Violence in Adolescents: How to Prevent it

chillibreeze writer — Maitreyi Honaver

Whether it’s flash news on television or a headline in a newspaper, violence committed by adolescents is, by far, the most disturbing news of all. How can one ever forget the Columbine High School incident in Colorado, USA, where two students opened fire killing 12 students and one teacher and injuring two dozen others? In another equally shocking episode in Mumbai, India, 3 students murdered their elderly tuition teacher, grievously injured her daughter and hung her 18-month old grandson with a telephone cord. It is almost impossible to believe that a six-year old boy shot another child of the same age in an elementary school in Michigan, USA with a .32 caliber handgun. These and numerous other gruesome incidents of meaningless violence by young children compel us to stop and think – what went wrong?

Experts and researchers believe violence in adolescents and young children is an acquired trait – children observe and learn from the behaviors of the family, peers, neighborhood or the community at large. Moreover, unrestricted and unlimited exposure to television, Internet, video games, and music, of which violence is often an integral part, reinforces the adolescent’s beliefs and observations with respect to violence. Do we, as adults, think twice about the effects of our casual but hateful remarks about racism or our angry outbursts at someone we hate? We tend to forget most of the time that our children are watching us and learning from us. How many of us stop and chide kids who bully younger kids or pelt stones at stray kittens or puppies? Aren’t we adults responsible for introducing young children to violence when we buy toy guns and magazines or video games with destructive contents?

A research on violence amongst youth reveals that 1 in every 4 teenagers has easy access to guns at home and more than 1 in 6 high school students carry a gun, knife or a club. The apparent and tragic consequences in such scenarios are anyone’s guess. How do we protect our children from being victims or from being the perpetrators? Experts reiterate that just as numerous factors contribute to an adolescent’s violent behavior, different protective factors at individual, family, community and environmental levels make an adolescent resilient and prevent him from engaging in violent activities. Children whose parents are more interactive and communicate in-depth with them, set boundaries for behavior and teach them to handle bullies or peer-pressure are less likely to be violent. Last but not the least, only an unbiased and tolerant society that strives to prevent all kinds of violence can inculcate the right values in its children.

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Maitreyi writes for chillibreeze.

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