The Problem
Youth violence encompasses a range of experiences and behaviors. Gang activity, bullying, sexual assault, physical violence, family violence, gendered violence, and gun violence are all examples of the different kinds of violence to which youth may risk exposure.
When it comes to guns, the climate in the United States is unlike that of any other developed nation in the world. Here we find that a combination of widespread gun ownership in addition to weak gun safety laws (and a political climate that makes it impossible to even discuss the issue) all combines to create a uniquely dangerous environment for American children. Globally, 91% of children killed with guns in high-income countries are killed in the US. Every year, over 8,000 minors are killed or seriously injured by firearms in the US.
Are School Shootings a Public Health Crisis?
The idea that we might treat the topic of school shootings and gun violence in general as a public health crisis is not so far-fetched when we consider how gun-related violence shares many striking similarities to public health epidemics such as cholera in Haiti or HIV/AIDS in the United States.
In this instance, there are discernible social patterns of transmission in the United States that go beyond aggregate factors such as race, age, gender, and income. On an individual level, social networks — the people the individuals hang out with — may predict a given person’s likelihood of being shot and killed (i.e. social learning theories, routine activities theory).
Since Columbine, more than 221,000 K-12 students have experienced a shooting at their school. Most American schoolchildren today have been alive for at least six of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in American history, including the December 2012 mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary that resulted in the death of 20 first-graders and six adults. Unsurprisingly, a majority of high school students report feeling concerned about a mass shooting in their own school or community (Giffords, 2019). For more on this see statistics and charts published by Giffords.org.
Guns are the leading cause of death for children under 18 in the United States.
In a study published in March 2017 in the American Journal of Public Health, Andrew V. Papachristos and Christopher Wildeman applied the science of social networks to study patterns of gun homicide in Chicago. The idea here was fairly simple: treat gun homicide like a blood-borne pathogen; something transmitted from person to person through specific risky behaviors.
Unfortunately, gun violence is not simply an airborne pathogen: You don’t catch a bullet like you catch a cold (Papachristos and Wildeman, 2017). Nevertheless, there is much that we might learn from this research and its approach to the study of gun violence.
Noteworthy is how the researchers found, using methods of social network analysis, that more than 40 percent of all gun homicides in their study occurred within a network of 3,100 people, roughly 4 percent of the community’s population.
Put another way, the mere fact of being among the 4 percent increased a person’s odds of being killed by a gun by 900 percent!
These numbers demonstrate how gun violence can spread like HIV infection: You’re more likely to “catch” the disease if you engage in risky behaviors with someone who might be infected. And it’s not just people’s friends who affect their likelihood of getting shot, but also their friends’ friends. This is similar to the transmission of HIV: Your current partner’s past sexual partners affect your exposure, even if you don’t know them.
In the case of gun homicide, seemingly random victims end up “in the wrong place at the wrong time” by indirect exposure, such as getting a ride from a friend’s cousin or by going to the party of a friend’s friend. In these cases, victimization is tragic but not random.
Understanding the socially networked nature of gun violence has important implications for how it can be addressed. Prevention efforts can be directed toward those individuals and communities most susceptible to the infection. The solution is not broad sweeping public policies and policing practices, such as New York’s “stop and frisk” (which justified the targeting of blacks and Latinos on the basis of hunting for weapons) or even mass arrests.
A more data-driven, effective way to solve the problem involves taking the opposite approach: employing highly targeted efforts to reach specific people in specific places, akin to providing clean needles to drug users to prevent the spread of HIV.
By studying gun violence like we study disease, it is possible that we might improve our chances of predicting which people are most at risk of having a gun and/or being shot. This is an example of how using data to inform policing practice can help them to respond better, smarter, and more fairly.
Youth, Firearms & School Shootings: What Are the Odds?
Researchers, not to mention the public, are all interested in knowing if it is possible to predict who is more likely to pull the trigger and/or die at the hands of a gun. To answer this, we begin to get a sense of some of the patterns that distinguish shootings in cases like Sandy Hook Elementary School, Virgina Tech, and Columbine High School, all of which shared young shooters and young victims in common.
Why Is It Always a White Guy?
