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Gun Violence: Why does it occur more in urban areas versus any other area?

Tatyana Booth

English IV -4th period Mrs.Jones 26 March 2014

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Working Outline: Gun Violence in Urban Areas Thesis: Gun violence happens in urban areas due to the lack of public education teachers and counselors give students, the environment thats exposed, and poverty.

I. The lack of public education, the teachers and other administers give students about gun violence. A. Education 1. 2. 3. II. The safety of being in school. What suspension can do to kids? Gun Violence that occurs in school in urban areas.

How home structures can drive a child to gun violence. A. No Support 1. B. Kids neglected can be drawn to gun violence.

Experience 1. What a child sees at home.

C. III.

Abused kids can also cause gun violence.

Negative Mentoring can encourage gun violence. A. Gang violence 1. 2. B. C. Initiation Leading causes of wanting to join a gang

Drug distribution/ drug usage Media 1. 2. Rappers Urban movies

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Gun Violence: In Urban Areas In Americas urban cities, New Orleans has the worst progression of homicide. Illegal guns and ammunitions commit 80% of homicides, according to the most current police statistics. The National Academy of Science Panel states that African Americans make up 85% of victims and were assassinated by an illegal gun. Statistics suggest that as a young, African American, there is a greater risk of being shot and killed in New Orleans than it would be if a soldier was in a tug-a-war battle in Afghanistan or Iraq (Blitzer, Wolf 2). Gun violence is a common problem in inner cities and its a horrific problem that our generation and race is also affected by it. Gun violence occurs in urban areas due to the lack of quality education, proper family structure and support, and the negative mentoring that is concentrated in this particular area. Educating The NACCP argue about the education in urban communities that includes: the streets, schoolyards, and workplaces (9). They ask for an increase in federal resources for more security and technology and they advise teachers, counselors, and officers for more safety gatherings involving the youth. They believe in the moral part of literature that argues policemen in schools, also known as Resource Officers, who criminalize non-violent students behavior for such actions as skipping class and other acts of defiance and punting kids into the juvenile justice system rather than in-school counseling and discipline. Rather than criminalizing children, adding more guns into the school environment, and suspending students from school our nation

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should focus on being more resourceful so that more counselors and mental health professionals can be hired and placed in public schools to help assist, monitor, and prevent these types of tragedies. New research at University of Chicago states that students are pressured into gun violence while theyre out school than in school. In most low class urban areas, the inside of a school is as safe as a child would get; but kicking them out of school only increase the dropout rates and can cause a life to be taken away. Although schools and parents support suspension because of the hard core punishment or the toughness they try to give off to the student by taking students away from their peers and their studies, scientist and the U.S. shows that students who have been suspended are three time likely to drop out (Shermer,Michael). Students are more cable of coming in contact with gun violence outside of school because of the bad crowd they may hang with outside of school. The non-tolerance disciplinary schools upholds only pushes students to the streets making more African American students a statist. Schools around the world, mainly in urban areas, try to enforce more of the Positive Behavioral Intervention and less of suspension to give students the help and or the improvements they are required to have in school. A schools survey shows when students are suspended and/or even expelled from school, it is a fact that 75% of them will end up using drugs, early experience of alcohol, and even gang collaborations. (Iseline 4). Gun violence in urban schools kills and imprisons students in the urban neighborhoods. The National Association for the Youth of Young Children uncovered over 5% of high school students indicated that they have carried a gun in the past month. Approximately, one million children own a gun and tolls it with them in school because of fear and peer pressure. Gun related violence takes the life of an American teen at least every three day.

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Over the past decade government agencies have surveyed millions of students across the nation about weapons in schools, and, year after year, they have told us that they have seen guns and knives on campus and have been threatened by them at school. Alarmingly minority don't disapprove of them being on school grounds. The presence of weapons and toleration of them on campus create the potential for more pain and suffering in the nation's schools. The most recent federal statistics, there were 33 school-associated violent deaths from July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010. (Avi, Ron 1). Gun violence in schools or around schools wears many faces. It can be the cause of gang activities, bullying, or assault held in homes. Studies claimed reasons for the higher rates of school violence. First, some teenagers are often very hyperactive and have not learned appropriate social behavior. Second, many students are merged with other kids from different backgrounds. A form of jealousy can also take place in the huge diversity of mixing different children in an urban area. Family Structure Child neglect interferes with childrens behavior. Effects on children who suffer from neglect in home range from physical injuries, low self-esteem, attention disorders, and poor peer relations to severe brain damage, extremely violent behavior, and death (86). Sexual abuse, physical abuse, and chronic stress cause a childs brain to strengthen pathways. It makes the child look at the world in a violent and non-caring matter. Violence in homes goes unheard 50% of the time. Because of the duplicated functions in kids brains, it is most efficient that they are for sure to do everything theyve seen or what has been done to them. Because they cant react at home the way they would want to, they react towards other people. Its dangerous to have a

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traumatize child exposed to only violence because it makes them into an angry person and normally, they are interested in the violence the urban streets has to offer them.

