Teenage Violence In Schools Essays - Behavior, Human Behavior, Crime

Teenage Violence in Schools Page #1 Teenage violence in schools has become a tremendous concern to many people. School violence over the past number of years has been increasing and family life, the things that occur in schools and the neighborhoods that the teenagers (that commit the crimes or violent acts) live in are some of the major factors. These are not necessarily the only causes to teenage violence. Family Lifestyle and the behavior of members within the family have been shown to have a direct affect on a teenager's behavior in school. A child can be influenced very easily by any older person, especially a family member, because he always looks up to that family member. If a person in the family is involved in a criminal activity then the children can be turned on by this and become interested in doing the same thing. If the guardian or parent of a teenager does not punish him for doing something wrong, this can only lead to repetition of the bad behavior. Failure to stop a child from doing something wrong could lead the child to believe that his behavior is acceptable. Also, a child thinks that the people that are supposed to love him don't even care that he is doing something bad so he will continue to do it. Teenagers also commit acts of violence to get their parents' attention. If parents ignore what their teenagers are doing, then the teenagers will continue to do more nega tive things just to get their parents to notice them. Another reason why family lifestyle is a cause to teen violence is, if the teenager is abandoned at a young age than there is no one to teach him wrong and right (Kim 82). Page #2 There are many different situations that can occur in school that can cause teenagers to do violent things. When a student has an argument with other students or a teacher that student may only know how to deal his anger by striking out. Often, teenagers do not know how to talk things out and instead, react violently. If a teenager doesn't like what someone (a faculty member or another student) has said to him, he might also let out his anger in violent ways. Sometimes, even if the other person has not done anything wrong to him, but rather to another person he can still get angry (school violence). The neighborhood that a teenager lives in can also cause him to be violent. If a teen lives in a bad neighborhood, where violent acts are going on all the time (besides for when he is in his house) and he will most probably be influenced by it (Kim 81). As a teenager sees more and more negative behavior happening daily in his surroundings, these behaviors will become acceptable and result in the teenager committing these same negative behaviors. Some of these negative behaviors include theft (lunch money, jewelry), vandalism, demands, threats, bullying, murder and rape (Kim 79). The following situations are examples of common behavior by teenagers; two boys did an act of vandalism in their school in New Jersey. The two boys vandalized their busses. The damage amount was $60,000, and the school had to close down for two days because there was no transportation. Another act of vandalism happened in Oregon