Teen Violence
Allison L. Williams
COM/156
02/17/2013
Gina Renee Denton

Teen Violence
When you witness a teen experiencing violence does it make you wonder what they have been through in order to behave this way? Do you write off their bad behavior as being a product of a bad environment, or do you feel that it is your duty as a part of society to help solve this issue? The best way to try to prevent a teen becoming violent is to start positive reinforcement early in their childhood. Parenting styles and the effect of social media within the home can create a negative upbringing and is a major indicator as to why some children turn to violence as a teenager. It is our duty as a society to help bring our youth up in a positive place to call home.
There are many factors that could lead to violence with one of the largest problems being identified as abuse within the home. There are many types of abuse that can harm a child. A few types and examples of abuse are Physical abuse which can consist of hitting, slapping, punching, shoving and kicking. Emotional abuse can consist of extreme jealousy, pestering and controlling how someone dresses or where they go. Verbal abuse can consist of name calling, putdowns and being aggressive with your word choices. Sexual abuse can consist of unwanted touching or forcing a sexual act on an unwilling participant. These are the four main types of abuse that children suffer. There are three main factors that can be the root cause of violence and they are: people related to the child, the parenting style and problems related to social media.
“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they never fail to imitate them”. (Baldwin) As a child grows they want to mirror their parents and this includes their behavior. If they are raised around violence they have an increased chance of being violent when they are older. In many cases society as well as the parents are at fault. Sometimes they have created the problem and other times there are problems that spiral out of their reach. The created problems can consist of all four of the afore mentioned types of abuse. If they are surrounded by violence in the home then that behavior will stay with them and impact their life in a negative way.
Parenting styles have a huge effect on how a child will behave and some styles can be a leading factor in the poor behavior of today’s teen. One style used in parenting is called permissive parenting which is raising your child without daily structure or rules. This way is not necessarily violent; however, giving in to your child because they are throwing a temper tantrum shows your child that you are willing to give in to their demands in order to have some peace and quiet. Children learn very early how to get around the rules and they know exactly which buttons to push in order to get their way. Another parenting style is one that has more of a harsh approach. When children are misbehaving in order to get what they want some parents will look the other way. There will come a time where the parent has had enough and will take everything that the child has done and unleash their anger all at once. This can involve berating the child in either a physical or verbal way or sometimes both causing the child to develop anxiety, depression and anger because they cannot determine how their parent will react to what they have done.
In some cases the parent and or parents do their best but given the hand they are dealt with it can be difficult. There are a lot of cases where there is just one parent in the home trying to support their family. These would be the times where your situation can cause things to spiral out of control. A lot of teens have spent their early years raising themselves due to their parents and or parent having to be a way from the home. This is when teens will start to associate with the “wrong” crowd and try things they know is wrong but they just want to