Young people of today’s world have seen quite a bit. From millions dying from COVID-19, to hundreds of school shootings, and global conflicts where civilian attacks and murders have become commonplace. That’s just to name a few of the ways that the upcoming generation has been exposed to violence, death, and tragedy.
Following the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, millions of students and young people took to the streets to protest. Mainly led by the organization March For Lives, which was founded by survivors of the shooting, students in every state and even globally walked out of school to demand better, and to show power in numbers. In the immediate aftermath, the mass mobilization that occurred to draw attention and call for immediate action was profound and made waves. Some states’ laws were strengthened as a result of the momentum. However, as time has continued, a generation that has begun leading movements against violence and suffering now faces a major roadblock.
Desensitization.
It isn’t entirely due to a lack of empathy. According to a Harvard University Youth Poll, 61% of young people feel that no political violence is acceptable in the United States. The issue is much broader than empathy. It has to do more with burnout, a 24-hour news cycle, the harmful effects of social media, and the normalization of violence.
Before jumping into each of those other buckets, let’s be clear about what desensitization is. Merriam-Webster has two main definitions for the word:
- to make (a sensitized or hypersensitive individual) insensitive or nonreactive to a sensitizing agent
- to extinguish an emotional response (as of fear, anxiety, or guilt) to stimuli that formerly induced it
It’s important to consider both definitions. The first notes the difference between someone being sensitive to information, or images, or news that formerly would have provoked more of a response. The second notes the “extinguish” which occurs to bring that reality about.
For a moment, seeing a headline such as “Palestinian Death Toll Passes 64,000” gives a moment of pause, as that number is more than a number; it’s thousands of people murdered. The broader issue is to what extent headlines of tragedy can break through amongst thousands of other headlines of tragedy for the momentum needed to address the root causes of suffering globally. People are feeling hopeless, and the overwhelming nature of constant devastation from classrooms scarred with bullets to communities buried under rubble has extinguished much of the ability to believe that speaking up about it or trying to change anything can actually do something.
Burnt Out?
While it’s often referred to as a cliché from everyone’s favorite political speech or article, the world is truly in unprecedented times. What’s often forgotten, though, is that there are many parallels to moments throughout the history books that could be used to help navigate the challenges of today and tomorrow. Another cliche is acknowledging that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. When young people are blasted in the face daily with yet another instance where a school has been bombed in the Middle East, where yet another classroom of children has been slaughtered, and while yet another population is facing genocidal conditions where women and children make up the bulk of the deaths, it’s fair that young people doubt that anything would change. Because looking at all these examples, society nationally in the United States and even on the global stage is insane to expect that anything will change if the bulk of the response to mass tragedy and murder amounts to just “thoughts and prayers.”
Not to mention that young people are also having to navigate being students, getting a job, paying off debt, and maybe just maybe being able to afford a home or an ER visit.
When there’s a moment to breathe, there’s a headline.
In 1980, a new way of obtaining information was introduced: the 24-Hour News Cycle. CNN is where the concept originated, with news coverage every day, hour, and minute for the public to consume. While it certainly expanded the horizons for people to be aware, it also opened the floodgates to a much larger shift to the firehose of news stories, giving people whiplash daily and overwhelming the average consumer to the point where they just want to turn it all off.
There isn’t a correct way to address this. There are concerns about the type of environment it creates in any country and how it could hinder people’s interest, willingness, or ability to access reliable information. Looking at scholarly literature within the topic of knowledge resistance in high information environments, the point is made that, “Not only is the sheer quantity of information growing, so too are the sources that people can choose for consuming information…A broad concern is that with so many choices, people can effectively resist knowledge.”
At a certain point, the overwhelming nature of this type of media environment, where people can resist certain knowledge and instead be more vulnerable to misinformation and disinformation, but also just refuse to obtain information at all, poses a huge risk to vertical accountability.
Civic participation can be even more under threat when there is lessening vertical accountability due to desensitization. If people choose to tune out the tough issues of the day, week, year, or century, then how can any of those issues be solved? At the same time, when there is that firehose of headlines, how can anyone be expected not to become burnt out or desensitized at a certain point?
Just keep scrolling…
The icing on the desensitized cake is the influence and addictive nature of social media. It’s the piece of the puzzle in all of this that is the least studied so far, yet could be bearing the largest impact, especially for young people. The Washington Post looked specifically at TikTok usage in the United States. The results of this analysis found that users are hooked, and many see an increase in scrolling on and opening the app. It was even described as an “addiction.” One valuable point made is that when people are on their phones more and more, and more than needed, it means that they aren’t engaging with family, friends, and community in real life.
When young people have grown up with a media landscape that looks like Times Square with a bunch of quick-moving titles and short videos on screens, which has, in turn, made consuming it addictive, it’s no wonder that over time desensitization has flourished.
Social media has also opened the doors for accessing information; it has brought the major stories of the day right to someone’s homescreen and fingertips. As much as that can contribute to the overwhelming nature, it can also be a powerful tool that gives people more knowledge that they wouldn’t have otherwise.
Okay, so what do we do about it?
The solutions to the largest problems aren’t cut and dry, because if they were, then they probably would have been solved by now. When it comes to the issue of desensitization, a large part of the work that must be done to address it is the need to study how various parts of social media and the media landscape contribute to it. In addition to this, broadening mental health services to ensure that people who are overwhelmed and desensitized are able to access services that could be helpful to them. The largest thing contributing to this issue, though, might just have to be that nobody wants to talk about it. Nothing about the detrimental effects of the desensitization occurring specifically for young people is comforting or exciting, but it’s a reality. It has to be acknowledged and taken seriously because people’s lives, mental health, and democracy depend on it being better addressed and understood.
