for months or year that becomes your safe space out your brain now realize that there's nothing dangerous about that now.

Schools open up society opens up and after having been shut down for year going back out into quote the real world. The brain doesn't really recognize that it seems like like foreign territory, so it sets off the body's natural alarm system the sympathetic nervous system, which is what triggers anxiety so legitimately that's what that's body is preparing itself to defend itself against the threat even though there is no threat. So the only solution is to continue to put our kids out there getting out and getting into the school, get them immersed back into society with activities and so forth. But it is a major problem.

You held your kids, so my son is 19. His freshman year in college, my daughter is a freshman in high school are you wearing my word for them. You know what, I'm not sorry because again you know I am you.

I spent a lot of time with them.

I try to stand top of them is much like can I tell them I love them as much as I cannot hug them worried about the world around them and what one tried to explain to my own kids. In other cases that your kids haven't changed.

It's the world around us every chance I try to insulate my kids as best I can from the negative element of the world around us and try to get them to realize that the world really is a good place to keep ourselves out of the bed space.

Yes, it's good to have a psychologist as a desk yeah psychotherapist, I should say doctor tell you everything at yet that look like my kids are now gone to college one out, but I would not be worried. I also know my town is done. They do have encore concealed armed guards.

I do know the doing profiling within the systems, even nursing, six and eight-year-olds. This communication with the grammar school to the high school to the junior high schools among the local local officials were working in the schools and we have some retired cops in our area. It is just one were fortuitous. It's not an affluent area is all different kinds, but getting proactive about it. I'm just wondering practically can others do with Marco Rubio to talk to us about the top of the hour already profiling kids not to just sit and the threat assessment not to evaluate your future success that we need to look school. Schools of all the information your dedicated unit defiant and oppositional as behavioral issues at school for emotional issues, rather history of aggression and violence that those things you show up in second third grade and not I think you are really transitioning that information from elementary school to middle school that I school disarms people administrators and school counselors with knowledge of the information and with the ability to go to red flag. A kid that that may fit the profile of sub some that would do something terrific.

Dr. Tom, Christine, thanks so much to get this book disconnected how to protect your kids from the harmful effects of device dependency. Thanks, Tom a great one. I think I got some Fox News contests network subscriber listen to the trade only one federal prosecutor and four term US Congressman from South Carolina brings you a one-of-a-kind punch subscriber list now just.com