Children who grow up in homes where abuse occurs are almost always affected by it. It is said by research that children who visualize abuse in their homes, come in contact with domestic violence in relationships and/or does the domestic violence themselves (11). Although parents may give their child the benefit of the doubt thinking children at the appropriate age knows or should know right from wrong, the Love Our Children Association states that children who grew up in violent homes, lacks good judgments and can make bad decisions as a result to gun usage. When a child witness violence in homes, they only know how to fin for themselves (Rosa, Maria). Their determination is to hurt people how they have been hurt in their household. Majority of abused children are PSTD (posttraumatic stress disorder); which affects their brain development (Garbrino, James PhD). The trauma of gun violence for abuse children can cause them to feel like they should be armed. Abused children can be affected in short-terms and long- term in their lives. Research at the University of California Los Angles (UCLA) concluded that gun violence does lead up to PTSD for abused children. It causes them to stray from the right crowd and just go for what they know. Instead of hanging with the right crowd, they depend on troubled kids that have been in the same situation as them. Abused African Americans are usually pushed in urban streets. To get away from the violence at home, they choose to linger in the violence. Because of their anger they expose in the street, they may tend to take it out on others. Statists show that troubled children, who tend to push themselves in the streets because of problems at home, end up in juveniles or prisons.

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Negative Mentoring in Urban Area In urban areas, negative mentoring causes a lot of violence. Gun homicides are almost always tied into gang violence. A gang is a group of close friends of identical culture that claim close control over territory, colors, and arts. The purpose of most gangs is to kill and hurt anything that comes on their territory who tries to overtake it or who they feel threatened by. Most children join gangs in the sense of understanding and trying to find who they really are. Gang members may be accompanied by drugs, alcohol, and illegal gun carrying. Gangs have violent initiations. Other than getting beat in a gang; most have to either kill cops or go on murder spree killing the innocence. Research shows single parents, poverty, and being in an urban culture creates the formation of gang affiliations (Vigil, 2003). Children who joins gangs, usually joins them for different reasons. Some join gangs because they feel like theyre destin to due to the fact they have family who were either in the gang or still are. They dont really worry about the consequences because of their traumatizing experience at home and/or at school. Gang affiliated children join because they feel like they have nothing to live for. Gordon, a researcher in gang movements, studies that kids are attracted by this because of the feel of supportive peer groups, to gain materials that they never had before, and because of the fun drift of the fast lane in gun violence (2000). Abraham Maslow, chain human needs by putting them into categories of higher level needs and lower level needs (1970). When children lack the feel of security (lower lever needs), they look and join other groups similar to their needs and look for support from them. People in gangs find each other by the isolation they put themselves and then generally they link with other troubled children (like themselves) and form a gang.

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Music media has a great effect on the youth not only because the children look up to the artist, but because of the harsh lyrics and messages delivered in the songs. The youth looks up to a lot of urban rappers like: Dwayne Carter, Tyga, and Notorious B.I.G. Children are easily influenced by people who they that have a grain some of money, they see the pretty half naked women in the videos, and the large cars and houses they display on the videos. They can relate to what the rappers are saying and what theyve been through so they make a connection with it; either because they have or because thats what they look forward to having. Even though Lil Wayne (Dwayne Carter) raps, always strap, when I hit the club n**** gives me daps b****es show me love, he still managed to stay on top of his schooling and even got a degree in psychology. These days, a lot of rappers are not just rappers, they have a backup plans due a degree or the investments they put aside. Research shows that African American teens use music to boast their energy levels (32). Lyrics have become way more explicit then it ever was. Not only rap, but rock and reggae, for instance, contains contents like sex, drugs, homicide, suicide, showing of guns, exposing woman and betraying them. Gun violence occurs everywhere in American but specifically in urban areas. Its a huge statistics that points fingers at the urban culture for high gun violence due to the troubles at homes and within families and friends thats exposed to the African American children. In research, case studies, and to government officials, gun violence is caused by the lack of quality education what does not educate the youth about gun violence, the home structure of children, that they witness and/ or even go through, and they negative mentoring the music media carries and they dirty works and doings in songs and in videos. Children in urban areas look for more support in outside area other than their own homes in school (80). Thats why NAACP, lectures how its important for teachers, counselors, and other administrative to make a change; instead of

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just pushing a child out of school. Every child needs some positive mentoring in their lives. You cant expose children to everything because traumatic children can cause a child disrupt brain development. Angry children most often lead to violent crimes. The negative mentoring such as, gangster rap music has a lot to do with childrens behaviors. Its simple, when most children hear about a rapper shooting; they want to shoot too, if they hear their favorite rapper freaking (sexual content) then they want to as well. Urban cities and neighborhood pick up the wrong crowds off of nave judgments.

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Work Cited Kaplan, Morriah, and Sophia Kerby. "Communities of Color Should Care About Stricter GunViolence." Name. Center of American Progress, 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. "Background on School Violence." Do Something. U.S. Department of Justice, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. Goldman, Salus J. A Coordinate Response of Child Abuse and Neglect. The Foundation for Practice. Chapter Six: What are the Consequences of Child Abuse and Neglect? U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003. Web. 26 Mar. 2014 Garbarino, James. The Future of Children, Princeton Research and Analysis to Promote Effective Policies and Programs for Children. - The Future of Children. The Trustees of Princeton University. , 11 Feb. 2013 Web. 26 Mar. 2014 Children and Gangs. Children and Gangs. The American Academy of Child and Adolescents Psychiatry, Aug. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2014