Youth violence is contaminating our homes, our families, our communities and our schools. Millions of adolescents are killed everyday due to youth violence all around the world. The lives of future doctors, lawyers and educators are being thoughtlessly taken away. Most of today’s youth violence occurs in school settings. This is a very serious issue, which affects the entire world. The world’s future is being killed off and it is essential that something be done to reduce the dangers in communities around the world.

Violence among youths can be influenced by many sources. The media has a very strong influence on young people today. It is a big part of young people’s lives. They browse the Internet, and download and listen to music. Even the seemingly innocent Saturday morning cartoons can be negative influences. Young people are exposed to violent cartoons in their early childhood years. The television line-up is full of cartoons showing characters getting shot, stabbed and even enduring decapitation. It is not the fact that these cartoons show these violent acts, but that the victims of these acts are physically injured, and miraculously continue their antics to the conclusion of the show. This sends the message to young viewers that if you were to hurt someone, it will be acceptable and without punishment. They believe that the victim or target will be okay. They do not grasp the concept of how emotionally scarring physical violence can be.
The music industry contains many vulgar songs that are full of offensive material. Listeners of this music are showered with graphic lyrics describing the artists’ recollection of a shooting drive-by, or their anecdote of stabbing a store clerk while robbing a corner store. Young people are buying these violent-based albums. Fifty Cent, a popular rapper known for his explicit lyrics, sold 1.1 million copies of his 2005 hit album The Massacre in only four days . The cover to the album was a picture of a gun pointed to someone’s face, making a gaping hole in a sheet of glass.

In 2003, it was reported that 5,570 youths between the ages of ten and twenty-four were murdered. According to this survey, fifteen teenagers are killed everyday. In 2004, more than 750,000 young people were treated in emergency rooms for acts of violence . These violent acts are often associated with school violence, bullying and gang violence.

Some parents are naive to the fact that their child may have developed violent behaviors. They simply do not see the signs, or do not take heed to the signs. They instead choose to ignore it and convince themselves that this ‘phase’ will go away. Unfortunately, in most cases, violent behavior is not just a phase. There are many influences that encourage violence that may become a permanent part of their child’s life.