The sad truth of 1 US city... I would love to see the violent trend end

Just a depressing story that I came across from my neck of the woods... I use to live in Chicago, but recently I moved out to Tinley Park, IL which is just south of Chicago. Reading some of the local news today I came across some truly sad statistics, and it got me to question "what the hell is going on around here?"... Sadly, I know that each major city around the nation probably has a problem similiar to the one in this story, but to look at the statistics that were presented, the only thing you can really do is just be sad.

The Chicago Tribune reported that:

While fatalities from gun violence are down this year among Chicago Public School students, the number of young people shot during the 2011-12 academic year is up nearly 22 percent from last year, the highest number of students wounded by firearms in the last four years.

The Chicago Tribune reports that before the school year ended on June 15, 24 students had been fatally shot and 319 students were wounded by gunfire. That's four fewer fatalities than the 2010-11 school year, according to police data obtained by the newspaper.

Now think about that, 319 students were wounded in one school year just here in Chicago, with 24 of those students be fatally shot.... That literlly blows my mind. Why is it that our nation has to be so violent? I would bet you that there isnt another developed country out there that is as violent as the United States. This is just one city,I bet if you would add up every violent incident (like the one I shared above) in the country the students wounded by gunfire would be in the thousands and the deaths would likely be in the hundreds...

The violence doesnt end in the school yard, here in Chicago homicides are up nearly 38% this year with 66 more deaths as of June 17. Every day I turn on the news all I see are stories of murders happening in the city. Its honestly hard to watch the news anymore, because very rarely do you see any positive stories...

I love my country, I dont always agree with what happens here, and I rarely agree with the actions my Govt. takes, but to see the recent trends here and the growing violence it just gives me mixed feelings of anger and sadness...

I hope that no one here on ATS ever has to deal with this type of violence...

My question to ATS, is this a solvable issue? What can be done to end the violence?

www.huffingtonpost.com...

reply to post by jhn7537


Well here is the really sad part, It is illegal to have a gun inside Chicago city limits, ummm, where did the kids get the guns? Even if there were no guns those statistics could very well be stabbings, beatings, etc. I am not sure the point here, is it about violence in general or gun violence?

If it is general violence, well my friend, it has always been with us, we are a violent species, we have erradicted our predators and now we have no one else to prey upon but ourselves. This trait is mostly repressed by the average law abiding citizen, but as desparation and bad times increase, you will see more of this.

It is truly sad that we have yet to allow our conciousness to evolve to higher better things.

Peace

Chicago has very strict gun laws. How in the world can this be happening? It's just not possible.

/sarcasm

reply to post by mantarey


This thread is mainly directed toward the school violence we are seeing here today (but the big picture is that we are seeing this violence pretty much everywhere)... If these statistics happened in a nice suburban area, the country would be going crazy, but since its happening in the inner-city its not a major issue... What saddens me is that these kids arent even given a chance today, and they are killing eachother before their lives even begin. I'm not sure if there IS a solution out there to this problem. I'm just curious to see what others think, and what ideas they have to solve this issue in our schools.

I question if this is a solvable issue within the school systems?

Originally posted by AnonymousCitizen
Chicago has very strict gun laws. How in the world can this be happening? It's just not possible.

/sarcasm

I remember hearing stories of kids who live on the South/West side of Chicago (arguably one of the most dangerous areas in the country), and they stated that getting guns was as easy as getting booze or drugs....

reply to post by jhn7537


But there has always been school violence, the problem is that with both parents working to make ends meet who is raising the children. The reality is that the American family unit is breaking down. TV and video games raise th kids. Social Services are a joke. Unemployment, desparation, and plain old selfish behavior is to blame. I believe it was Carl Jung that did a study on uncontrolled population growth and social break down, that demonstrated that as a society increased in population so did the levels of anti social behavior. Couple that with your suggestive sentient minds and you have an increase in school violence.

Unfortunately it is not a quick or simple fix. In fact, I believe the fix will be quite painful and get a lot worse before it gets better. I hear you and feel pretty much the same, the best you can do is raise your child the right way and hopefully one day we will start getting it right.

reply to post by jhn7537


I have a hard time caring. They want to be ghetto gangstas right? Well.. that's what you get.. shot.
Maybe if they didn't try to be said gangsta they wouldn't get shot? It's not like guns grew legs and started walking around looking for kids to shoot. No. These are ignorant kids shooting other ignorant kids because they think it's cool.

It's ridiculous.

America has such lax gun control, the right to bear arms etc. and yet people are shocked with regards to the how's and why's of so many shootings!

