Who Am I? The Question of Youth Violence

197959 Resource 190283 190808 190808 1203703025669 1203719207173 Controlled Youth Violence: One Last Word

What do teen violence statistics mean? Is it all just media hype?

For those who have been following this blog's series on youth violence, there may still be some lingering questions: Even if it has increased in other nations, hasn't youth violence actually decreased overall in America since 1970? Isn't the focus on violent teens simply media-hype that mischaracterizes young people, and "blames" them for world violence? In case these questions do not seem rhetorical to some, we'll consider them in today's final post on this topic.First: Hasn't youth violence in the U.S. actually decreased since 1970?  No. Since 1960, the rate of arrests for violent crimes has steadily increased. There were significant spikes in the mid-70s and mid-to-late-90s, but even without these spikes the trend has been a steady upward climb.  The <a title="youth violence statistics" href="http://www.youthfacts.org/violarr.htm" target="_blank">2006 figures</a> continue to show an increase in comparison to the preceding five years.  It's interesting to note that while violent crimes are increasing, overall arrests (including for non-violent and minor crimes) are not much different now in youth populations than they were in 1960. Does this indicate that now when crimes are committed they tend to have elements of violence more often than in the past?  Or does it simply mean that law enforcement has less time on their hands to make arrests for minor infractions? In fact, both may be factors.Next: Isn't the focus on violent teens simply media-hype that mischaracterizes young people, and "blames" them for world violence? It seems highly doubtful that anyone believes teens are responsible for world violence. Rather, such news reports are usually intended as a wake-up call for parents to spend more time developing quality relationships with their children. As adults are made aware of the consequences of ignoring the potential of this important next generation, young people are honored, not denigrated.Today's youth grow up in a violent world. It is hardly surprising that they learn violence. Especially when parents abdicate the privilege to love and guide these amazing gifts that are their children. 9 application/xml false violent teens world violence youth violence statistics Who Am I? The Question of Youth Violence "In violence, we forget who we are," said American novelist Mary McCarthy. If these words are true, we may be facing a generation of children who--despite the number of profile pages they may have on MySpace or Bebo--are increasingly missing a sense of identity. http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=4558 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; Avant Browser; SU 3.005; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; InfoPath.1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 gstepp 216.175.93.209 false true false false true 191587 false false true false false false true 190283 blog blogsite/FamilyMatters/web