The Blame Game

Influences on teen violence over the years have been blamed on many different things including, the media, psychological disorders, and the status of family relationships. After the Columbine shooting in April of 1999 in the state of Colorado, many people have come to the simple question of, "Why?"

This simple question then brought blame. There has been a lot of speculation over the years on the "Why?" factor. Many people say that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were influenced by the entertainment medias and that they learned certain behaviors from the internet. They also had easy access to deadly weapons. Some specific people and things blamed right after the Columbine shooting were - singer Marilyn Manson, the movie "The Basketball Diaries", and the popular video game at the time, "Doom" (Lindenbaum 1.) These specific blames on violence really made me wonder, "When horrible things such as school shootings occur, do people simply point their finger at whatever source of media is popular around that time?"

Many recent video games of this decade are considered ten times more violent than "Doom". With all of the advantages of technology that America has had over the years, if someone were to play a very recent game such as, "Grand Theft Auto" or "Call of Duty", and then try and play "Doom" they will more than likely wonder why this game was considered so violent back in the 90's. With its poor graphics and lack of advanced technology that we did have not even twenty years ago, it's difficult to compare "Grand Theft Auto" to "Doom".

If there was an award for most violent video game, "Grand Theft Auto" would win. Hands down. Although, pointing fingers at popular media is a somewhat logical thing to do simply because a lot of the violent video games that we have now didn't exist then. Does this mean that the definition of how violent, not only video games, but other sources of media, such as movies and television are, have changed over time? (Lindenbaum 2).

Video games, TV shows, movies, music, and websites that "celebrate" violence are high up on the list of the usual suspects of the cause of teen violence. These forms of pop culture have a huge impact on shaping the imaginations of younger people. Did scenes of a student shooting his classmates in the movie, "The Basketball Diaries" push children to walk into his or her school and start shooting? (Malcolm 1).

Experts say, however, that such thinking may obscure the more social effects of violent programming. They believe it to be the "mean world" syndrome. "The impact may not be potential perpetrators, but on the rest of the population who begin to believe that violence is inevitable, that crime is everywhere and that they must be afraid," says Sr. Elizabeth Thoman, a member of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary and executive director of the Center for Media Literacy in Los Angeles, California. She says that the publc fear that has been generated over the years is by media violence. "Many parents are naive about messages their children are recieving," said Sandra Pascoe Robinson, media literacy educator at St. Phillips, "All television, all movies, are educational," she said. "What are they learning? If you step back and look critically, some of the messages are very frightening. Violence is entertaining, sex is no big deal, the more things I have, the happier I will be. Those are the three big messages that I see." Remembering a lesson that she gave to a third-grade class at another parochial school, when she brought up video games, "Two boys way in the back jumped up and "machine gunned" the entire class," she said. "The response was strong and automatic and very violent. That was part of their favorite video game."

The use of movie ratings began in the late 1960's, while TV and video game ratings came much later. Why are things like video games still blamed for violence, when the use of ratings are present? Why are third-graders playing such violent video games at their age? These are just some of many questions that many people have asked over the years over this issue (Malcolm 4).

Since 1993, numbers of teenagers arrested for serious crimes such as, murder, robbery, and rape have dropped according to National Crime Data from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 1999, police have arrested 103,900 people younger than the age of eighteen for violent crimes, including 1,400 arrests for murder and 69,600 arrests for aggravated assault.

Three out of every ten students in high school reported that they've committed violent acts, such as, armed robbery and aggravated assault. Seventeen percent of students grades nine through twelve surveyed in 1999 said that they had carried a gun, knife, or other weapon in school during the previous month. Firearm related homicide is the second leading cause of death among teenagers who are ages fifteen to nineteen and is the leading cause of death among African Americans in that same age group.

Instead of blaming media for teen violence, many scientists believe teen violence to be a matter of brain abnormalities and other related psychological disorders. By using neuroimaging techniques to "spy" on the brains of living people are uncovering relationships between violent behavior and the brain (Gaskins 1).

