Coping with Violence

February 3rd. Hundreds of students came to watch the Central v North basketball game. It was a game day to raise awareness for cancer and raise money, but it turned into a night that will be remembered as bringing awareness to a different issue: teen violence.

Media is portraying acts of teen violence because they are there. Mass shootings such as Columbine and Ulvade, were all caused by shooters eighteen or younger. Besides the easy access of firearms and other deadly weapons, what leads a teenager to commited violence and even mass atrocities is a question with multiple answers. 

Covid-19 was no doubt detrimental to the lives of many. Teens suffered mental health problems that they hadn’t before, those struggles still are prevalent today. It is widely known that mental health can be linked to mass shootings with an FBI survey claiming 65 percent of mass shooters between 2000-2013 had mental health stressors (depression, anxiety,etc). 

Principal Suzanne Leake has seen the spike of mental health problems within the smaller community around her. 

“We also see people struggling with mental health …we see an uptick in that and so you know, no doubt did COVID had an effect,” Dr. Leake said. 

It’s not only Dr. Leake that has noticed these issues. Teachers and other staff have noticed the detrimental effects of Covid on student’s mental health. Counselor, Kristopher Miller, has noticed these changes.

“If I had to guess, I would say the increase has a lot to do with the stress our society has been under in the last few years. The pandemic affected everyone significantly in multiple ways,” Miller said. “Specifically for teens, it affected social development as teens had limited social interaction and did not learn how to address their problems and frustrations.”

With this information, it can be known that teens are very susceptible to unhealthy forms of coping(violence) when they experience difficult events in their developing years. Besides Covid affecting mental health, social media has also played a mojor role.  

“So we have so many forms of media now.  I’d be curious if we ever really know how many incidents similar to that ever did happen when we didn’t have the means to share all of these stories worldwide, like we do now,” Leake said. 

Media showcases the many stories of violence across the board and not just teens. But the constant viewing of these violent acts can desensitize the eyes of the viewer, and for teens, create ideas in their heads. But violence doesn’t have to just come in the form of physical violence. 

“While we have fights here at FHC, we don’t see much physical violence compared to more verbal or emotional,” Miller said. 

We can get lost in the idea that teen violence simply comes down to a kids hitting another or a kid bringing a gun to school While these things happen, there are other forms of violence. Verbal and emotional violence are on the rise in the teenage age group and can come with its own detrimental effects. What the root of this violence is is a complicated subject and often involves many factors. 

“Violence is definitely taught as a way to handle problems but there are genetic predispositions toward violence,” Miller said. 

There are many factors that lead to violence in adolescents. Yet with the past couple years, as teens experience Covid and many mass shootings, the correlation to increased teen violence cannot be ignored.

Staff inside schools can only provide so much information on how teens can perform acts of violence. There are experts across the nation that have specialized in teenage agression and its roots. Paul Boxer is a Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University; he has studied children and teenagers and their violent behaviors. He has seen first hand these individuals through community centers, clinics, and hospitals.

Boxer has found similar causes to teen violence as those within our school walls. The topics of mental health, media, and genetic disposition are ones that are discussed across state lines. 

“violence exposure in homes, schools, and the media; economic strain; family conflict; intensive irritability and impulsivity; and trauma.” Boxer said. 

It is known that the media portrays violence in our society because it is a common occurance. People are killed, kidnapped, and oppressed on a daily basis. But how does a kid take this into something of their own?

“There is a lot of research showing that violence in the media leads kids to see the world as a violent place, to learn specific forms of aggressive responding, and to believe that violence is an acceptable form of behavior. When kids develop these beliefs they become more likely to engage in aggression themselves.” Boxer said. 

Acceptance is the key. Teenagers see acts of violence occuring and they play the game of if they can do it so can I. Stating that mental health is the cause of teenagers commiting mass shootings is a completly too broad and sets a sterotype that those who are mentally ill area a danger to society. Not all those that experince mental health problems commit acts of violence, but some mental illnesses are more common lead to violence.

“Only one very specific form of mental illness has been linked consistently to violence — paranoid schizophrenia, in which the individual with that condition experiences hallucinations and delusions that provoke them to behave violently.” Boxer said. 

Once again environmental factors are not the only thing at play. While mostly all cases have a environment cause linked to them genetic disposition can play a major role. 

“Researchers have found that certain genotypes (patterns of DNA) are associated with increased risk for violent behavior. However, most typically, people with those genotypes still require some sort of environmental “trigger” for their violent behavior to become manifest.”

Overall, it is known by school staff and professionals that teenagers are acting more violently because of the media and the mental health crisis. But another major question get raised when the topic of mass shootings is brought up. Does the violence between differ teens in states with differing gun laws?

“Yes. Some of my work has shown that youth are less likely to carry and use firearms in states with more restrictive firearm laws.” Boxer said.