Kenny Keane Professor Jacobs ENC 1101 2/28/2014 Increased Violence among Children "...

the country probably will experience a future wave of youth violence that will be even worse than that of the past 10 years. The challenge for the future is how best to address youth violence. Juvenile violence will be an increasing problem unless society undertakes a major effort to educate and support young children and preadolescents today"(Fox). There are a lot of causes and factors for the increased violence among children. In the past decade, the rate of violence between children has steadily increased. There are many factors that lead to violence among children such as family issues, the media, and even genetics. Poor parenting can lead to violence in youth. Although some parents dont realize it, their children are going to pick up on their actions and demeanor and incorporate into their own lives. Children have a strong tendency to mimic what they see and hear from their most significant role models. In fact, lawmakers in the state of Maryland are trying to pass a bill that will increase penalties for violent crimes committed in the presence of children. According to the National Survey of Childrens Exposure to violence they found the following: Every year, millions of American children witness episodes of domestic violence that can haunt them for the rest of their lives. In 2011, one in 12 children witnessed a family assault" (Vargas). Because

Keane 2 children are so strongly influenced by their parents, even simple verbal arguments can cause severe emotional trauma and lead to an increased risk of childhood violence. Children who witness fighting amongst parents and spouses will mimic this behavior and are more likely to use violence to solve their problems as well as to deal with every day stress. This problem is exacerbated when parents use physical punishments to discipline their offspring instead of consequential or verbal reprimands. Divorce between parents can cause mental health issues for the child the rest of their lives. Having a split household between a mother and father can cause poor school performance, increased tendency towards drug use, and even increased likelihood of jail time. Parents who let their kids play mature rated video games or see R-rated movies at a young age are just encouraging their child to use violence and bad decision making when faced with a problem. In addition to poor parenting, growing up in a bad neighborhood has also been shown to increase the likelihood of an adolescent to engage in violent behavior or activities. If a child does not feel safe and secure in his or her community they are more likely to join a gang or run away. It has been estimated that participation in gangs by adolescents has increased by 25% from the years 2000 to 2009. More should be done to reach out to children who grow up in lowincome neighborhoods to deter them from joining gangs and encourage them to instead partake in school-related activities. The media has a huge impact on the violent behavior of youths in America. The media isnt just the news and the television; it is anything the child hears or interacts with such as the Internet. The evening news is littered with stories of shootings, robberies, theft, and murder. Research by psychologists found that children who watched many hours of violence on

Keane 3 television when they were in elementary school tended to show higher levels of aggressive behavior when they became teenager. The news is usually a common thing to watch at dinner with the family but all the violence and crime that makes an interesting and sensational story could may excite an impressionable child. The child could then feel more inclined to engage in that type of activity simply for the excitement. Movies with killing, songs about selling "dope" or doing drive by shootings and video games are often blamed for being the leading causes of violence in children. Exposure to such things at a young age can have devastating effect on an otherwise peaceful child's heart and mind. Children are more likely to see or hear these action movies and music and want to replicate what they are seeing. I think the music in particular these days has a lot of influence on younger kids because they dont exactly know what the lyrics stand for or the true meaning of the words. They look up to these rappers who have a hit on the radio, go out buy the cd and all 16 other tracks are about selling dope or how hes wearing two chains. Movies that are rated PG13 I believe are getting more violent and after seeing some things a child could be changed forever. Parents are letting their thirteen year olds watch R-rated movies because they think their old enough, but the content can have a irreversible effect. Video games also have a lot to do with violence among kids. The graphic nature of some of the games can be very influential to a young developing mind. Mature video games have a lot of blood, gore, shooting, death, fighting, etc. all these things can lead children to problem solve in aggressive and violent ways. The games being created today arent like the ones back in the 90s, games like The Sims are getting outsold by violent fighting games; that in itself is an indicator that the culture in which our children are being raised is rapidly changing. Video

Keane 4 games are virtual reality and some kids will spend the majority of their leisure time playing video games for so long they forget which reality their in. I believe the increase of school shootings has to do with some of these games like Grand Theft Auto. The first person military shooting games I dont believe have a lot to do with the violence because its portrayed in a military setting and it is a literal war zone. Games such as Grand Theft Auto take place in the streets and the main character is portrayed as a heartless killer who guns down innocent bystanders rather than an actual enemy. Childrens minds are delicate when growing. Children are likely to grow up to be just like those around them in a lot of aspects. They take values they learn from their parents and environment growing up and use them throughout their lives. Parenting and close watch of terms, shows, movies and video games can be a step forward in preventative measures to decrease the risk of violence in any child. There is no practical solution for completely eliminating violence in children. Some might even say that violence is simply a part of growing up. I believe, however, that by approaching the situation at hand properly and by educating not only children but also their parents will significantly decrease the occurrence of childhood violence.

Works Cited 1) Fox, James. "Trends in Juvenile Violence: A Report to the United States Attorney General on Current and Future Rates of Juvenile Offending" National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Volume 4 (1996): 543-561.

2) Vargas, Theresa. "Maryland considers making violent offenders do more time if a child sees the crime."POST LOCAL [Washington DC] 08 003 2014, In Apr. 2014. the news section 1. Web. 3 who-

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dont-kill-her-children-

witness-domestic-violence-carry-lifelong-scars/2014/03/08/d30cc6bc- 9d83- 11e3- b8d894577ff66b28_story.html

3) "Gang Statistics." statisticbrain.com. Federal Bureau of Investigation, April http://www.statisticbrain.com/gang-statistics/. accessed April 3, 2014.

28, 2013.

4) Loeber, Ralf. "Key Issues in the Development of Aggression and Violence Childhood to Early Adulthood" Annual Review of Psychology. 1997: 348-371.

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Volume 48. February