While the high-profile mass shootings all share youth in common, as sociologist Michael Kimmel points out, they all share race and gender in common too. The paradox that researchers seek to unwind looks like this:
- the vast majority of white men do not engage in high-profile/mass & school shootings;
- yet the vast majority of these types of shooters are white men. [for more on this, check out Kimmel’s book “Angry White Men,” 2017].
This is why researchers will often advocate for an intersectional theoretical approach to study gun crime and its victims. They look at how, for example, race, class, and gender are deeply intertwined and produce different outcomes in different social contexts.
Careful, “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid”
This is the famous admonition offered by Santa Claus to Ralphie in the holiday favorite movie “A Christmas Story.” As it turns out, Ralphie was not alone in burning desire to obtain and use a firearm. Consequently, the United States, tragically, is the undisputed leader when it comes to violent toddlers.
In 2015, toddlers were responsible for more shootings and shooting deaths, than terrorists. Since the beginning of 2015, there were 52 toddler involved shooting incidents in the US. According to the Washington Post:
“In 2015 so far, at least 13 toddlers have inadvertently killed themselves with firearms, 18 more injured themselves, 10 injured other people, and two killed other people.”
When that article was published in Oct 2015, there had only been 43 toddler shooting incidents. Since then, toddler shootings have continued, with an average of one toddler involved shooting a week. These stats are just for toddlers though and could very well be inaccurate (as in, there might be more), as incidents involving children and guns often don’t get reported.
Children shot accidentally — usually by other children — are collateral casualties of the easy accessibility of guns in America. Their deaths all the more devastating because they were preventable. Adults, who claim to be “law abiding gun owners,” who know how to secure their weapons,” are only law abiding until they’re not. The results speak for themselves.
The United States has the most deadly toddlers in the world
Unintentional shootings are just one of the many ways that guns kill, injure, and traumatize thousands of American children every year. Firearm suicide, domestic violence, community violence, and mass shootings pose a significantly higher risk to kids in the United States than kids in other high-income countries.
As we saw in the film “Bulletproof,” some children live in neighborhoods where shootings are a daily occurrence. They live in fear of being hit by stray bullets as they walk home from school or sit on their front porches. At home, they are taught to hide under beds or in bathtubs at the sound of gunfire. At school, they learn how to barricade doors and run. The combined impact of this means that many children can never feel safe – not ever! When children are robbed of any sense of safety and security, this can have a lasting detrimental impact on their lives and wellbeing. Many children exposed to shootings who live in these environments (estimates 40-50%) will develop PTSD.
Policy Proposals – How Can We Fix the Problem?
Former President Obama, in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn. shooting that claimed 20 innocent little victims, signed an executive order requiring more research on gun violence by the CDC and other federal agencies. Despite this, there has been very little follow-through. Implementation requires full funding from Congress, which remains throttled in many respects, even as it has somewhat improved.
Policy-makers have instead supported legislation that promotes the increased availability of guns to people in the United States. They do this in spite of the fact that increasing gun access is not supported by the preponderance of the research, which shows gun violence and deaths vary proportionally to their availability and controls in a given society. Additionally, they continue to allocate large portions of what little funding is approved to security contractors and people who make surveillance equipment, despite the fact that research demonstrates that support for teachers and counselors is more effective.
Examples of Policy Proposals:
- Increase/Promote Gun Ownership
- Control Gun Ownership/Regulate Firearms
- More/Less Guns in Schools
- More/Less Cops in Schools
- Mental Health Treatment/Prevent Access to Firearms
- Increased/Decreased Use of “Stop & Frisk”
Lobbyists for the National Rifle Association (NRA) have spent considerable time and money to discourage legislators from making laws that would mandate the collection and sharing of information related to guns and gun violence. This has had the effect of keeping the public in the dark about facts that are important to understand.
The gun lobby in the United States (the business arm that promotes gun sales thru the funding of politicians who support the same) has used the under-counting of gun accidents involving juveniles to oppose reasonable policies that could help prevent deaths and injuries caused by the careless handling and storage of firearms.
