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The behavior children exhibit is influenced by environmental conditions, however to a lesser extent than the biological factors that influence behavior, unless the child is severely abused. The environmental factors have a limited impact when it comes to how a certain individual will behave when faced with certain conditions. Children may be taught how to react in certain situations, but just because they see a violent movie or play a violent video game they are not going to go to school armed to the teeth with explosives and guns. For people to commit the kinds of actions exhibited in Columbine Colorado, there has to be some kind of mental dysfunction, not determined or affected by environmental conditions, driving these individuals. Therefor, further censorship of television, movies, and video games is ridiculous and will accomplish nothing. Environmental conditions such as televison do influence the behavior of children to a certain extent.
Beth Daley brings up the topic of the emulation of professional wrestling in her article Elementary Schools Wrestling Children and Youth School Violence. Teachers seem to be concerned because wrestling it is so easy to emulate. In her article, Ms. Daley notes the actions of the faculty of Prescott Elementary School in Norwood by stating that they, forbid the pupils form coping wrestling moves on school grounds.
She also states that teachers are trained to recognize pro wrestling hand signals that double as curse words (Daley). This indicates that under certain conditions, environmental conditions, such as television, can strongly influence the behavior of children. However, it does not drive them to intentionally harm others. Sparing, inspired by pro wrestling, can create situations in which injury and anger are a possibility, thereby leading to actual violence. Television and video games do not directly influence individuals to intentionally harm others or commit other Genetic factors play a more important role in determining if an individual will be prone to violence than do environmental factors. Glenn Garelik states that, scientists who study all types of criminals from muggers, murders, and school yard bullies to Armani clad embezzlers increasingly suspect that biology plays a more significant role.
He also states that many researchers now believe that the reason one individual commits a crime in a given instance and another person doesnt may have as much to do with neurological, hormonal, and even anatomical differences as it does with differences in upbringing and environment, in his article Born Bad? . He also states that its hard to find any form of behavior that does not have some biological component (Garelik). These two statements back up the idea that biology, not environment, is the key factor in determining behavior. Another obvious clue that biology is the major driving force behind violent behavior is the fact that throughout history, crime and violence have occurred in all cultures, no matter how different their social and economic structures (Garelik).
Another simple fact pointing to a biological basis for violence and criminality is that in all societies, about ninety percent of violent criminals are meany of them young (Garelik). This further supports the point of biology influencing behavior by stating that the cause seems to be hormonal. Children are born with a temperament, this can be easily observed. Some children are shy, others may be ambitious, some aggressive, etcetera. While there is no crime gene, this suggests that if an individual is going to be a violent individual, it is determined before birth. As would be expected, children who are overly aggressive, for example children who bite and exhibit cruelty to animals, are much more likely to commit violent acts in Unfortunately, violence seems to perpetuate itself, violent parents and teachers who raise children in a violent setting are, in effect, producing violent members of society.
Don Colburn states in his article, When Violence Begins at Home, that Twenty-six percent of American teenagers have been hit or physically harmed by an adult at home and another ten percent struck by a teacher or principal at school, according to the latest Gallup youth pole. Half of teens said they had been hit or beaten by someone their own age. He also states that today many of our young people are at great risk in places where they in all exception should feel the safest at school and home (Colburn). Through the abuse of children, society, mainly disciplinary figures, is causing children who would not under normal circumstances become violent individuals, to become violent. Children emulate what they see and experience, therefor if they are abused, The path to a more peaceful society does not lie in the censorship of the media, but through the early identification and treatment of problems in children. The abusive tendencies shown by parents must also stop in order to reduce the violent nature of society.
Through the treatment of children and even some adults, incidents like the Columbine tragedy can be avoided. Bibliography: Works Cited Colburn, Don. When Violence Begins at Home. The Washington Post. 1994. Ebsco Host. 01 Mar. 2000. Garelik, Glenn.
Born Bad? . American Health Magazine. 13 Nov. 1993. SIRS. 01 Mar. 2000. Daley, Beth. Elementary Schools Wrestling Children and Youth School Violence.
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