Violent Teens

   This article, "Are violent teens suffering 'the rage of the unparented'?, was written and published in 2004. People may think that this does not concern us any more because it was eight years ago. Well, even today there are violent teens. There are murders, and robberies and many other criminal activities. This problem concerns us all and is very important. We need to keep a safe atmosphere in Toronto. It is dangerous for younger kids, as well as older kids and children.  Parents are more concerned and need to be careful with their children. When you are a young kid, you have a great time, but, when you grow up into a teenager, the world seems more violent. Kids are introduced to things like drugs, weapons, and they get surrounded by bad people, and let peer pressure get to them. I think that the main reason for teenagers acting like this, is due to a bad childhood.  Their parents didn't care for them, and they were probably abused. When they're young, they look up to their parents, and copy what they do. If there is violence at home and parents are not getting along, then when the kids grow up, they're filled with hatred and frustration, so they decide to do stupid things. In the article it says, "the engine of aggression is frustration." (Paragraph 7).

   As children grow up, they lose their connection to their parents, and start to think of their bad friends as role models. They start to rely on their friends. "Children relying on each other are unavoidably frustrated." (Paragraph 15). Parents are supposed to be our role models. They teach us what's right and what's wrong. As I was reading this article, I found something that I really agree with. Someone named Dr. Neufeld made a wise statement; "Kids were never meant to nurture one another, they are not up to the task. It's the immature leading the undeveloped." (Paragraph 14) That is very true. That's why it's important that parents lead us through the right path when we're young, before it's too late.
My parents always tell me to avoid the bad groups when I get into high school and to never get influenced into doing drugs or other bad things. Even in school nowadays, teachers are telling us this.



  I think that this article is very important. Mainly adults would read these types of articles because it concerns them most. "All of us adults- in our homes and in all our institutions, from daycare and kindergarten upward at all levels of education- must hold the emotional nurturance of children as the highest value. We must reclaim our kids from relying on each other." (Paragraph 23-24). That's a very important quote from the article. This article is trying to get parents to teach teenagers and especially young kids to follow the right path, so our future will be more friendly and safe. Then there will be fewer violent activities, and we will be more able to prevent them from happening.