Teenage violence is a major concern in many countries today. Violence in media and addiction to screens are two causes of this. Education and encouraging more social interaction can help to reduce this problem.
Over exposure to violent media and social isolation can lead to teenagers acting violently. Children today have easy access to highly violent and graphic media content, and as a result, have become desensitised to violence. There have been some cases where teens in the UK have injured or even killed people as a result of mimicking the act of a video game character in real life, without realising the consequences of their actions. Another cause of violence among adolescents is the loss social skills from device addiction. Many young people today have lost the skill to deal rationally with personal problems and may resort to violence.
To help resolve this issue, teenagers should be educated and screen time should be reduced. Teenagers should be educated about the reality of violent behaviour, and how it can impact themselves and others. This could be done through online campaigns or by visiting school guests. To encourage youth to develop inter-personal skills, more after school activities need to be provided in order to give them more time to interact with each other rather than isolate themselves in front of their devices. If teenagers are educated about the seriousness of violence and also encouraged to spend less time using screens and form healthier relationships with their peers, then violent behaviour can be reduced.
In conclusion, desensitisation to violence through too much exposure to violent media, and a lack of social skills are two causes of teenage violence. Therefore, education and the encouragement of more face-to-face interactions are good solutions to this problem.