Violence Among Us

LaCreshia
MaccDonalds
Eng 101
9 March 2014
Violence amongst Us Violence among young people in society is increasing dramatically. Perhaps what is most alarming is that these violent acts are not only occurring on the streets, but in the school systems as well. School violence is defined as any physical or verbal attack on a person while on school grounds or on school property. There has been an increase in the amount and the degree of violence. Students are now bringing guns, knives, and other weapons to school, and many are using them to hurt and kill. The main cause of school violence is a combination of bullying, the media and the lack of attention from parents and schools. The effects of school violence can lead from the media to severe mental and physical trauma for victim and suspect. To effectively deal with the issue, both of these need addressing. Understanding the causes of school violence is the best start in working to prevent it. Violent children of the schools are troubling other children. They bully other students, threaten them and beat them. They are even using weapons like knives and guns for killing students, teachers and principals. Reasons for this kind of violence are lack of love and affection from parents, parents fighting in front of kids and showing violence at home or using abusive language in front of them, films and media showing violence and schools and teachers not paying attention. Steps should be taken to prevent such kind of inhuman attitude at the school level otherwise this kind of attitude will keep on increasing. Bullying is a major cause of school violence and they are influenced by others. Media is another misleading form that causes violent behavior in children. The gore, blood and violence shown in movies and TV shows are imprinted in the minds of children and they too try to imitate such acts on their fellow students which are quite natural when adolescence is taken into consideration.
“Many parents, lawmakers and experts worry that violent video games, such as “Call of Duty,” “Killzone 3” and “Battlefield 3,” may be more dangerous because of their interactive nature and because they reward players for shooting people onscreen or they depict sexual violence. “The thing I find incredibly personally upsetting is the amount of violence against women in these games … and a lot of the roles are prostitutes and rape victims. It's staggering,” says April McClain-Delaney, Washington director of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that provides information for educators and parents about media content.” (Lyons). Adolescent age is the period when the child is most prone to getting drifted from right track to the wrong path. In the end, all boils down to the atmosphere where the child grows. So it is quite important for the parents and teachers to take necessary care and steps to make your child grow in a healthy environment. Parental involvement is an important factor in determining potentially violent behavior. A child often looks to their parents as role models, as well as for moral guidance. (Lyons). Therefore, if the parent tends to behave in an aggressive manner, the child will tend to mimic this behavior. Parents are also responsible for appropriately disciplining their child. If a parent refuses to address their child's aggressive behavior, the child may become violent in nature. Similarly, a parent who abuses and/or neglects their child is possibly contributing to the spread of violence in schools (Lyons). Joseph Guiliano states that youths who live in families where violence is common are at the greatest risk for becoming violent violence (Lyons). The American Psychological Association (APA), claims that family characteristics such as criminal history of the parent, rejection of the child, physical or emotional abuse, or lack of parental supervision are the "strongest predictors" in the potential for violent behavior (von). Therefore, parents need to be aware of the behavior they display in front of their children. Depression and tension contribute greatly towards developing a violent attitude as well. Children in America are put to work loads like excessive homework, assignments and projects that they do not have even a second to take a sigh of relief and ultimately they reach a point of extremity where they lose control over themselves and begins developing hatred towards others. Then there are the reasons associated with the circle of friends with whom the child mingles, the school atmosphere, effect of media and other forms of entertainment which can be misleading. The effects of the media are one of the biggest reasons of violence. A lot of violence is broadcasted in TV shows and cinemas. Kids see such programs and try to imitate the same in their real life. They observe violent scenes in media such as usage of guns and knives to kill the other person and hence, try to practice it in reality. Besides watching television, today's children use computers, tablets and smartphones to access movies, books, the Internet, video games and music — at any time. “Children ages 8 to 18 consume, on average, 10 hours and 45 minutes per day when the simultaneous use of multiple devices is taken into account. By contrast, in the 1930s, children were exposed to 10 hours of media per week” (Lyons). The amount of violence portrayed by students is clearly unacceptable and the violators should be punished. Regardless of the cause or effects of why violence happens, innocent people are getting hurt in the process.

Works Cited
"Bullying." CQ Researcher 15 June 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
Lyons, Christina L. "Media Violence." CQ Researcher 14 Feb. 2014: 145-68. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. von Reininghaus, Gabriella Natassia, Pablo Javier Castro, and Susana Frisancho. "School violence: subjective theories of academic advisory board members from six Chilean schools." Interdisciplinaria 30.2 (2013): 219+. Gale Power Search. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.