...GUN VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN AND TEENS Every year in this country, thousands of children and teens are killed by gun violence. Those who live in the lower class are in constant fear of being killed or maimed during acts of violence. Drug deals, gang wars, racial wars, and random school shootings such as Sandy Hook Elementary School, tells America there are no safe places in this country that does not have some kind of violence. According to the Children’s Defense Fund, there are more infants, toddlers, and preschool children killed than officers who are in the line of duty. Firearm deaths in the United States stated that in 2010, there were 2,711 infant, children, and teens killed by gun violence (CDC 2012). Between 1981 and 2010, gun violence killed 112.375 infants, children, and teens. This is 25,000 more deaths than the number of soldiers killed in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined (Children’s Defense Fund 2013). Of these deaths, 1,982 were murders by gun violence. Every state between 2000 and 2010 lost children to gun violence with the deadliest of these in Alaska with an 8.7 gun deaths for every 100,000 children (Children’s Defense Fund 2013). The deadliest state was Alaska with 8.7 gun deaths for every 100,000 children and teens each year, more than twice the nationwide rate of 3.6. While Alaska was 21 times more deadly for children and teens, the safest state in the nation is Hawaii. While all the states in this country has dealt with children’s’ death...
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...There are many social problems that teenagers go through. The most recognised problems are teenage drinking and driving, and teen suicide. These two social behaviours teenagers go through are the leading causes of teenage death. Alcohol, the most widely used and abused drug among youth, causes serious and potentially life-threatening problems for this population. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers. Society faces several questions, like why do teens drink, what are the results of teen drinking and driving, and how can society change this pattern. Every year hundreds of teens die. Apart from drinking and driving, teen suicide is the fastest growing killer of youth and if left unaddressed it will affect are future generations. Why do teenagers drink alcohol? Peers play the major role in shaping attitudes about alcohol use. Prior to this time, television and movies played the most influential role. The attitudes of parents toward alcohol correlated strongly with the attitudes of their children. There are several reasons why teenagers give to drinking alcohol which include recreation, rebellion, relieve depression, fatigue, and boredom. Many of them have personal problems at home that make them turn to alcohol. Other reasons are a loved one passing away, fighting with parents, divorce, and separation of family. The main factor of teenage drinking is influence from their peers. Teenagers in our society are pressured into trying out...
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...There are many social problems that teenagers go through. The most recognised problems are teenage drinking and driving, and teen suicide. These two social behaviours teenagers go through are the leading causes of teenage death. Alcohol, the most widely used and abused drug among youth, causes serious and potentially life-threatening problems for this population. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers. Society faces several questions, like why do teens drink, what are the results of teen drinking and driving, and how can society change this pattern. Every year hundreds of teens die. Apart from drinking and driving, teen suicide is the fastest growing killer of youth and if left unaddressed it will affect are future generations. Why do teenagers drink alcohol? Peers play the major role in shaping attitudes about alcohol use. Prior to this time, television and movies played the most influential role. The attitudes of parents toward alcohol correlated strongly with the attitudes of their children. There are several reasons why teenagers give to drinking alcohol which include recreation, rebellion, relieve depression, fatigue, and boredom. Many of them have personal problems at home that make them turn to alcohol. Other reasons are a loved one passing away, fighting with parents, divorce, and separation of family. The main factor of teenage drinking is influence from their peers. Teenagers in our society are pressured into trying out...