To counteract calls for increased control over weapons, they question the public’s fear of youth-involved gun violence by pointing to statistics that show children are more likely to die in falls or by drowning than from the accidental discharge of a firearm (see The New York Times’ report, which challenged the NRA argument of opposing laws to safely store guns and accompanying efforts to resist developing technology to make weapons childproof).
Sources
“Counting the Young Victims of Firearm Violence,” by the Editorial Board of the Washington Post
“I Just Lost My Fourth Student This Year to Gun Violence. I Want to Make Sure He’s the Last, ” by Tammatha Woodhouse as Told to Kerry Shaw, April 7, 2017
“In the South Bronx, Lives Marred and Erased by Firearms,” by James McKinley Jr. and Ashley Southall and Al Baker
“The Most Dangerous Neighborhoods; the Most Inexperienced Cops,” by Andrew Fan
Angry White Men: Masculinity at the End of an Era, by Michael Kimmel, 2017.
“Why a Rising Number of Criminals are Using Facebook Live to Film Their Acts,” by Olivia Solon
Network Exposure and Homicide Victimization in an African American Community, by Andrew Papachristos and Christopher Wildeman, 2017.
Class, state, and crime: On the theory and practice of criminal justice., by Richard Quinney (2d ed.) (New York: Longman, 1980).
The New Criminology: For a Social Theory of Deviance, by Ian Taylor, Paul Walton, and Jock Young (New York: Harper and Row, 1974).
Critical Criminology, by Ian Taylor, Paul Walton, and Jock Young (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1975).
Discussion Questions
What do you think about Kimmel’s model in terms of its ability to predict gun violence and school shootings? Do you think this model could potentially help identify schools at risk (though perhaps not outright predict) mass shootings and school violence?
Who owns most of the guns in the united states and what explains the patterns, particularly as this applies to youth access to firearms?
How might we use an “intersectional” framework to call attention to social problems associated with gun violence ( a framework that takes into account interpenetrating social factors like race, social class, and gender)?
What do you think about treating gun violence like a public health crisis?
I believe it is widely known that American families own the majority of guns. Most people who own weapons do so for their family’s safety or for hunting purposes. This pattern is explained by the fact that the majority of school shootings and suicides occur in homes where guns are present. We should also understand that the majority of school shootings and suicides are committed by white people. It simply demonstrates that having access to guns in a home increases the likelihood of these incidents occurring. When a child grows up in a home with firearms, they are likely to be aware of their presence or to have been taught how to shoot them for hunting purposes. According to statistics, there are numerous incidents in which children are able to obtain a firearm. Events such as accidentally shooting someone else, shooting themselves, or taking advantage of removing it out of a home. The statistics of a child dying accidently at the hands of a firearm are very high, and I believe it is critical to establish more safety regulations in households with guns. Gun owners need to take more precautions by keeping firearms securely locked up and out of reach of children’s hands. It only takes a single incident for everything to go terribly wrong, and families must understand this before their child becomes a statistic.
The United States is notorious for allowing people to have ownership of their own weapons. These weapons are mostly stored in houses, but for the most part, they are stored in safely. In the United States, gun ownership is increasing and spreading throughout almost like a virus. There is one population in the United States that owns guns, and that is White Males who live in rural/suburban areas. One factor that can determine why white males are owning more weapons is because of power. If someone is in possession of a firearm, most of the time they are going to feel like they have dominance over another person or race. Now with these white male ownership of weapons comes with the unsafe access to firearms. A person might think from who? But in reality, it’s the kids of the family who owns the firearms. School Shootings are primarily activated and done by white kids. This is because of how easy it is to take one from the parents if the weapon is not put away safely. The more families that own guns, the more likely that a child/teenager will have access to the weapon.
Social media can play a role in the problem of youth violence. It sometimes creates for bad influences to have an impact on a kid’s life or their violent behavior. There is so much negativity and violence on social media now. It is constantly showing graphic content which can desensitize individuals. On the other hand, social media can also help with the problem of youth violence by raising awareness at the same time. Thus, providing support networks for potential violent offenders. While also promoting positive messages and through excellent role models. It can be powerful tool used to manipulate, or a power tool to help educate and empower. Personally, I think most people have seen someone commit a crime on social media. For example, my friend ordered a door dash, and it never came. Later that same day he saw a person posting a video of them eating his expensive Red Lobster order to the internet. And there was nothing he could do but get the guy banned off of Door dash. It is important however to recognize the potential for harmful content and make sure that’s not the road we go down.
