Violence Crises Essay, Research Paper

In the essay “Children and Violence in America,” Dudley Devlin describes the problems in today’s society with violence among teenagers. True, there seems to be a problem, and the cause of the problem is unknown. But to say, like Devlin does, that the problem is fabricated by the news media is completely outrageous. In his essay, Devlin presents numerous statistics that undermine his main argument. “By the age of 18, the average American child will have seen 200,000 violent acts on television, including 40,000 murders ” Statistics such as these cannot be overlooked. Devlin seem to overlook them, and goes on to say that the problem does not lie in the television programs, nor in the fact that American family structure has deteriorated. He seems to believe that the problem is make belief. It is a funny story some media guru made up. The fact that hundreds of kids are dying every day is not some made up statistic. There is no media guru fabricating these statistics for his own benefit. It is true, these things do go on, and television and family values are the main problem and cause of these problems. More kids are growing up with either both parents working, or in single parent homes, with parents working two to three jobs in order to support themselves. And this has an immediate impact on the values that are instilled in the youth of today. Kids do not know right from wrong, they have no manners, and no sense of respect for their elders. That is where the problem arises, it is not made up by the media like Devlin claims.

Devlin further claims that “One infant shot in the Denver Zoo does not mean that we have this huge crisis of violence,” but we do. That one ten month old child should not be getting shot in a Zoo, in society that knows right from wrong. A stray bullet should not be anywhere near a Zoo, and to honestly say, in a utopian society, there should not be a stray bullet in the first place. But we do not live in a utopian society and things happen, but Devlin is wrong in one respect, that one incident with the infant dying, does make for a crisis in America. Instances such as these should not be happening, parents need to raise their children better, and parents need to spend more time with their kids. Individualism in America, and everyone being out for themselves, is what causes the problem. And I am not saying we should switch to Socialist system of government. But maybe if the parents were not so concerned with what kind of car they drove, or how many pairs of shoes they owned, or how many suits. Maybe then parents would find enough time to spend with their children, and maybe then we will not have crises on our hands.