Parenting Explained With Dr. Hammond

Guno Ritfeld, JD  was recently invited to appear on The Dr. Hammond Show – Community Central TV: Parenting Explained with Dr. Hammond

The topic was Violence in our society and different ways to correct this ever-growing problem. Video

Guno Ritfeld along with Phil DeLuca – therapist/author teamed up to share their expertise and knowledge on some of the common reasons for violence in our society and the importance of conflict resolution to fix this serious issue within our society today.

Some known causes of violence:

• Fear of the unknown. Even though America is known as a melting pot of different people, cultures and religions, our country still struggles with fear of differences and fear of what we don’t understand. This fear can then lead to feeling the need to protect against this perceived threat. This in turn can lead to violence.
• Stress and anxiety are at epidemic levels within our society. Families are stressed out from working long hours and then rushing children around to various activities. There is a break-down in communication within the family unit in part due to families not taking the time to eat together. Family meals have historically been the time for families to come together and have conversation and discover what is happening in each other’s lives. This tradition is unfortunately on the decline and families simply don’t know each other anymore. When family members are simply living under the same room but don’t talk and interact, this can lead to destructive outlets for self-soothing which in turn has led to epidemic rates of porn addiction and opioid addiction. These addictions have been shown time and again to lead to violent behavior.
• Electronics are a common staple in the vast majority of homes today. Email and texting has replaced traditional modes of communication and have replaced much of the face-to-face interactions. Without the human element of communication, much of the dialogue is misconstrued and miscommunication can lead to misunderstandings which negatively impacts relationships. Violent television shows and video games have also been linked to violent behavior in the growing minds and psyche of children.

Ways to prevent violence:

• Fix the breakdown in the family structure. As a society, we are losing our ability to connect and therefore hindering the development of conflict resolution skills. These skills begin at home and many families in our society are simply never together. In order to help fix this breakdown in the family structure, families should aim to coming together and eating at least 2-3 meals together a week. The television needs to be turned off and the smart phones, electronics and video games need to be used very sparingly. Families need to replace these mind-numbing habits with actual conversation amongst each other.
• Adults need to be positive role models – Children learn and grow by modeling what they see. Adults play an extremely important role in the lives of children who are watching everything they do and modeling their behavior accordingly – both positive behavior and negative behavior. When children witness violent behavior in the home, they will take what they have witnessed and learned and unleash it on society.