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...and concerns are the same when one thinks of their own country or nation. Here in the United States the pressure of this country’s future is placed on the youth and the responsibility of protecting this future is placed on the shoulders of military forces. This heavy burden of “prosperity” and “preservation” could be proven to be responsible for the slow destruction of the vitality of the youth and soldiers in this country. Suicide, death caused by intentional self- directed injuries, has been reported by CDC as part of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States of America as of 2009. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for youth in the age range of 10 to 24 which results in the average of 4600 lives of youth lost yearly (CDC, 2014). This fatal behavior is also the third leading cause of death in the U.S. military forces. (Mitchell, 2012) The military suicide rates have surpassed the civilian suicide rates averaging 164 soldiers’ suicide related deaths reported by the Office of the Chief of Legislative Liaison in 2012. (Mitchell, 2012). What are the major causes or risk factors of suicide? Are there solutions to this major dilemma? This paper will attempt to highlight some causes as well as some possible solutions to slow down the constant rise of suicidal behavior of these two groups. There are quite a few risk factors for suicidal behavior among teens. One of the most popular is depression, a form of mental illness. (Cooper, 2011) Depression...
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...compared to that of our American curriculums. Anyone can be under stress, students are one group of people who especially during those angst teenage years undergo a vast majority of stress. A survey by the American Psychological Association found that nearly half of all teens — 45 percent — said they were stressed by school pressures. (Neighmond). In the report we will try to compare the differences between what students in the United States go through in comparison to those in Japan. In Japan the Japanese teaching guidelines are very different from what we here are used to. In Japan children are not separated based on how well or bad they are performing in school rather their age, and they are expected to have the diligence to simply catch upon their own. Not only are the teaching styles different, nor just the way students learn, the schools themselves are different. The school calendar year in Japan is longer than that of the U.S, thus resulting in higher stress in Students. We reviewed how the stressors Japanese students undergo, has lead to an increase in teen suicide, and how some of those stressors differentiate from those teens here face. The paper not only focuses on the stress, and development of teens, rather it focuses on how stress varies in different cultures. The teaching styles vary, the learning styles, the everyday lives of students in Japan, and how the stress the Japanese government has put on them makes that much worst....
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...Running head: TEEN SUICIDE IS AN EPIDEMIC Teen Suicide October 20, 2012 Introduction Every year, thousands of youth die in the Unites States and one million worldwide. Not from cancer or motor vehicle accidents by their own hand. For whatever reason they make that choice that they no longer want to live, and they take their own life. According to statistic, suicide has been known to be the third leading cause of death for young persons between the age of fifteen to twenty-four years; and it is the eleventh cause of death for persons of all ages in the United States. Many people think these are remote incidents, but they are not. Teen suicide is an epidemic that keeps on growing on daily basis. According to the estimate by the center for disease and prevention, annually, over five hundred thousand teenagers from age 15 to 24 will attempt to kill themselves and about five thousand of these teenagers succeeded (National Institute of Mental Health, 2002). Theses estimate indicated that the number of teenagers that committed suicide (five thousand) is synonymous to the number of people whom the cause of death was cancer or homicide. The number of teenagers, who committed suicide over the years, has outnumbered the number of teenagers who were killed by homicides by at least ratio three to two. That is ridiculous! To some people it sound unbelievable but as we continue to read various articles and continue to expose these occurrences on the internet...
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...I. TABLE OF CONTENTS IIA. INTRODUCTION --------------------------------------------------------- 2 - 3 - Statement of the Problem ------------------------------------------------------------ 3 - Significance of the Study -----------------------------------------------------------3 - 4 - Scope and Limitations ------------------------------------------------------------ 4 - Definition of Terms ---------------------------------------------------------- 4 - 5 IIB. MAIN BODY ------------------------------------------------------------ 6 - 9 Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------ 9 Recommendation ------------------------------------------------------------ 10 III. BIBLIOGRAPHY ---------------------------------------------------------- 11 - 12 IIA. INTRODUCTION In our everyday life, we always receive opinions from other people. These can be criticisms and good or bad comments. We are free to express these opinions but there are some who express it over that sometimes they may hurt someone’s feelings. If this will be repeatedly done and is getting worse that they can really affect the mental behavior of someone, then this will be called as bullying. Bullying is the repeated and systematic harassment or attack on someone. It is a habitual abuse...