Scientists have found evidence of subtle abnormalities in the brains of violent criminals and psychopaths. Researchers from the University of Southern California discovered that the prefrontal cortex (part of the brain that keeps emotions such as aggression and impulsiveness in check) showed less than normal activity in forty-two murderers. Other studies show that child abuse and neglect can also warp developing brains of children in ways that increase their likelihood of behaving violently. Studies have found abnormalities in serotonin levels in the brains of baby monkeys that are deprived of nurturing from their mothers. This is also true of violent dogs because if their owners have abused them in any way, they will try and bite strangers or will become afraid of people around them (Gaskins 3).

Child abuse and neglect is also a major cause of why teenagers commit violent acts, because they don't have the love and caring relationships that they need from their family. Although many believe that teen violence is the cause of the media or brain abnormalities, others believe it to be the result of how the child is raised. They believe the roots of violence and anti-social behavior in teens are often put into three categories; those related to the individual child, those related to family factors such as parenting, and those related to societal conditions.

Isabela Granic, a research scientist at the Community Health Systems Resource Group, an initiative of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada says, "Understanding parenting styles that can lead to teen violence is straightforward." One parenting style that is described is the parent who doesn't have structure or rules (permissive parenting). These parents allow their child to get their way with a temper tantrum. This child then learns that this is a good "technique" to get their way, and parents learn that they can get a quick sense of peace by giving into their child's many demands. Another "style" of parenting is the harsh and punitive approach to parenting. Not spanking, but actual physical abuse that leaves bruises and welts.

Their kids also tend to develop anxiety and depression because they don't know what or when their parents will do something else to harm them. Little kids, mostly boys, play with army men and toy guns and are taught by their fathers to be tough and "macho". They believe that parents should be taught basic skills such as, having consistent response to behavior and problem solving (Hetherington 2). The children of these parents who do learn these new skills will more than likely become less violent and aggressive, which will decrease the chances of these children to grow into criminals during their teenage years.

Although many people tend to blame or pin point what exactly does cause teen violence, Gavin De Becker, author of the book, "The Gift of Fear" says, "I have found that identifying any single or leading cause for human behavior is counter-productive. The reality is that all the factors exercise influence on people together." (De Becker 2). I tend to agree with this theory, because everybody's minds work differently and everybody's life styles and personalities differ greatly from each other. The way that one single person behaves can contrast greatly to another person to behave, so it's impossible to point the blame on teen violence on just one thing in general, because not everyone commits violence because of just one certain reason.

Some teens are violent because perhaps they don't receive the needed attention from their parents or maybe they believe that no one understands them and another teen can be violent and perform violent acts for revenge on someone else. De Becker says that violence is the result of a recipe of influences, mixed together in context. Violence is just part of the ingredient, and to search for the dominant ingredient - one thing we can blame and one thing we can change - is often a wasted effort. He also says that teenage boys are especially highly sensitive to shame and become humiliated and threats to their rank among peers, which, can go also go back to the "theory" that all guys are supposed to be tough and macho. (De Becker 4).

So what exactly is the cause of teen violence? Is it the media, psychological disorders and brain abnormalities, or is it the status of family relationships the main cause to these violent acts? The answer to this question still remains uncertain. Many people have their own theories and opinions on why exactly teens do become violent, while I believe that it's a combination between a lot of different things. When I think of teen violence, I think of all these high school students crowded around a large circle cheering and laughing as two teens fight in the middle. I think of all of the crimes that are happening in this world, and how younger kids see that and think that it's "okay", or that it's "normal".

When I think about teen violence I think of Charles Manson, how much of a violent and hateful child he was because that's how he's always been because he never had a real mother. He never had a chance to be a good person since he was just a little kid. His life was centered around crimes and violence ever since he could walk, was never nurtured, and was never taught the important values of love and kindness. How no one would ever think he'd be one of the most famous and well known criminals in the entire world, let alone just in America.

I also think of emotionally and mentally abused kids, who turn into angry, bitter teenagers who hate their parents for what they did to them. I also think of how it seems as if nothing is ever done to treat these teenagers, that the violence keeps on building, and how teenagers care more about how many "points" they got for beating someone up, or who won in a fight, more so than focusing on important things such as education and family. The fact is, that violence will always be a part of this world, and it is something that no one will ever get used to.