Angry Babies: Juvenile Violence

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Recommended: Do violent games contribute to youth violence

At what age should we be held responsible for our actions? Society has been blaming inanimate things for its problems for far too long. Society blames food for obesity, guns for murder, and video games for youth violence. None of those things are to blame for the problems society suffers. Instead of blaming video games and media for violent children, parents need to accept the responsibility of teaching their children right from wrong. Inevitably, some children will still be violent; however the video game is still not at fault.
Juvenile violence has been decreasing since 1993. According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics in 1993 26% of violent crimes involved a juvenile perpetrator whereas in 2011 only 10% of violent crimes were committed by juveniles. Although child perpetrators are less common, video game sales are steadily rising. “U.S. computer and video game software sales grew 22.9 percent in 2008 to $11.7 billion – more than quadrupling industry software sales since 1996.” (Washington.edu) With so many children playing video games, some with heavily violent content, child violence should be growing at an alarming rate, yet it is not.
Juvenile violence can be linked to many things other than natural urges. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry states that abuse, stress, drugs and even genetics contribute to violence among youth. It may seem that virtually performing out violent acts would increase the urge to be violent in reality; studies have not shown that to be true. More to blame than video games is parent’s ignorance of how their actions or lack of action affects their children. Alternatively parents need to be held responsible for their children’s behavior.
The Ame...

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... Cited
Aacap.org. “Understanding Violent Behavior in Children and Adolescents” the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014
Childstats.gov. “Youth Perpetrators of Serious Violent Crimes” Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
NRA.org. “What is The Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program?” National Rifle Association of America Web. 24. Feb. 2014
Olsen, Cheryl, Kutner, Lawrence, Warner, Dorothy, Almerigi, Jason, Baer, Lee, Nicholi, Armand, and Beresin, Eugene "Factors Correlated with Violent Video Game Use by Adolescent Boys and Girls," Journal of Adolescent Health, Jan. 2007 Web. 24 Feb. 2014
ProCon.org. "Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?" ProCon.org. 2 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
Washington.edu. “FYI: Video Game Statistics by the Entertainment Software Association” Web. 24. Feb. 2014.

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