Personally I believe that the kinds of guns that are made available to the general public should be more restrictive. Especially because the gun laws we have in place are somewhat outdated. Guns have evolved since the time the US Constitution was written and nowadays a gun can be emptied and reloaded in a matter of seconds, unlike the antique firearm that needed to be reloaded after every shot. Firearms have become hundreds of times deadlier than ever. It is not surprising that it is always a “white guy” who is behind a mass shooting given that almost 40% of the white population owns a gun. However, parents should be held accountable for not taking proper precautions about their gun handling habits, especially if they have toddlers in the house. It is a misconception to think that the US has the most deadly toddlers in the world, instead it should say that the US has the most negligent parents in the world.
The majority of gun owners in America are white men, and to no surprise because of this the majority of mass shootings is white men, but not a high percent of white men commit these actions. In America it is easy for people of all races and ages to own or have their hands on a gun, so I think making this a public health crisis is a smart idea. Guns are affecting the health of people physically, but also mentally. Many people, depending on where they live or are from, live in fear of being involved in gun violence. The mental aspect is not talked about enough, because the fear and trauma of those who have been through gun violence affects many people. I am lucky enough to not be worried about being involved in gun violence, but many people can not say this which is why it should be looked at as a public health crisis.
Gun violence does not come overnight. As stated in the article, our countries have some of the deadliest toddlers in the world, and guns are the leading cause of death for children under 18 in the United States. Those who are subject to gun violence more times than not are influenced by their peers or typically live in areas where gun violence is common. But who own most of the guns in the United States? The government/our police. Though they use weapons to protect us and go to war with other countries and on our streets, this method is ultimately backfiring on us especially explaining why our countries’ incarceration rates are so brutally high. Every kid playing with toy guns think to wield a gun at some point in their life, so when they finally do have access, they want to be like those who they look up to. This is one of the many reasons why I believe that we should be treating gun violence like a public health crisis. Being that gun violence is one of the leading causes of death, there should be more restrictions on how guns should be used by the typical American or making it harder to buy and own a gun so that it is not as easily attainable by a juvenile. Even educating the public about the dangers of guns and encouraging people who live in hotspots or heavy “gun violence” areas to be mindful and cautious about gun violence in their neighborhoods assists with the deduction of this crime. Growing up in a Philadelphian neighborhood more prone to gun violence, I personally worried about being a victim of gun violence especially during my high school years. I wasn’t the only kid that felt that way either. Unlike elementary school, I attended a high school close to where I lived that was in between a notable university and a notorious neighborhood. In the middle of my senior year, right before the coronavirus outbreak and quarantine began, a sophomore from my high school passed away from being caught in the crossfire on his way home from school. There are a few times a year that I hear gunshots firing outside my house in the middle of the night. Sometimes, as myself being a juvenile living in this neighborhood at the time, I constantly think even to today about what if I was caught in the crossfire, or if I was introduced to guns in an influential way rather than being educated on the negatives. Being that, I am blessed that someone gave me the information that helps me make decisions to avoid victimination, and I believe that offering this to others who need it is one of the solutions to ending gun violence.
I personally believe that Kimmel’s model isn’t all that accurate. Due to most research saying that most shooting are cause by things leading up to the event. Also most mass shooting are not planned prior. Mainly older white men have the most fire arms. Some patterns could be they live out in the suburbs and they hunt a lot of maybe could even be a family tradition. Or they could like to goto the firing range and have also done that. Gun laws are becoming more common and people are being aloud to carry with a permit. I think they will keep passing laws as such. I think treating it like a public health’s issue would be smart and would draw more attention to the problem and lower the crimes associated with guns down. I am not afraid of gun violence crimes can happen to you at anytime. Social media is a big part of gun crime you see big time rappers flexing guns on social media all the time and they are flexing money cars and kids think that’s how you do it is carrying a gun and do the things they talk about in their songs.