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...accordingly. Here in the United States it has really taken a toll on our teenagers. Many lives have been lost due to suicide, depression, and low-morale. Bullying can disguise itself as pushing, shoving, name-calling, mean rumors, teasing, and violence. This can be damaging to an individual and cause great harm. Bullying is negative behavior that needs to stop because, as adults we need to intervene and set things right. Bullying, the different kinds, and the rise in cyber bullying are all important because students are abused, threatened and victimized on a daily basis. Bullying is unwanted,...
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...“Hey porker!”, “Ew, she's to ugly to be his girlfriend.”, “You're stupid you're never going to finish high school.” These types of comments are experienced by many teens in the US, this is called bullying. Many teens kill themselves over a situation such as this. 500,000 teenagers try to commit suicide and only 5,000 actually succeed (Jaredstory.com). There are many types of bullying but, the most common form of bullying, that is on the rise, is Cyber bullying. “Cyber bullying is the number one cause of suicide” (Jaredstory.com). Not only does bullying affect the victim but the victim's family as well. Bullying is negatively affecting the United States today. One way Cyber bullying is negatively affecting the United States today is academically. “Cyber bullying is when a child, adolescent or young adult bullies, harasses or repeatedly threatens one of their peers electronically through email, instant messages, blogging, text messages and Web Sites dedicated to humiliating another child” (How Is Cyber Bullying Affecting Your Kids). Cyber bullying does not affect the child only personally but academically. A person with an unstable home will most likely not be able to focus on their work in the classroom. Stress is put upon that person and so they have many other things on their mind instead of their classwork. When writing papers, one may try to avoid using the computer, to keep themselves from getting hate emails, messages or tweets. “The person being bullied grades will start...
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...Position Paper Teen Suicide 04 November 2014 Instructor: Course: Identification of the Issue The term suicide is defined as the intentional taking of your own life, or by deliberate inaction, allowing your life to be taken (according to www.mentalhelp.net). The ways people commit suicide varies, but the act of suicide itself remains the same. Some people overdose on prescription pills, slit their wrists, shoot themselves the list goes on. In 2010, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that suicide is the third leading cause of death for college aged youth and ages 12-18. Teenagers experience low self esteem issues as a result of peer pressure, bullying, love lost, stress and confusion within the family whether it is due to divorce, financial uncertainty, domestic abuse or substance abuse. And for these reasons teens may associate suicide with being the solution to their problem. Causes for the Problem The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collected data in 2012 (most recent year for which data was obtained), 40,600 suicides were reported, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death for Americans. In that year someone in the United States died by suicide every 12.9 minutes. Shockingly, after cancer and heart disease, suicide accounts for more years of life lost than any other cause of death. Statistics also shows that males are twice more likely to commit suicide than females. As far as ethnicity rates,...
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...Jonathan Russell Comp 1112-06 Dr. Washington Research Paper Teen Suicide What possible circumstances could ever lead a teen or college student to the point where they want to end their own life? In the year 2004 it is estimated that roughly 1,600 teens between the ages of fifteen and nineteen will end their own lives (Hosansky). In the same study, it is also stated one in every five high school students consider killing themselves. It is sad to think anything could push these young people to that point. What causes them to do such a thing? Is it pressure from parents, bullying, experimenting with alcohol, or something as simple as feeling alone? Teens today have pressure coming from everywhere, whether it be from parents, coaches, or even peer pressure from friends. There is not one leading cause to teen suicide, but the pressure put on teens is one major component. Teens feel like they cannot handle the pressures of everyday life and when something goes wrong they turn to the “easy way out” and end their lives. It is sad to think they feel that death is the only way out. One way that teens in fact feel pressure is from people they consider their friends. Today it is so easy for teens to communicate without actually seeing one another face to face. Due to ease that technology presents, it is for teens to talk without actually seeing each other; cyber bullying has become more and more of a problem. In a story written by a young boy’s parents, they explain...
