Youth Violence A Growing Issue Of The United States

Parenting Matters Youth violence has become a growing issue in the United States. According to the U.S. Secret Service, â€Å"in the previous decade, the odds of a high school student being injured or threatened with a weapon were about 1 in 14, and the odds of a teen being in a physical fight were 1 in 7† (Youth Violence Statistics 18). Statistics has also proven that youth violence and bullying within school environment intensified in recent years and has remained high. Indeed, youth themselves are the group allegedly affected by youth violence; however, they are not the only one. For instance, youth violence influences communities and the country as a whole by increasing the cost of health care, interfering social services, and curtailing†¦show more content†¦Authoritarian parents have low involvement and high demand on their children. They are extremely harsh and require their children to submit to their commands and surveillance with little or no communication. C hildren with these type of parents are not given room to discuss with their parents. They are to comply to their parents with unquestionable respect, and great levels of achievement are anticipated at all times. The result of defying the commands is merciless punishment, which can include yelling and hitting. This parenting style physically and mentally raises a child as a bully. Reared by authoritarian parents, children feel powerless and weakened at home. Consequently, they may want to â€Å"displace† their impulses and frustrations outside by practicing violence to their peers. Instead of showing anger towards their authoritarian parents, where it could possibly result in unfavorable results (such as spanking), it is reasonable that children express their anger on their peers that poses no threat. In fact, violence is already prevalent in the authoritarian household. Psychologist Albert Bandura’s observational learning theory claims that children constantly learn s imply by observing others in the environment and further imitating the behaviors they observed. In other words, a child may learn to smoke, slap, swear, and perform other undesirable behavior through improper modeling. Parents are the first