Violence among youth has drastically increased in recent times. This problem of violence has become a global phenomenon whereby youth from all walks of life are engaged in violence. It seems there must be an internal or an external driving force that entices the youth to engage in acts of unlawfulness. It has become a part of our daily life to hear of youths engaging in brutal killings, suicide, murder, and rape, and child defilement. This wave of youth violence has not spared our high school teenagers either. There has been a lot of bullying that goes on in almost all high schools in the world. It has become a global concern. We have also been witnessing increased acts of unlawfulness and strikes in our schools and wanton destruction of properties. All these forms of youth brutalities can be attributed to a number of contributing factors in our societies that need to be identified and solutions sought (Friedman, Lawrence M. 1993).
The causes of these deviant behaviors among our youths can be associated with several factors such as the media, poor parenting, and the family set up, misuse and abuse of drugs, exposure to horror movies, ease of acquiring weapons, unemployment, peer pressure, broken homes, ignorance and lack of tough punishment to minor offenders as provided by the law. Most critics have attributed the cause of this violence among our youth to exposure to violence by the media. They argue that there is excessive exposure of young children to television programs. Much of our youths’ free time is spent watching television programs and horror movies than is spent in reading, games, and in other beneficial forms of leisure. Most of these television programs and shows contain aggressive contents which in effect manipulates the mind of the child. They do watch the news where people are fighting each other, committing murder, and all sorts of crimes being committed now and then. In movies, horrible acts of murder and persecution are shown as if they are entertaining scenes (Stephen Pinker, 2007).
Other movies contain themes that show revenge through brutality as the best option. These children watch these movies and programs without their parents’ guidance and hence they take these vices as if they are part of their daily lives. In most cases, they do not have to experience these cases of brutality as these vices are already fixed in their minds. With the invention of the internet, the youth can access various websites where they can watch videos that contain crime scenes. Due to this exposure, violence ceases to be a worrying phenomenon and becomes a daily experience and hence the child adapts it as a norm. When the child grows up he or she wishes to practical experience this thing in real life. The most unfortunate thing is that these children watch all these acts of violence in presence of their parents. The parents should determine and regulate what programs or materials their children watch from the media (Stephen Pinker, 2007).
Another major contributor to youth violent related behavior is the influence of the environment in which the child has been brought up. If a child has been brought up in a society where he or she has experienced violence at a personal level and where violence seems to be a daily occurrence or a part of life, it is very probable that the child will get used to violence and take it as part of his or her daily life. It is very obvious that a child learns and copies behaviors of the adults and especially their parents. For example, if a child is brought up by a couple who always quarrels and fights and in a situation where the father beats the mother always if the child is a boy, it is probable that he will acquire a cruel approach towards women or develop a strong hatred against men who battle their wife. Consequently, if the child is a girl she may develop a very negative generalized attitude of hatred towards men. Due to this encounter, as the child enters the adolescence stage, he or she may employ defiant and violent acts to bring his or her emotions out (Lane, Roger 1999).
Another major factor that contributes to youth brutality is social alienation. Social vices such as racism, tribalism, nepotism, and social biases have a very negative attitude in the minds of young people. Racism in society and in our schools has made some children feel rejected and alienated. They are exposed to a hostile environment where people are hostile. They feel like outcasts in their society. These young children need a society that provides warmth and love to them and hence a sense of belonging. In such a society where the needs of these children are not catered for, they develop a sense of hostility towards their peers who resent them. As they grow up their anger increases. As they approach maturity, they may result to violence to revenge against the atrocities they received during their childhood years (Blumstein, Alfred 1995).
Whether we blame the media or not, the buck lies with the parents and the way the child has been brought up. Studies have shown that that child who has been neglected and abandoned by their parents develops an attitude of violence. That child becomes less trusting in adults and turns to violence as a natural way of solving his or her problems. A child who has been brought up without the presence of his or her father lacks fatherly guidance that would discourage bad influence and behaviors. Consequently, a child who is brought up without the presence of the mother lacks motherly love which brings about the pain which results in rage. It is from the parents that the child learns what is good and what is bad. Parents should make their children aware that what they see in television programs, shows, music, and movies should be for entertainment and not a way of living. This should inculcate a sense of awareness in the child such that when the child sees a horror movie or a violent television program he or she understands that it is meant for entertainment only (Joseph David E 2006).
Parents have a noble role to play in molding the characters and behaviors of their children and consequently, they play a very big role in determining the kind of a person the child becomes. Parents should teach their children that violence is disastrous. They should teach their children to respect and appreciate each other. Parents should take care of their children’s well-being. A child should be shown that he or she is loved and wanted. Children show love when they get it from their parents. Real care and genuine love provide good precedence in a child’s life. A child’s first teacher is the mother. She determines the fate of the child’s life by the way she handles the child. The child’s relationship with the parents determines the child’s future. Parents should not let their children be influenced by external factors that distract them from the good thing in their lives. Although parents cannot wholly and always control external and environmental influences on their children’s behaviors, they can assist them to screen these influences and adopt only those that add value to their life. Parents should teach their children to be able to control their anger and temper. They should instill a sense of self-control which brings about self-discipline.
It is very evident that the violent nature of our youth today has been brought about by poor parenting. It is the failure of the parents to mold the behaviors of their children during childhood that results to youth brutality (Gilligan James 1996).
References
Gilligan, James. Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes. Putnam Adult.1996.
Stephen Pinker, The History of Violence, The New Republic 2007.
Joseph, David E ‘’The One who is More Violent Prevails’’ – Law and Violence from a Talmudic Legal Perspective, Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, Vol. 19, No. 2, (2006).
Lane, Roger Violent Death in the City: Suicide, Accident, and Murder in Nineteenth-Century, Philadelphia. Ohio State University Press 1999.
Blumstein, Alfred “Youth Violence, Guns and the Illicit-Drug Industry”. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 86.1 (1995) pp. 10–36.
Friedman, Lawrence M. (1993). Lawful Law and Lawless Law: Forms of American Violence” 1993.