Parents are so concerned that some of them have placed passwords on Arabic news channels to ensure their children are not exposed to violent scenes on television. Such scenes never used to be seen in the Arab world until the advent of satellite TV and the Internet in the late 1990s.

“We can’t deny the fact that the media have a deep impact on the behavior of people,” said Buthina Khoja, a psychotherapist who works at a private clinic in Jeddah. “Although the new generations … are exposed to violence in Western movies and violent cartoons, the situation is different when they watch actual scenes of violence and blood. It is more harmful when they know that this is what is happening in their own countries or in their neighboring countries,” she added.

Khoja said such scenes make youngsters feel sad and can lead to them having nightmares. “Viewers who are used to seeing violence in places such as Palestine develop a sense of indifference to such violence. But those who were not used to such violence on news channels are now exposed to them because of the ongoing developments in the region,” said Khoja.

“Showing violence on TV along with media commentary on how such crimes are carried out makes children feel depressed,” said Kinda Barazeq, a Palestinian mother of an 11-year-old boy.

“What is happening in the Arab countries is unusual. These scenes can affect children mentally,” she added.

Dina Hafez, a Syrian self-improvement trainer and mother of three teenagers, said the violence that is being shown on Arab news channels everyday is harmful to society.

“My 14-year-old son told me about a nightmare he saw. This was because of the mutilated body of a Syrian soldier that was shown on the news,” said Hafez, adding that she has now banned her children from watching the news.

Rawan Maher, a Syrian student at a private university in Jeddah, spoke about an unforgettable scene she recently watched on TV. As a result, she decided not to watch the news anymore.

“I watched footage of an eight-year-old Syrian girl who was attending her father’s funeral; her father was a soldier and had been killed by gangs in Syria. She cried and spoke how proud she was of him, how great he was and that he should go to paradise. It was a sad scene. Her three-year-old sister was also there. She was sad but couldn’t understand why her sister was crying,” said Maher.

“I cried when I saw it. Then I forgot it. After a few hours, I tried to go to sleep, but I couldn’t because I kept thinking of that crying girl. I could remember her words which made me cry all night.”