Violence on the Rise in US Cities

Ah Im regaining faith into the youth a bit right now. I asked 10 kids between 15-20 if
"do you believe people drive the media, or the media drives the people (whats cool, whats not cool)"
all 10 responses were media drives the people. they said how they are starting to notice that the media is always one step ahead of everything cool, and that its not they are 1 step ahead but they are the ones making it what it is.

We Reap What We Sow

I think everyone knows where I'm going with this...

Loam, I believe it's the other way around. Lazy parents, a popular culture promoting violence and narcotic use, and a hedonistic, lazy attitude have turned a generation that has had almost every advantage into something twisted.

Let me ask you this- when kids act up, is it the teacher's fault? Are they responsible for raising the chillun? Are they even capable of actual discipline? No wonder the kids are going nuts. Schools constantly push aphetamines on them. So, you've got these kids on crank half the time, a system where trying to control them physically will get you sued. So, they pass the buck to the cops.

Now, the cops are the ones stuck being surrogate parents. They see the criminal behavior from a younger minor, what are they supposed to do? they're already overstretched and underpaid. Half the time, they're needed elsewhere for a domestic or disturbance call. What're they supposed to do, sit there and physically restrain (which would bring QUITE a bit of objection from parents) the child until he calms down? Is that, in fact, their job?

Grim, what your peers think doesn't matter. Here are the facts: record companies sign artists. Artists are presented to the public, where they either sink or swim, based on their abilities and what people enjoy listening to. A good example is Death Cab for Cutie. They have moderate mainstream appeal. This is because people enjoy what they hear. Of course, they have no where near the selling power of good ol Fitty, the posterboy for why .45 is better than 9mm. If people like what they hear -especially nowadays, in the age of free music- they go out and buy the CDs. Period. They don't buy them as status symbols, because no one cares.

The main reason why kids these days are horrible breaks down to a few reasons: the drugs (pushed on them at an early age, making narcotics use later in life seem okay) , the popular culture that encourages violence and the 'street' way of life, and their own inability to make choices. Given the choice of working at McDonalds for a week or slinging rock, too many take the option of slinging the rock. And now drugs are destroying north america*.

Another thing to note- kids have no consequences for their actions. They get arrested for assaultive behavior at school, what's teh first thing that comes to mind? ACLU. they lawyer up, sue the cops, and the taxpayers take it in the shorts. Knowing that, are they going to stop for anyone?

It's two in the morning. I apologize if my rant is in pieces. Also, if anyone doesn't believe me that a permissive attitude AND drugs are destroyign NA, watch this.

DE

*Potheads, no, we just don't care. Until you can vindicate the whole gateway drug thing, I just don't care how 'good it is for you'. Kids don't jsut start at heroin. Kids try pot, then move to harder drugs. I'm not blaming y'all directly, you can't be helped for personal choice. but you're not makign things any clearer.

good ol 50 got turned on by most media outlets. He was big, then suddenly hate 50 was the thing to do. Ya know why? It wasnt his cocky attitude, because most rappers have that. It was because media started putting on records that bashed the hell out of him. They made their profits, so they figured they can make some more profits through him getting destroyed on diss tracks. And They did.

They don't dictate who gets put out. A sound is a sound. its not about the sound that Im talking about. Its the lifestyle Im talking about. They promote that, push that, and thats whats going to get picked up. It wasn't so cool to be stupid till the media started playing those losers as the bad ass kids who got all the girls and lived the great life. In reality it isn't true, but I can tell you ALOT of kids follow that now. They think stupidity is cool, and thats the thing to do. Where do you think they get that stuff from? Why do they think thats cool? When it comes down to it, they watch TV at an early age and figure out whats cool that way.

New F.B.I. figures show violent crimes are on the rise for the first time since 2001.

The bureau says there were nearly 17-thousand murders last year, the highest figure since 1998. And while the national increase is about five percent, the jump was far bigger in some cities. For example, Houston saw a 23 percent rise in murders, while in Philadelphia it was 14 percent.

Robberies and aggravated assaults also rose nationally.

But not all of the news is bad. New York, Los Angeles and Detroit saw drops in the number of murders. And the number of rapes across the U.S. fell about two percent.

A national increase of 5% does not sound good.
Personally I don't know why you americans kill eachother more than others, but the Michael Moore theory of "media created fear" comes to mind. Mabye you should focus more on that sort of terrorism.

Originally posted by DeusEx
Loam, I believe it's the other way around. Lazy parents, a popular culture promoting violence and narcotic use, and a hedonistic, lazy attitude have turned a generation that has had almost every advantage into something twisted.

DE, I think you misunderstood me.... I think we are agreeing... My point is that the seeds for the failure of our youth were planted long ago...and it is my view that it is going to get a lot worse...

I tend to agree with your assessment loam--I too think it will get worse before it gets better.

To Muaddib & Grimreaper; I think both of you are right to one extent or the other. It is indeed the individual who ultimately decides what he/she is going to watch, listen to, or do and it is the corporations who try to influence those decisions to the maximum extent they can. We all know about the power of peer groups from our own days in school and peer groups can lead a person into, or out of trouble. Parents unquestionably need to exercise more oversight over their own children. Children still listen to what their parents have to say and they still emulate them in various ways, so better counselling and better examples would go a long way towards curtailing escalating violence.

The problem isn't caused by any ONE thing, it's the summation of a lot of little things. Turning the problem around will therefore require us to address a multitude of such little things.

Interesting how this story has drawn a wide variety of responses as to what the underlying causes are for the increase in violence in these cities. Immigration, race, class opportunity, rap music, tha gangsta lifestyle.