I think treating gun violence like a public health crisis is a good idea. Gun violence is one of the leading causes of death. Whether it is a toddler, teenager, or adult, gun violence goes through all ages, races, and sexes. Due to this, if affects all people, which is what a public health crisis does. Firearms are easily accessible to anyone, anywhere. There is minimal requirement sin order to [purchase a gun. In some cases, a person can purchase a gun without any requirements. Then, the guns do not get stored properly, and allows other people to “play” with them. The fact that guns are so easy to come across and cause so many deaths raises concerns that the public need to be aware of. Gun violence should be a public health crisis because maybe then the public would be aware of the concern and take precautions when buying and owning a gun. If the public becomes aware of the situation, the maybe there can be more hands-on learning on how to teach and protect not only yourself and family but the gun. Advising the public about gun violence can encourage them to learn more about guns and how to handle them, especially around children. Just like any other public health crisis, once the public became aware of how serious the situation is, they begin taking all the necessary precautions needed in order to protect themselves and others. In this case, making gun violence a public health crisis will allow the public to become more serious about protecting their guns from children and others and vise verse.
A study by Andrew V. Papachristos and Christopher Wildeman came up with an idea to treat gun homicides like blood-borne pathogens. This is because it is transmitted from person to person through specific risky behaviors. Even though I think that this is an interesting idea, I think that there is a fault with this idea. That fault is that gun violence is not an airborne pathogen like how Papachristos and Wildeman compared it to. Even though throughout treating it like a public health crisis allows there to be information learned about gun violence, the comparison is a bit faulty. I understand how helpful it is to have this comparison though because it helps understand how people end up in situations where there is gun violence. For example, if you are partaking in risky behavior with friends. Going the public health crisis route, a pretty recent event is COVID. With COVID being around, who you hang out with can put you at risk because whoever they have been around and so on can put you at risk. With gun violence, people can end up in the wrong place at a wrong time if, for example, you get a ride from a friend’s friend. According to this study, “victimization is tragic but not random”. By knowing what we have learned from treating gun violence like a public health crisis, we might be able to predict who is at a big risk of having guns or being shot.
Most of the guns that are owned in the United States are owned by older white men that live in a rural area typically in the Southern part of the country. But, now there are many Americans that say they or someone in their household owns a gun. The main reason they own a gun is for protection. A lot of gun owners are brought up in households that had guns. Another reason some people own a gun is for hunting. When a father and son go hunting it gives an adolescent an opportunity to shoot a gun. This makes them comfortable with handling a gun. Many households have more than one gun and usually everyone in the family knows where they are kept. Youth have a greater access to firearms when they are already in their house. There are instances where there is either no locked gun safes or the adolescent knows the code or where the key is kept. Keeping guns locked away, unloaded, and storing the ammunition separately are good steps to keep everyone safe. It is so important each person in the home knows the dangers there are when handling a gun.When an adolescent has access to a gun, there is a risk of unintentional shootings or even suicides. There has been mass shooting in schools, gang violence, and shootings in community parks when guns are available to adolescents. It can not be stressed enough that guns should be locked in a safe and everyone in the household knows how to handle a gun.
I think that it could help but there are so many other flaws that happen in schools so I still would be worried that it wouldn’t be enough. I’m not sure who owns the most guns if I had to guess I would say white men or rednecks own the most guns. That’s usually the population that I see flaunting their guns and they usually are the ones who fight against trying to set better rules when having guns. I would also think people who hunt have a big collection of guns because for some I guess it’s like a sport. I think we should treat gun violence as a public health crisis. Issues that are similar keeps happening and we have to get it under control before there’s outbreaks and casualties everywhere. Honestly no I don’t worry about being a victim of gun violence because I typically don’t put myself in situations where I’m around people who are careless and don’t know how to handle their firearms. My whole family has guns and goes hunting. I would say I am more afraid of being mistreated by police officers than being a victim of gun violence. I am in the works of getting my gun license as well although I don’t think I would be the one to pull it out and use it. I believe that social media makes guns seem less dangerous than what they are. It’s like they mix in fantasy so it appeals to more people mostly guys and young boys. The media makes it seem like to have a gun is to have power which isn’t the knowledge that people should have. I have never seen a crime on social media other than fighting but I remember the story where the guy posted a picture on snapchat after he killed someone he was on there like what he did should be praised. Social media helps with youth violence it allows youth to connect with others who probably have mental health issues and it leads me to think that it allows for copycats because maybe that one person understands so now the idea is put into the brains of youth that are still developing.
