Youth violence
Youth violenceIn the book Toting a Gun for Tomorrow by Jonie Michel, a fictional world is created where it is an accepted fact that youth violence occurs, and where teens kill teens in large numbers. The main idea in this book is that changes need to be made in order to deter teen violence, and when these changes do not occur chaos erupts. Michel’s story does not just apply to the fictional world that she created; it also directly correlates with many problems occurring in American society. Youth violence has become an important issue in today’s society, and many people looking for a way to downsize this teen violence surge. However, “as youth violence becomes more and more common many people are accepting the idea that ‘kids will be kids,’ and that they will occasionally blow each others’ brains out,” (Bromdon 2). In order to be assured that our society does not gain a lackadaisical look at teen violence, such as the fictional society in Michel’s book, one must first look at youth violence in America today, secondly explore possible causes for youth violence, and finally find solutions that will help stop youth violence.
First off, in order to curb the rise in youth violence it is necessary to realize how serious this problem truly is. According to the Chicago Tribune, “There are three million crimes committed on school campuses every year. That's sixteen thousand crimes per day - one crime every six seconds.” Even more frightening is the fact that thirty-five percent of high school students in high crime areas report carrying a firearm regularly. Juvenile arrests accounted for thirteen percent of all violent crimes in 1996, and thirty percent of all juvenile homicide arrests occurred in just four cities: New York, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles. “The number of juveniles arrested for non-traffic related offenses, in the past five years, has risen fifty-eight percent,” according to the afore-mentioned Chicago Tribune article. These statistics show a drastic increase in youth violence, and they show, quite clearly, how serious this problem truly is.
Due to this dramatic increase in youth violence many questions have arisen. Namely, who is accountable? And, mostly, no one is really sure. Many different groups have been blamed. Schools, the home, and the media are all accused perpetrators of youth violence. Still, it seems as if a complete picture is found only when examining all three of these pictures and placing blame on them individually. Concern about school violence, crime, and victimization has permeated the education system since the 1950s (Ausmussen 31). The problem of violence at schools persisted and increased to the point that in 1974 Congress mandated a national survey on school violence. This mandate resulted in the Safe Schools Study, which revealed some disturbing trends in the nation's schools. The results of this early survey were somewhat unexpected, and they spurred continued interest in the nature and extent...
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