I appreciated the example you used regarding the “Palestinian Death Toll Passes 64,000”. More specifically how you mentioned that this may only make one pause for a moment, because within the news there are hundreds of other headlines about violence. This is a captivating example that highlights your point, young people are becoming desensitized to violence. It is becoming part of a normal routine when watching the news and following along with current events. I found it interesting when you mentioned how vertical accountability ties into the growing problem of desensitization. Political scientists have said that vertical accountability is weakened by things like repressing the opposition, curtailing civil liberties, media repression, and more. We see some of these things happening in our government today. From denying civilians basic civil liberties in cases of deportation to simply lying about what happened on national television. It is disheartening to see that our government is finding even more ways to weaken vertical accountability. With these daunting and dangerous times at hand in our country, I appreciate your section at the end of your post highlighting the importance of acknowledging mental health when being exposed to such high levels of violence.
This is such a compelling argument about a topic that is often overlooked in a society where technology and social media is advancing like never before. One of my favorite points you made were how desensitization is not due to a lack of empathy, but due to burnout. This issue does not lie in the hands of the people who are subjected to it, but to a system that normalizes violence through a never-ending algorithm. However, it is important to note that desensitization is also a structural problem in modern American democracy, as it has a major effect on how democratic accountability functions. According to Robert Dahl, democracy depends on effective participation and enlightened understanding. Nonetheless, overwhelming media environments, like the addictiveness of TikTok, undermine both of these concepts. As you mentioned, this is a serious problem because citizens are actively disengaging due to burnout, hence weakening vertical accountability. In Hannah Arendt’s “Truth and Politics” she discusses how the erosion of a shared reality makes political judgment difficult. Similar to this scenario, the “firehose” of information does not just overwhelm, it blurs truth and significance to the point where nothing feels urgent anymore. The sad reality is that nothing will change from “thoughts and prayers.” This repeated inaction will merely lead to a continued and increased disengagement. Nonetheless, the real question here is: how can democracies design media and political systems that sustain engagement without overwhelming citizens? Modern media is proactively reshaping not just what citizens know, but whether they feel capable of acting at all.
The comments here connect desensitization to accountability in a useful way. I’d add that Solt (2008) finds something similar from a different angle. When people don’t think the system will respond to them, participation drops. The burnout this post describes and the cynicism Solt documents are two separate problems that end up in the same place. Together they’re harder to reverse than either one would be on its own.
Joey, this is an extremely enticing topic, which is a bigger problem than most people think. First off, I love how you formatted this blog, with easy-to-read captions and bullet points, ideal for those with short attention spans, as discussed in the article. It is so true that terrible tragedies have become the norm. They have gone so far that they don’t even reach discussion anymore between friends and family, and if they do, it’s a short text with responses like “I saw that” or “ugh, yes, so sad.” At least in my friend groups, there is little to no discussion of current world situations, their solutions, or deep sympathy. And you are correct, as this is because it is so regular, normal, and what are we to do about it? In terms of violence and death desensitization, social media has made deaths like George Floyd or Charlie Kirk accessible to watch, and probably has been watched by the majority of Americans. Though these deaths have contributed to desensitization, they probably would be two of the more prominent, recent examples of how death in the media has invoked two big movements, like the BLM movement and the Turning Point resurgence. As those examples are two in two billion, the constant news cycle and continual scrolling have totally corrupted our emotional responses and frozen our innate human reflexes to repair when we see wrong.
I feel desensitization is widely talked about, yet solutions are rarely proposed. This piece provided a comprehensive analysis of the problem and realistic solutions to combat it. Your inclusion of the headline “Palestinian Death Tolls Passes 64,000,” encapsulated the problem perfectly. We read “64,000” as a face number value, rather than equating it to human lives. In part, it is incomprehensible to fathom that many people. Taking it one step further to scale a full fledged war with that many lives lost, is beyond many’s scope of imagination. I really appreciate your analysis on vertical accountability risks. In a solid democratic framework, the state is held accountable by its citizens, who are informed and motivated to act and dissent. However, when violence becomes normalized the shock value that triggers mobilization no longer exists. The more desensitized we become, the more indifferent we grow towards the actions of our leaders. This is a dangerous phenomenon as younger generations will become content with lackluster leadership. I think recognizing the firehose is important. As you stated, however, it cannot be the only acknowledgement of the problem. Creating more third spaces, mental health services, and media literacy is vital to ensure young people can process global trauma without becoming apathetic.
This blog does a great job of tackling one of the most prominent issues in our current generation. I haven’t come across any other articles so far that discuss desensitization in the current political landscape, and this blog does a great job of providing a timeline. Your take on a proposed solution for broadening mental health services is vital and often overlooked when it comes to fixing issues like desensitization and the normalization of such disheartening deaths. I think of examples like the millions of deportations by ICE and mass school shootings, as mentioned, not to include current leaders, who are downplaying deaths when it comes to those of the opposite party, which can be another topic discussed when accounting for polarization. The media has programmed us to see a number just as a number. The example of the 64,000 Palestinian death toll brings things into perspective when thinking about how many lives were lost. I’d also add that media literacy in school could be helpful in navigating the immense social media that is often overwhelming. If we become too desensitized to act, we lose our power as citizens in holding others accountable and moving towards change.