Kimmel has a great point on saying that the shooters all have race and gender in common. I think treating gun violence as a mental health crisis is completely ridiculous. When black people commit crimes, it is because of their skin color or because they are violent people and police want to then treat black people as if they are not human. But when white people commit worse crimes and shoot up schools then all of a sudden it is because they have had a bad childhood, or their parents did something to them that caused this, or they have mental issues that cause them to do so. Most firearms that are owned in the United States are owned by white men, not only do these men own them they often have a collection of them. If a black man were to shoot up a school, there is no way they would classify him as mentally ill.
Treating gun violence as a public health crisis is good because it is a public health crisis. The availability of firearms in the United States is unlike anywhere else. If millions of Americans are against regulation of firearms, then there needs to be reform on things such as gun education, and how/where guns are being stored. Toddlers and young kids should never be able to access a firearm. Reading how many toddler related firearm idents there were, was eye opening to say the least. I never thought about toddlers and firearms probably since it should be common sense to secure firearms. If firearms are going to be a common occurrence in a child’s life, then they need to be educated on them. I know from personal experience that firearm education can be a huge factor in reducing accidents. My household has always had at least two guns inside the house. I was taught from an incredibly young age to never touch the guns, or I would be punished. My parents also told me they are not toys and to always assume the gun is loaded, even when it is not. I do not feel as though I would be a victim of gun related violence.
I think that treating gun violence like a public health crisis might sound crazy at first but after analyzing how many shootings occur and the idea that it’s “contagious” considering who you associate with isn’t that far of a reach. After looking into the social network of individuals there is a possibility of predicting how at risk a person is of being shot based on the individuals they choose to hangout with. So in a social aspect it’s kind of like transmitting a disease to other people based off of association. This is mostly proven by the study published in the American Journal of Public Health when treating gun violence like a blood born pathogen. The study concluded that being among the 4 percent of the communities involved in gun homicides increases a persons odds of being killed by a gun by 900 percent. Which really puts into perspective the similarities to treating gun violence to a public health crisis.
Who owns most of the guns in the united states and what explains the patterns, particularly as this applies to youth access to firearms?
Most of the firearms owned in the U.S are by mostly white men. Also, most gun owners don’t just have one firearm but have many. This can include handguns, rifles, assault rifles, etc. Surprisingly enough most of the gun owners are poor but have an artillery’s in their safe if “shit hits the fan.” So, this means that most of the youth shootings come from young white men that have access to their families firearms. Most of them are also well trained on how to use them, clean them, and could also have their family members purchase one for them. This can create a variety of problems for many reasons due to the rise of gun violence, but also youth having access to the internet. The rise in internet use can lead juveniles to join hate groups, hateful political propaganda, and research tactics on how to further violence.
Gun violence is one of the more prominent and highly debated issues that we are seeing in todays society. To make matter worse, this problem is becoming more and more of an issue with the younger generations. We have seen an increase of school shooting occurring with in the past few years. I feel like a little but has to do with the heavy presence of social media. With every incident that we see happen with gun violence, social media plaster these incidents all over their sites making it a more pressing matter than it actually is even for the minor incidents. I feel like the kids who commit these acts are the kids who see this and think to themselves that this is the only way they are going to be heard.
You can study gun violence like a disease because some school shooters do not shoot atone specific race or gender unlike a disease which focuses on some parts of the body (e.g. HIV attacking white blood cells). “Why is it always a white guy?” because it is not ever going to be the black guy because he is not going to be labeled as “mentally ill”. I don’t worry about becoming a victim of gun violence but it still crosses my mind, because of skin color, my gender, and social class. I worry myself about my brother becoming a victim of gun violence again. Gun violence has sadly become normalized in the city of Pittsburgh. It seems like we lose a young black child to gun violence more commonly. These are babies that are becoming a victim of gun violence, and losing their lives because of that. I been losing people I love and care about to gun violence since I was in 10th grade. When something continues to happen repeatedly you become use (numb) to similar situations. It does not hurt any less but it is very normalized in Pittsburgh. The question people tend to ask now is “Who got shot now?” The more sad part about gun violence you do not know who will be the next victim.
