Today teens are influenced by other teens, music, and or drugs. They are very gullible and emotional. Tending to crumble under the pressure of others, they feel that they need to prove their worth. “By the time children reach high school, many already have begun dabbling in high-risk behavior” (Edelhart). Some go to the lengths of taking another’s life if not their own to prove it, doing it all for the approval of others. Most are on the right track, but the remainder are in trouble and are in need of structure and direction. The teens of today hold the key to the future, and we need to help these children find themselves. The problem is that they are not mentally stable to lead. They know not what they do, until it is too late. What we need to do as a mature group of adults is teach them better ways to control their anger, try to help with the personal problems at home, and inform them about others.
Anger, a feeling capable of destruction, has infested in our youth. Where does it come from? Well it all depends on the person. Many are bullied by other students, which fuels their hate. Some were raised in abusive households and that influences the way they act toward others. Others do it to feel good about themselves. Anger can cloud good judgment and can force a person to throw their lives away in a matter of seconds. We should find a way to help them direct that negative energy and turn it into a positive, something productive. Offering outlets such as poetry pubs or art studios are great ways to allow these troubled teens to express their feelings without harming anyone. Maybe one day that poem or sketch may turn to a masterpiece and could help shape his or her future. There are some teens that do productive things but are confused by other factors.
Youth who fight a lot and run the streets are usually raised by abusive parents. Those who were abused as a child are traumatized by the arguing and fighting of parents. They grow up and fight because it is what they are used to. They think it’s normal. Same goes for those who don’t have abusive parents. These kids take advantage and run over their parents. They back-talk, disobey, and disrespect parents that want to plan a good future for them. That motivates them to use more drastic actions like shooting and killing others if not his or herself. So what we could do to fix this is offer intense intervention programs or a big brother/sister program.
Ethnicity, gender, and or religion are very influential factors that decide how our teens interact with each other. In our high schools, there are students that join gangs, cliques, or groups. Regardless of what name they go by, they are still labeled or stereotyped but are most importantly misunderstood. They join whatever they feel is comfortable for them or whom they can relate to whether they share the same native tongue, skin color, sex, activities, and the list could go on. Some groups don’t necessarily get along with each other, at all. The slightest provocation could lead to a fight that could result in serious injury or even death. They act on impulse and may not even know why they don’t like the other. Educating these groups about each others differences may bring them closer together. I propose an idea to educate them a group at a time, figure out why they hate the other so, then teach them things they may not have known. Whether this is effective or not every little bit helps.
Youth that have anger problems, little to no home training and unclear hatred toward others are not capable to lead us to a better future. It’s up to us to steer them while they are young because if we wait they may never break their habits or even live long enough to do it. I hope that I have made it clear to you all that violence in teens is a raising problem in this community and we must at on making our youth better fit to lead us to a better future.
Work Cited
Edelhart, Courtenay. "Tweens in transition :Middle-schoolers face risks and temptations once more common among older teens. " ProQuest. Indianapolis Star, 28 Dec. 2006,Indianapolis Star. Web. 9 Feb. 2011.
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