Guindo1 Idriss Guindo Megan Keaton English 111-08 27 June 2013

Causes of The Violence Among the youth: According to the American Psychological Association (APA), violence can be defined as an extreme form of aggression, such as assault, rape or murder. Most studies indicate that no single factor or unique situation causes an individual to engage in violent behavior. Violence has been a growing threat to our society which people dont often understand and dont know how to explain. The level of violence is actually extremely high among the youth. It sometimes begins with something less serious like beating a friend and end up getting worst within the years like committing robberies or murders, however nobody is born criminal, thief or murder. A lot of parents struggle to understand what makes their children act like bandits and criminals. For many years psychologists have been trying to determine the causes of their behavior. There is no one cause because everybody is different. After having done many researches and analyzed all the articles that have been written on what the causes of the violence among the youth might be, there are several ones that caught my attention and need to be fully explained in order to really understand where that violence comes from. There are several reasons that explain best the increasing violence among the youth It is well known that every child needs affection, protection, advice and love; adults need it as well but children even more. Various aspects of parenting may contribute to violent behavior in children. He lists five parenting flaws in particular: poor supervision; erratic, harsh discipline; parental disharmony; rejection of the child; and limited involvement in the child's activities. Parents who exhibit this behavior engage in a parent-child

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interaction pattern that inadvertently encourages and rewards aggressiveness in their children. (Scott Barbour). Children are sensitive; they always need someone to show them the right example, to put them on the right path, to advise them and help them distinguish what is right from what is wrong. Without someone to guide them they would feel like they are lost, they would not know what to do or even how to act when facing certain situation. The only option they will have is to behave the way they want to, even though it might not be appropriate in certain situation. By not having someone to put them on the right path in other word to discipline them they could end up being aggressive and violent. Sometimes those who are supposed to show the right example dont do it the right way because they themselves dont know how to correct and discipline a child or they just dont pay close attention to the child. Some parents are divorced and it is really hard in that condition to raise a child especially when they dont get along and dont communicate, the child will feel like his parents dont love him anymore; he will start being violent to others to manifest his lack of love. Unfortunately this is quite common nowadays. Nowadays children are exposed to violence everywhere such as in school, in home, in the streets. In the street for example they are exposed to drug dealers, bandits, prostitutes, killers, weapon sellers. Thieves, those are all the bad influences that can be found in the street. Some children are even forced to be members of gangs, they are forced to consume and sell marijuana or some other drugs. Research shows that youth who use drugs, such as methamphetamine, are more likely to act out violently. People who were once sociable become extremely aggressive when addicted to drugs. Reasons for violence can range from needing money to feed their addictions to drug deals that go wrong. Many states adopting medical marijuana laws are noticing a rise in drug abuse

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and violent crimes among juveniles(Jessica Best). Another example would be in school some youth are being bullied by their friends, which result in developing an aggressive behavior towards others. Bullying can also lead to self-esteem issues. If left untreated they can lead to acts of violence by the victim or even suicide. Many schools are implementing anti-bullying strategies at school (Jessica best). Those are the kind of violence the youth are exposed to in school, at home and in the streets Environment and genetics are two factors that affect children as well. Environment affects the youth more than people think; it causes them to be more aggressive while Genetic is a factor that plays a role in being aggressive. It has been proven that someone who has pretty aggressive parents is more likely to be aggressive himself. "Stephen Scott, a child and adolescent psychologist writing in the "British Medical Journal," conducted a thorough review of the research on childhood conduct disorder. He found that children of antisocial parents are more likely to develop conduct disorder, even if they are raised in an adoptive home. This suggests a hereditary, or genetic, cause of youth violence. At the same time, the risk of developing conduct disorder is even higher among these children if they are raised in an unfavorable family situation, suggesting that environmental factors are also at work in causing violent behavior in children.(Scott Barbour). People have been debating over the role of the TV, video games, Radio, Internet in causing violence among the youth. Some believe that children exposed to violence through movies, television, video games, the Internet, etc. are desensitized to violence, and therefore commit it and accept it more easily (Drexel University).In fact ever since the internet has been discovered all the studies have shown that ninety five percent of the youth became more violent.

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TV became only for adult due to the violent movies that is being broadcasted. The radio makes them even more violent because of all those songs that the youth listen to. According to the researchers from Columbia University and Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York adolescents who viewed more than one hour of television a day were more likely to commit violent acts as adults. The first cause in the violence among the youth is the lack of parental control because it is parents task to put their children on the right path by teaching them what is good or bad. Violence is everywhere, thats why it is important to always protect our children, to keep them away of all kind of violence and have a control on their environment if needed. Parents will be most successful when they are involved not only in the family level of violence prevention but also at the community and environmental level. Active participation in school activities is one way parents can help shape community and environmental experiences for their child. Youth and adults working together to solve problems is another powerful way to reduce the risk for violent behavior. In addition, parents who set and maintain clear boundaries for behavior and use reasonable, consistent discipline provide additional protection for their children as they grow up.(Benavente)

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Work Cited Best, Jessica. "Leading Causes of Violence Among Youth." ehow. ehow, n.d. Web. 26 Jun 2013. Barbour, Scott. "What Are the Causes of Violent Behavior in Children Livestrong. Livestrong, 29 March 2011. Web. 26 Jun 2013. Benavente, Janet. "What makes children violent?." ext.colostate. Colorado State University, 19 April 2013. Web. 26 Jun 2013 "Causes of Youth Violence." drexel. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jun 2013.