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...titles in BLUE Websites 1. Adolescent Suicide in the School Setting [ ] - How school staff and students can detect and intervene to prevent suicide. 2. Focus Adolescent Services [ ] - Resources and information on teen suicide, depression, personality disorders and other issues affecting teens and their families. 3. I'll Stand by You [ ] - This is a site for teens and young adults who are suffering from depression, suicidal thoughts and self injury. Get advice or come support others. 4. Kids in Trouble Help Page [ ] - Helping kids and teens that are being abused, or runaways, or those thinking about running away or suicide. Includes emergency phone numbers, and helpful links. 5. Kids in Trouble Help Page The Kids in Trouble Help Page has helped many teens by being a user friendly place where kids and teens can find the help they need in all kinds of situations including suicide, child abuse, depression and runaways. Site includes links to all kinds of helpful info, and stories of other kids who have dealt with similar issues. 6. Let's Talk Facts About Teen Suicide [ ] - Information from the American Psychiatric Association explains signs and symptoms of teenage depression. Includes suicide risks, statistics, and what can be done. [PDF] 7. Mind (National Association for Mental Health) UK 8. My Friend Is Talking About Suicide. What Should I Do? [ ] - Learn some of the warning signs that a person is considering suicide and what to do to help. 9. National...
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...civil rights for all people made for fertile ground for songwriters to encourage change for the better through their music. (Hibbard and Kaleialoha, p 122) Lyricists and composers worked in tandem to write songs to both inform the public and, in some cases, incite the public to take action against what was happening in, around and to the world. Songs such as “Blowin in the Wind, written by Bob Dylan in 1962 and “Ball of Confusion (that’s what the world is today)”, written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1970 for the Temptations spoke to the listener about war and the stress of living during the confusion of the late 1960’s and 1970’s. A survey of Top-40 rock stations in Los Angeles, the second largest radio market in the United States shows that in the 1960’s there were 3 major stations that appealed to teenagers and young...
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...Drinking Age at Twenty-one Imagine winning the State Basketball Championship. You get back to your house with a few friends and feel a party is in order, so you start drinking a few beers after your parents go to bed. Someone suggests that you drive somewhere to get rid of the empty cans. “Yes, that’s not a bad idea”, so you all pile into the car and take off. A few hours later, your parents receive a telephone call to come down to the station. There has been a terrible accident, and they must identify the body. This is the one phone call all parents dread. This true story is detailed in the Germantown, Tennessee high school newspaper. Stories like this compel me to believe that the legal drinking age should be kept at twenty-one. Almost every state set a legal drinking age of twenty-one, the legal voting age at the time, after prohibition was repealed. Between 1970 and 1975, twenty-nine states lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen, twenty-nine states also lowered their drinking age to eighteen or nineteen. During the late seventies, studies showed that traffic crashes had drastically increased after lowering the drinking age. Once this was announced publicly, many groups created a movement to increase the minimal drinking age, and sixteen states responded. The Uniform Drinking Act was passed in 1984. This strongly encouraged the remaining thirteen states to raise their drinking age. If the states would not agree to do so by 1987, the government said...
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...The internet has a big power to influence what goes on in todays world, to connect one another in real time, and to mobilize the current generation with the help of recent technological advances that many people wouldn’t believe that would happen. But in today’s society, it has happened and the primary focus has been with the rise of social media. According to The Pew Research Center, “there has been an 356% increase of social media use in the United States alone since the rise of Facebook in 2006.” And including about “over 94% of social media use by people through the ages of 12-18 years of age.” Therefore is doubt that social media has been a godsent to young people who want to get in touch with others around the world who also share the same interests and want to know what is going on in their friends and families lives. Even with this upside there is still a downside because with these social media sites are greatly affecting today’s teenagers, in turn are making it a health concern for these teens to be on social media. Communication is key to any thing you do whether you are talking to a friend or speaking to your doctor on your latest test results. Real communication skills are what teenagers are lacking today. These social practices that you have been taught throughout your life seem to be missing in today's generation since eye to eye contact and having conversations without looking down on your phone are very rare to see today. Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair, a clinical...
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