Essay/Term paper: Effects of youth crime

Essay, term paper, research paper:  History Essays

Effects of Youth Crime


A kid walks down the crowded hallway at school. He is late to his class
so he is going as fast as he can. In his hurry, he accidentally bumps into
another kid. The other kid backs off and starts yelling at the first one. He
asks why he bumped into him, and was he trying to start something? The first
kid hastily apologizes as he turns and starts to race down the hall toward his
third period class. The second kid takes this the wrong way and pulls out a
handgun, the crowd around him quickly disperses as they see the gun. He aims
his gun at the first kid and says take this you punk! He quickly pulls the
trigger several times, the bullets tearing through the first's body. He falls
to the ground, dead. Things like this happen every day. Kids hurting other
kids, it's not something that should be happening. Because of things like this,
there are many rules and regulations at schools and other places that there
wasn't before. Youth violence happens every day and it is tearing society apart.
A lot of crimes now days are committed by kids, people under the age of
21. They do all sorts of crime, they murder one another, they steal things,
they paint graffiti on the wall. Crime is worse than it ever has been. It used
to be the mob that people were scared of, now it's the gangs. If you cross a
member of a gang, you can bet that his friends will get you back for him. Gang
wars are especially dangerous, it starts with just two people, one from one gang
and one from another gang. One of them does something to the other, like stab
him, and then the victim's friends will get the attacker. It continues to
escalate until it is all out war. Stopping gang wars is just one small step to
stopping youth violence.
Gangs are not the only youth's who commit crime. There are tons of kids
who steal from stores, do and sell drugs, vandalize buildings and a lot of other
things as well. These kids are just as large of a problem as the gang members
are. Some kids think that stealing a candy bar here, a pair of jeans there, is
totally harmless. They think that they aren't stealing that much, so it doesn't
really matter. Or some kids think that they are beautifying the city by
painting on the sides of buildings. Both are wrong, what they are doing is a
crime. They shouldn't be doing it, and have got to stop. A lot of kids
complain that they have no freedom, or that there are to many rules and
restrictions at school or in society. The reason that there are so many rules
and restrictions is because of all the youth crime there is. If kids would
learn to stop stealing, doing drugs, being in gangs and all of the other crimes
they do, a lot of the rules and restrictions would be lifted and they would have
more freedom.
At school, kids are not allowed to wear hats or bandannas. They cannot
wear these because they are "gang" related. Many gangs have formed, most have
their own special colors, almost like school colors. They were their gang
colors with pride as school kids wear their school colors with pride. When one
group of kids from one gang, sees another group of kids from another gang,
fighting can occur. Sometimes the fighting can lead to more serious stuff like
stabbings, shootings, and murders. Because of youth violence, there are many
restrictions at school.
A kid walks down the crowded hallway at school. He is late to his class
so he is going as fast as he can. In his hurry, he accidentally bumps into
another kid. The second kid backs off and says that he is sorry. The first one
apologizes in turn and they both turn away from each other without another word.
What could have been a disaster was diverted, with a little common courtesy a
conflict was resolved. This is how it could be, should be. Everyone should
treat each other with respect. Gangs have got to stop, and kids have to stop
committing crimes, no matter how insignificant they might think they are. Only
when this has happened will youth violence stop.