by Thomas Fischer
Most young people grow up and adjust to society without episodes of criminal behavior. There is a minority of children however, that do commit crimes and that number is ever increasing. It is speculated that the reasons for the latest proliferation of teen violence are numerous and they include such things as violence shown on the news, in movies, and on television shows. Other things such as the quality of family relations, social status in the community and even poverty are considerations. Some people, like Michael Moore would even conclude that access to guns and ammunition are one of the primary causes for the rise in teen violence, although in his movie Bowling for Columbine, Moore really doesn’t present his audience with any final conclusions about what the true cause of the violence is. While some of these reasons can generate violent behavior in children, they are generally only triggers and not the real cause behind the wanton destruction that youthful offenders perpetrate.
So, what is the root cause of this increasing trend of violent behavior? The escalation of teen violence in recent years has reached its current apex because society as a whole does not pay enough attention to its children. Those kids that lash out with aggression do so because of a desire to be involved in society, to be included. They hunger for interaction with parents that are too busy to be bothered. They long to associate with other children who spurn them because they are different from themselves.
In modern times, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for parents to pay enough attention to their children because both parents have to work to support the family unit. When there is only one parent in the family unit, the difficulty is more burdensome on the children. Society seems to be faced with a paradox in that there have been more technological advancements in the past one hundred years than in the previous millennia and yet with these countless new timesaving advancements such as automobiles, telephones and computers, people have less time to spend with their families. They are more preoccupied with work and the ball game on television or talking to their friends on the phone or on their computers and ignore the kids.
It can be assumed from the headlines of today’s newspapers and television news programs why kids do the terrible things they do. When current news stories say that three teens plotted to kill three other youths because The Matrix influenced the leader of the conspirators, people tend to believe that movies are the cause of violence. Senior psychologist at Bradley Hospital in Providence, R.I. Jay Reeve says “I think that movies or other media may be able to provide the spark for anxiety and consequent violent acting out by teens, although I’m quite skeptical about movies doing this in the absence of other triggers.” (Choy, & Morris, 2004). The problem is people do not take the time to really figure out what the underlying issues are. People all over the world, not just in the United States, watch movies like The Matrix and Fargo and yet most of them do not act out the violent aggression portrayed in such films.
When concerned individuals actually bother to dig deep into an issue like teen violence they find more often than not that there are other underlying issues and not simply because the kid watched a violent movie one too many times. Laird Stanard, a seventeen-year-old kid from Vermont shot his mother in their rural home in after he had come home late at night from a club. She evidently greeted him at the late hour of his return and chastised him for staying out late. Apparently, they quarreled for a short time before he raised the gun he had been hiding behind his back, leveled it, aiming at her head and pulled the trigger. “According to a teacher who befriended him in jail, Laird later indicated that he had thought about the killing in advance. His mindset had less to do with hatred than with a mixture of anxiety and frustration.” (Powers, 2002). It was an instance where a troubled teen murdered his mother because he was having issues with his parents not paying attention to him.
In many cases where teens act out in violence, a certain amount of delusion can be seen in the offenders’ motives. Most often, it is found that these teens have an idea of reality that is much different from actual reality. They sometimes see themselves within the mythology of their delusions whether they were influenced by a movie or the news on television or music but the bottom line is there is an underlying reason or circumstance that has led them to their violent actions. That bottom line is that society does not pay enough attention to their children. In the majority of cases where teens act out violently the parents do not have a clue what their child is up to. The bills, the game on television or the war half way around the other side of the globe distracts parents from getting to know their kids. It prevents parents from attaching to their teens and teaching them how to become active and productive members of society.
There is an inherent danger in allowing the adults of the future believe that it is ok to close in their feelings and not attach themselves to the society around them. Their parents best teach these lessons to them at home, but programs in schools can also be helpful. When speaking of kids as a source of news stories 20th century journalist Joan Konner had this to say, “Consider children as a beat. Clearly not an institution of power, children don’t vote and they don’t pass taxes. They have no money, and they don’t buy newspapers or watch the news on television. Consequently, children are one of the most neglected segments of society in the news, except as a subtopic of other power beats such as education, family, and crime. Children are in serious trouble in this society, which means the foundation of our society is in trouble, which means the future is in trouble, and that is news.” (Konner, 1992).
Works Cited
Choy, E. & Morris, S.L. (2004, July 10). Reality Reloaded: Violent Movies Can Influence Already Troubled teens. From ABCNEWS.com retrieved on July 16, 2004 from http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/GoodMorningAmerica/matrix030710_killings.html
Konner, J. (1992, September). Readers Don’t Always Know What They Want,” ASNE Bulletin. From Bartleby.com retrieved July 18, 2004 from http://www.bartleby.com/66/12/33012.html
Powers, R. (2002, March). The Apocalypse of Adolescence. From The Atlantic online retrieved on July 16, 2004 from http://www.theatlantic.com/cgi-bin/send.cgi?page=http%3A//www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/03/powers.htm