I was thinking the increased atmosphere of fear we live in these days might be taking its toll on these kids, making them edgy or something. Anger is a fear response, so more fear makes more anger, which causes more violence. A vicious cycle.

This is kinda on subject and more of a question. Does anyone have any info on Government housings in major cities being relocated to smaller cities?

Originally posted by DeusEx
Loam, I believe it's the other way around. Lazy parents, a popular culture promoting violence and narcotic use, and a hedonistic, lazy attitude have turned a generation that has had almost every advantage into something twisted.

Hi there, I dont agree with this, these are all 'symptoms' of one fundamental issue.

Relating to children...statistics & juvenile court attendance indicate 'lazy' parents are not the cause, its actually the opposite. Majority of kids before Magistrate have too much freedom and time on their hands. This stems from both or one parent working and not being 'at home' for them. Whatever contemporary family unit, the one issue that raises its ugly the most is the fact that parent/s work and so kiddy comes home from school by himself and has nothing to do. Finds things to do. Many are lonely, resentful and angry.

Why do parents work? Is it for their own selfish pursuit or is it because they are working longer hours to put food on the table and provide some quality of life for their kids? This generally builds up so the parents are stressed and feeling guilty, they develop number of escape habits. Too tired to talk, too tired for quality time. Kids see this and feel then that they have no time for them, they are always unhappy/stressed/angry so the child puts interest in external things/people.

The fundamental cause is the material pressures of society. Must have this and that. Its BS. Really...

*personal note. I decided to study whilst my children were little. Money was a bit tight and I said to them, well might have to work, so that means morning and afterschool care. OMG They were both like 'no way! we want you to pick us up from school. I was :O wow...well that did it for me. I unded up working 10 - 2:30pm in between school hours. But, I also said to them before I found a job that would cater to their needs...'if this is what you want, then we have to cut back on some things'. They were 'cool'. To the extreme of when my Son asked for a toy in the supermarket.. I said, 'honey..you can have anything you want in the shop ... so long as you can eat it for dinner'. He looked at the toy and the look was priceless...he was ok. Wont be having this then! lol

Maybe. But, then again, during wartime (I'm thinking specifically about WWI and WWII, as well as Korea) both parents worked all day -one was often never home- and you didn't have kids acting the way you see today.

The difference?

Parents actually applied discipline during those days. As well, popular culture wasn't all about fast cars, drugs, and violence. Nowadays, a lot of parents simply plant their kids in front fo the One Eyed Babysitter and go. At school, teachers are terrified of being sued, so any disciplinary problems are solved with Ritalin, or by passing the buck to the cops.

Two days ago, Peel Police (Peel is a Greater Toronto suburb) caught a 14-year-old girl with several knives and a loaded .44 magnum in her backpack.

source (second story down)

Doesn't that scare you?

DE

Originally posted by DeusEx
Parents actually applied discipline during those days.

That's a good point.

My father is oldschool and I grew up in a household without much guidance (both parents were always working, had a live in babysitter). As a young child I had a lot of resentment towards him for 'straightening me out' when I would act up.

When I was a teenager I realized a benefit of my father's discipline from getting into so many fights and learning quickly that I could whoop most anyone's ass. I had issues about myself as a kid about being mixed ethnicity and the ability to be one of the most hardcore SOB's with the baddest rep, hottest girls and most respect cleared that up real fast.

And after acting like an idiot and getting myself in all sorts of trouble, I realized how much my father sacrificed to try and make me a man wether he liked it or not and how backwards it was to think that it was 'me against the world' instead of being a part of the world.

Luckily for me I was about 18 when it all sunk in and made sense, having been very successful in my personal and business life ever since.

And when I look back at everything i've been through, more than anything i'm so grateful for my father whoopin' my ass when I deserved it.

Originally posted by NJE777

Originally posted by DeusEx
Loam, I believe it's the other way around. Lazy parents, a popular culture promoting violence and narcotic use, and a hedonistic, lazy attitude have turned a generation that has had almost every advantage into something twisted.

Hi there, I dont agree with this, these are all 'symptoms' of one fundamental issue.

Relating to children...statistics & juvenile court attendance indicate 'lazy' parents are not the cause, its actually the opposite. Majority of kids before Magistrate have too much freedom and time on their hands. This stems from both or one parent working and not being 'at home' for them. Whatever contemporary family unit, the one issue that raises its ugly the most is the fact that parent/s work and so kiddy comes home from school by himself and has nothing to do. Finds things to do. Many are lonely, resentful and angry.

Why do parents work? Is it for their own selfish pursuit or is it because they are working longer hours to put food on the table and provide some quality of life for their kids? This generally builds up so the parents are stressed and feeling guilty, they develop number of escape habits. Too tired to talk, too tired for quality time. Kids see this and feel then that they have no time for them, they are always unhappy/stressed/angry so the child puts interest in external things/people.

The fundamental cause is the material pressures of society. Must have this and that. Its BS. Really...

*personal note. I decided to study whilst my children were little. Money was a bit tight and I said to them, well might have to work, so that means morning and afterschool care. OMG They were both like 'no way! we want you to pick us up from school. I was :O wow...well that did it for me. I unded up working 10 - 2:30pm in between school hours. But, I also said to them before I found a job that would cater to their needs...'if this is what you want, then we have to cut back on some things'. They were 'cool'. To the extreme of when my Son asked for a toy in the supermarket.. I said, 'honey..you can have anything you want in the shop ... so long as you can eat it for dinner'. He looked at the toy and the look was priceless...he was ok. Wont be having this then! lol

with out the green anyone of us will turn to crime its just a matter of time!!!!you must live in Jersey right cause in Jersey you can see the hole scope of the problem i know !!!heheheh