I really liked this web post. The fact that the top 4% is at the most risk is scary because I believe I was in that percentage throughout my high school days. There were kids on my football team who owned guns, and some even let me hold them. It is kind of logical to assume that if people are not around guns, they are far less likely to get shot. Even though I have never fired a gun, I could have been involved in a situation when hanging out with my football buddies after practice one day. You really never know. Some of them sold hard drugs too so I did my best to stay away from their areas and I was smart enough to avoid sketchy situations. In areas like the hardened communities of Pittsburgh it is the culture to have weapons at a young age. It can be a status or power play to carry a weapon. Meek Mill (a highly famous rapper) stated “Was we really that dumb? ‘Cause we carry a gun, And every n**** in my neighborhood carryin’ one, ‘Cause we had nightmares of our mamas gotta bury her son.” My biggest question from the article that I have always wondered is…. why is it ALWAYS a white guy?? I would love to know the answer.
I live in North Versailles, and although I am surrounded by communities with firearms problems, I am not personally worried about being a victim of gun violence. Gun violence has become the norm in the area and there are often shootings in McKeesport, not far from the Penn State campus. As far as the effects of the increased risk of gun violence by those who hang out with or friends of friends . . . I know someone that has been a victim of and by gun violence. My friend, and his friend that he knew for years, went for a ride. He never expected any problems from his friend, he never had any reason to. My friend was the driver and his friend was the passenger in the car. They were pulled over by the police for a traffic violation. The policed claimed they could smell weed and had probable cause to search the car and its occupants. The driver was not worried, he did not break any laws and the police search him without problem. When they searched the passenger, they found a loaded gun in his waistband and he took off running. The police immediately pulled their guns and directed it at driver and told him that they will shoot if he moves. Although really shaken up by the situation and what could have happened, my friend was fine after that. It does go to show that if you live in an area with gun violence, the odds of someone carrying a gun are greater, so watch out. It also demonstrates how, in those areas, the risk of gun violence increases with every association you make.
The epidemic of youth violence in today’s society is an example cultural neglect, specifically because the youth is the most vulnerable group of individuals in society who too often get overlooked in reformation strategies. The unfortunate truth is that it seems society has turned a blind eye to this problem, which is seen with the overwhelming cultural acceptance of media and technology. Media, in many of its forms, has become a stage or platform for many users who are mentally unstable and seek to harm others for their own enjoyment. This becomes problematic when the media sensationalizes these mass shootings and other horrible acts of violence which is seen throughout the media, including social media. It puts these killers in the spotlight for a significant period of time which may motivate other unstable people to seek the same spotlight. I personally believe that the tool in which these unstable individuals use is irrelevant (whether it’s a gun, knife, car, truck, or van), the main focus should be on “why” these individuals are committing violent acts and “what” can be done to deter these individuals from committing the act.
First off, what caught my eye initially was the picture of the toddlers pointing the guns at each other as if they are some sort of toy that won’t hurt them. Those are not nerf guns, they are real guns that will kill anyone. In my reflection, i mentioned how easy access to guns was a big reason for this and how it needs to be fixed to prevent further casualties. In the bigger picture, i liked the solutions the article provides. Those being, increase/promote gun ownership, control gun ownership/regulate firearms. I think these are some good points and some good starting points. I also think these kids are not being taught enough about guns from their own parents. Then other people pay the price fro the parents lack of responsibility. When i was a kid we had a lot of guns in the house. I was in a hunting family and i learned at a very young age that i had to know my place in the house and be responsible. When i seen the guns in the house i knew better than to even think about picking up the gun. It was drilled into my head when i was young to treat guns as weapons and weapons that kill and that i am not to touch them unless told to by my dad. I really believe that kids are not raised or taught correctly and they let their kids do whatever they want and then these casualties happen when they can easily be avoided.