I understand that the right to bear arms is a constitutional right for all Americans in terms of being able to defend yourselves against invaders, the government etc. but are statistics like these really surprising?

It takes a coward to shoot someone over minor matters and think it makes you tough.

If there's a dispute where violence is desirable GROW A SET AND PUNCH ON! Don't be so p*ss weak as to just shoot someone dead- clench your fists, look them in the eye and throw some punches.

Maybe they're scared of getting hit (again, p*ss weak) but atleast you'll both fight another day.

My two cents.

reply to post by AnonymousCitizen


Well Europe has a lower murder rate, so I don't think gun control has anything to do with it.

chartsbin.com...

Things that probably do, poverty, black market due to drug prohibition, rampant competition for artificially scarce resources, overcrowding, lack of options and opportunities, alienation etc., ect., etc...

reply to post by jhn7537

if your post is directed toward "school violence", why didn't you include statistics for that ?

are these youthful injuries the result of collateral damage, school shootings, gang violence, improper gun handling or just childish play with real guns that they were not supposed to have access to in the first place ??

am i sad so many are suffering ?? always.
as an empath, it is not escapable, but that doesn't change the impact of violence over guns.

if guns were less available in your area, do you believe the violence or the driving force behind it would cease ??

Originally posted by Honor93
reply to post by jhn7537

 

if your post is directed toward "school violence", why didn't you include statistics for that ?

are these youthful injuries the result of collateral damage, school shootings, gang violence, improper gun handling or just childish play with real guns that they were not supposed to have access to in the first place ??

am i sad so many are suffering ?? always.
as an empath, it is not escapable, but that doesn't change the impact of violence over guns.

if guns were less available in your area, do you believe the violence or the driving force behind it would cease ??

In the Chicago Public School system alone last year, 319 students were shot and 24 students were killed from those gun shots.... I definitely believe that if guns were not so easily available here in Chicago it would cut down on the violence. The unfortunate part is that this violence is spilling over to other parts of this city where you find these kids shooting innocent bystanders... These are mainly gang related, these arent kids just playing with "daddies" pistol with an accidental misfire...

reply to post by jhn7537
so, after reading the article you posted, these aren't "in school" shootings, just school aged victims, correct ??

so, you're not even positive they were victims, in as much as they could have been perpetrators/aggressors, correct?

i'm trying to understand why you're of the opinion, guns breed violence, rather violence begets violence and guns are a tool.

I definitely believe that if guns were not so easily available here in Chicago it would cut down on the violence

fair enough but i'm wondering if you have compared these injuries to those received from sports, bicycles, knives or bullies ?

point is, i believe that guns are irrelevant.
it is the violence that breeds more violence, regardless the method employed.

i see you saved this for last ...

These are mainly gang related

that pretty much says it all -- wannabe thugs preying upon your children.
it is not the guns who seek out the criminals.

reply to post by Honor93


Victim? Unusual term. If 2 parties are committing a crime and one ends up dead is that person really a "victim"? Most shootings involve drug or turf/revenge killings. In my own city there are two or three gangs killing each other in a constant cycle of revenge. I can't possibly call them victims.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by Honor93

 

Victim? Unusual term. If 2 parties are committing a crime and one ends up dead is that person really a "victim"? Most shootings involve drug or turf/revenge killings. In my own city there are two or three gangs killing each other in a constant cycle of revenge. I can't possibly call them victims.

this circles back to - no two cities are the same.

fair enough assessment of your city as i am not intimately familiar.
[i'm glad i'm not there and offer my best wishes in your struggles]

however, in mine, the majority of shooting victims (as in victim of violence) are either home invaders [potentially gang activity but usually drug related], accidents, poor management amongst children or the direct result of stupid human behavior.

to answer your first question, imho, yes ... a victim of violence is still a victim, even if they were the agressor.

your local cycle of revenge isn't something i can relate to as i've not experienced it first-hand.
(at least not with guns anyway)
concerning other psychological and physical equivalents, sad to say, i am intimately familiar.

i'm certainly not telling you what to call them, (i kinda preference "thugs") but are they really any less a victim even if they are a shooter ?

i guess a better question might be, if a warrior falls upon his sword, is he a victim of violence ?

reply to post by jhn7537


The solution is simple, Parents, need to be Parents. That means sacrifice and making do with less. Before you become a Parent, be ready. Growing up Dad, worked Mom raised the kids. Now days both parents work to afford things they don't need. Look back to simpler times. In the end whether Mom or Dad stays home, someone beside the school and television needs to raise the children.