Violence as a Major Issue in the Youth Community

Violence is a problem, not a solution! But in the eyes of young people, causing harm and violence towards others is self rewarding and gratifying act to commit. Youth violence is a dilemma and unstoppable. Violence is all over the place. The sad part is that most of the people that are reliable for such aggressive and hostile acts are the young people. These young youths doing such acts are fueled with hate in their hearts. The three most common kind of violence youths of our generation are committing are three folds: gang involvement, weapon-related violence, and bullying.

Young people who are joining gangs are not a new phenomenon. Being a part of a gang is also associated with being a cause of youth violence. Youth gang violence is drastically increasing across Canada and there is also a connection between youth gang and drug trade (Morrison & Ramsay, 2010). By just hearing the word “gang” we know that it’s associated with reckless and rebellious activities and is always linked to drug trades and riots. There are so many youths who join gangs to earn money through selling drugs. They will soon become users and can do violent and worthless decisions. Youths that are having poor academic performance at school are the ones who join a gang membership (Morison & Ramsay, 2010). There are many young delinquents who drop out of school and prefers to hangout with their friends which brings them into trouble that could lead to violence. Violence is evident in gangs especially when the gang members recruits more young people join their group. This is where the initiation takes place whereas the leader of the gang uses force and brutality among new members including hitting, punching and sometimes ends up to tortures. The ones who successfully surpass the initiation ritual are automatically member of the group. For those who did not end up being beaten and sometimes can cause fatal death.

Another acts that illustrate violence among youth is weapon carrying. The extensively availability of weapons and firearms around the world, as well as their easy accessibility to young people are the key reason why youth violence is continuously escalating A teacher from Harvard University, David Hememway reckon that youths whose age ranges from 15 to 24 are 49 times more prone to be shot and killed in the United States rather than in other wealthy countries (Guo & Swanson, 2015). Most of the time, people are not worried about the issue of youth violence. Until tragic events like school shootings happened, which cause unnecessary loss of innocent lives.

The suspect that is responsible for all this tragic crime is none other than but a delinquent teenager. According to study conducted by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, It showed that 48% of youths are more engaged in a serious fights, 183% of youths fatally injured another and 140% are involved in drawing weapons (Bagri, N.T,2016). Violent offenses committed with a weapon are the most dangerous acts that could lead to serious injury, disability and death. It is evident that the availability and easy access of weapons and firearms contributes to youth violence.

Bullying is one of the most common violence among youths and is a root cause of more serious violent behavior among teenagers. There’s no safe zone to escape bullying. Bullying occurs almost everywhere. CDC’s 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicates that in 2013, 19.6% of high school students reported to be harassed and bullied at school premises in the past year ( Savannah et al, 2011). Many victims of bullying tend to be aggressive and have the mindset of setting up a revenge on the person that frighten and oppress him. These results to having such violent behavior among bullying victims. Researchers suggest that bullying can put healthy child development at risk and a potential cause of school and youth violence (Morrison & Ramsay, 2010). This can cause trauma and feeling of worthlessness. Bullying is the worst way to do to others. It can make someone feel depressed, have low self- esteem and could lead to suicidal tendencies. It also very upsetting and humiliating.

The future of young youths will be grim if we don’t help them and save them from themselves. The root cause of youth violence is hard to identify, but if people work hand in hand, we can make a huge change. We have to support these youth mentally, physically and emotionally. Counseling, therapies and support groups would be a great help for those young people who are experiencing depressions and troubles. They need someone who would listen to their thoughts sincerely. Someone who will give them precious advices to help them overcome whatever difficulties they might be experiencing. These young people can also engage themselves doing fun activities such as workshops, camps, sports activities. By doing this, they are not just showcasing their talents but they can also make new connections and new friends. They will suddenly forgot about violence and learn the true meaning of loving others instead of hurting them. These are just one of the few simple ways from avoiding young youths from committing violent acts.