The Impact of Aggressive Behavior on The Lives of Kids and Youths

As Carole Goguen wrote in her fact sheet for A National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, community violence includes predatory violence, which involves a stranger being violent or making threats of violence, and violence arising from non-family interpersonal conflicts. Both of these types of violence include shootings, rapes, stabbings, beatings, and other brutal acts. Because children and adolescents see or become involved in community violence in their own neighborhoods and schools, it is now recognized as a public health issue.

All children and adolescents are at risk of being somehow involved in community violence. As you would think, living in poor, inner-city areas seems to increase the risk for community violence exposure. There are other things that can also put people at a greater risk; for example, gang affiliation and substance abuse, but nothing can guarantee that a child will or will not experience any violence.

Children are not only affected by community violence when they are hurt or threatened, but also when they see it being done to someone else. Our textbook, Exploring Child Development tells us that one-third of children in high crime areas in United States cities witness a homicide, and more than two-thirds witness a serious assault. Witnessing a violent act is actually a more common way children become involved in violence. In a study done by the Child and Family Psychosocial Research Center, 165 children, 111 first and second graders, and 54 fifth and sixth graders were surveyed, and the amount of children somehow involved in violence was overwhelming. Of the first and second graders, 21% of them have been victims of and 84% had witnessed at least one violent act, 3% of which were murders. Results in the fifth and sixth graders were even higher, showing that 35% had been involved, while 90% had witnessed an act, 4% of which were murders. These rates are even higher in a survey done by our text. This survey involves inner city African Americans, and the violent acts that influenced them. Of the children surveyed, 42% had seen someone shot, 25% had seen someone stabbed, and 23% had seen someone murdered.

Although people tend to think that the violence will not have any affect on the child if he or she is very young, the truth is actually the opposite. The younger the child, the more likely it is that the child will experience psychological problems. Children who experience traumatic violence before the age of eleven are three times more likely to have problems than those who experience it after twelve years old.

Children's exposure to community violence greatly affects them not only physically, through injuries caused by the assault, but also emotionally. Children often tend to try to avoid any discussion of the trauma, display disorganized behavior, have nightmares, become withdrawn, show fear, become aggressive, have difficulty paying attention, and often regress to doing things like wetting the bed, and sucking their thumb. Often after experiencing a serious trauma, children become depressed, angry, distrustful, alienated, and have a feeling of betrayal, causing them to no longer trust their own environment. This is a very difficult thing for a young person to experience, because they have very little influence on their surroundings. This makes the child realize that they cannot really protect themselves; therefore they feel unsafe in their own community. These things are all signs of, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

A child who develops PTSD is not only affecting himself and his present, but also his family and his future. A violent childhood can often lead to a violent adulthood, causing a great deal of problems in future relationships, marriages, and family life. The family of the victim can also be greatly affected. Parents often experience extreme anxiety because they worry about their child's health and well-being. Parents often blame themselves for what their child experienced, because they feel they didn't protect their child like they were supposed to. This often causes them to become overprotective, or use excessive discipline to try to make up for the past.

If a child is ever put in a situation in which they experience or witness any type of violence, the most important thing to remember is to be there for them. The child will need a caring, supportive adult to help them deal with the stress, and confusing thoughts that are now in his head. They will also need someone to spend time with them, and someone who will listen to what they need to say. They should also be encouraged to talk about what they experienced, but not forced into doing so.

In general, violence can do many things to many people. Whether you are young or old, majority, or minority, male or a female, violence can affect you in different ways. Some become violent themselves, while others become very quiet and distant. Some need to talk about their experience, while others avoid it as much as they can. I believe the best way to keep your children from experiencing violence is to involve them in after school activities, know their friends, and who they are spending most of their time with. If by chance something bad happens, be there for your child, and give them the support and confidence they need. Realize they are hurt and scared, and try to help them regain the trust they need to continue a productive life.