DR. MARC SIEGEL: Why the Kirk killing is a wake-up call to curb children’s screen time

When I was a child, I remember feeling that one hour a week playing video games “Space Invaders” in an arcade was a guilty pursuit without real advantage. I intuitively knew that I was better in a park to play baseball or basketball. Over time, I managed to fight budding dependence. In comparison, today’s video game, the Internet and the social media buffet looks like a gourmet – addictive and unhealthy banquet for body and soul.

We do not know the exact role that video games and immersion on social networks played in the worsening of the mental health of Tyler Robinson, 22, the alleged killer of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk. But we know he was imbued with this world.

Last week’s horrible events are more than sufficient to alert us that we underestimate the impact of social media as well as violent video games like “Helldivers 2”. The match won a prize last year despite his satire on a fascist multi-galaxy empire. Unfortunately, a reference to this game seems to have presented itself in an inscription on the ammunition found with the Robinson rifle.

Charlie Kirk allegedly alleged that Assassin’s roommate was “ problematic ” before the family launches it, says relative

As Alyssa Finley wrote it in the Wall Street Journal this week, in a perceptive play, “Tyler Robinson and America’s Lost Boys”: “Mariner in a genius on the Internet cannot be good for the young and malleable male spirit. Could kill villains in video games desensitize conscience? Treat online avatares and do not fight on violent video games.

But they get lost in cyberspace. They enter and remain in a dissociative reality which discourages social interaction and moral development.

In March 2025, the FBI warned the public of a growing network of operating threats on online social networks for young people. The internet crime complaints wrote: “These networks exist on online platforms accessible to the public, such as social media sites, game platforms and mobile applications commonly used by young people … These violent actors target them to engage in the climbing of harmful behavior designed to make them shame and isolate them.”

Indeed, those who have a propensity for mental illness are the most easily targeted for exploitation. Recent research reveals that adolescents who spend three hours or more per day on social networks have the risk of anxiety or depression.

The applauding Americans accused of killers show a dangerous “dehumanization” of adversaries, warns Douglas Murray

Several studies have shown that most children and adolescents who are heavy users of social media end up feeling worse in their skin. And there is no strong distinction here between video games and social media. All this is part of an online presence – a saturation of virtual reality which is diverted but also insulating, the last thing including a child, a teenager or a young growing adult need.

Charlie Kirk speaks at the University of Utah Valley on September 10, 2025 in Orem, Utah, before his assassination. (Trent Nelson / The Salt Lake Tribune / Getty Images)

What to do about it

There is not much that a parent can do when someone is 22 years old, like Robinson, but there is a lot of time before.

We already had an alarm clock last year when Luigi Mangione, 27, who had a training in video game development, was charged with the murder of the CEO of Unitedhealthcare, Brian Thompson.

Luigi Mangione appeared at the Supreme Court of Manhattan for a hearing in the murder case deposited against him for having killed the CEO of Unitedhealthcare, Brian Thompson, on September 16, 2025. (Curtis means for Dailymail / Pool)

The limits must be placed on social networks, mobile phones and the Internet and on video game time. Parents must give an example by limiting their own screen time and their commitment to social networks.

Click here for more Fox News opinion

Dinner should be a moment for an open discussion, including on subjects such as the kirk murder, which should not be prohibited. But the emphasis should be placed on more positive emotions – Kindness, attention, compassion and courage – which all pass through the same emotional centers of the brain as fear and hatred.

The consequences of a horrible event like this can be the moment to express faith and come together to cry. This is the worst time possible for new divisions and political attacks, which are also contagious.

Click here to obtain the Fox News app

Social media, video games and avatars easily amplify our worst instincts.

We can do better. We can teach our children to be their best self in a world without avatars.

Click here to find out more from DR. Marc Siegel