Social media is the leading cause of youth violence in my opinion. Youth violence on social media has been a very big problem ever since these social media apps blew up. Many kids use these outlets in order to be anonymous and to bully other kids that they know but these kids being bullied just thinks it’s someone randomly on the web. It is very easy for them to do this because they are behind their computer at home acting as if they aren’t doing anything but in reality they are really messing with these kids mentally. You will see a lot of fights that get blown up on there as well as illegal activity such as selling drugs on these apps. I have also seen fraud happening on the web as well they will try to sell you some supplement that has zero benefits for you but will up charge you in order to make money.
Kimmel’s model in terms of its ability to predict gun violence and school shootings I’m on the fence with. It’s just like saying . the vast majority of black men do not engage in street crimes, yet the vast majority of black men participate in street crimes. I can’t fully agree with that. Treating gun violence like a public health issue is better then doing nothing. It may spread more awareness on gun violence. Especially if we involve more gun safety training for civilians. I personally do not go around think about gun violence. I am aware about gun violence. As a license gun owner I try and keep my weapon out of my sight unless I truly need it. I believe social media is another causing factor of gun violence because the majority of young teens have a social media account. As the research shows us. Teens are influenced by other teens. All it takes is for one crime to be committed on social media then you will see several crime being committed by teens.
I believe that the majority of the mass school shootings are encouraged by the media. The media is responsible for “hyping” drastic events such as mass shootings as it is becoming to be seen as normal in the society we live in. The idea of becoming “notorious” or “famous” stands out to most adolescents simply because some are or have been bullied and weren’t accepted into a certain friend group. According to the article, the majority of white men do not engage in crime, but at the same time, most of the mass shooters are white. I believe that most of the mass shooters are white simply because they are more privileged than those of the opposing races including the children. When applying a social class to the factor, the majority of all guns are owned by wealthy white men with poor storage for their weapons. A friend of mine that I had growing up, his grandad had a room in his house that had nearly every gun you can think of out in the open. Not only did the room not have a lock on the door, but the guns inside the room also didn’t have locks or any kind of safety mechanisms on them. I find stuff like that problematic simply because children can easily come across the weapons out of curiosity. According to the Washington Post, since the beginning of 2015, there were 52 toddlers involved in shooting incidents in the US. all the gun policies in the world will not do anything to stunt statistics unless Pro-Gun owners decide to properly secure their weapons.
This article on youth violence was a very eye-opening read. I was very fortunate to grow up in a nice neighborhood and safe area in Pittsburgh. In my teen years, I did experience a lot of youth violence. The most common things I witnessed were cyber bullying, face to face confrontation, and fist fighting. These types of violence could lead to more serious violence in the future. All of this activity stems back to the kids that you surround yourself with. It is tough to choose who you are friends with in your teen years because you don’t know how your friends will turn out in the future. You could potentially put yourself in serious trouble if you continue to hang around with delinquent teens. Your youth years are all about making an impression on your peers and trying to prove that you are cool enough to be around. These impressions that you make sometimes involve doing things that you are uncomfortable with. Teens tend to break the law to try to impress their friends but that will always get you in some sort o trouble. Teens have to be careful who they surround themselves with because they could get themselves killed if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nobody is safe unless you stay away.
I feel as if social media makes bullying worst. Bullying does nothing but lead to cyber bulling nowadays. In this generation almost about every teen has social media. Cyber bullying has been something going on for a while now. Teens will go on social media picking on another teen, sharing fights, exposing others etc. I honestly believe a lot of teen cyber bully because they are to afraid to bully in person. They know the teen they are bullying on social media is nowhere in there sight so they tend to play tough. Growing up I’ve witness a lot of my friends fighting and there fight went around social media. People share and post the fight so other can comment rude and disrespectful things towards the person in the video. Ive even witness a friend being exposed. Exposed by a male she thought really loved her. Cyber bullying can go a long way and can cause a person to be physically and mentally harmed
School shootings are becoming more and more common everyday. Gun violence sometimes cannot be prevented and we need to learn how to somehow stop gun violence between juveniles. Gun violence is spreading just how AIDS and HIV spreads. When a victim is shot by the youth with the gun, they are sometimes in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is always seen that a white guy is committing gun violence but why is that? According to the article, “The vast majority of white men do not engage in high-profile/school shootings, yet the vast majority of these types of shooters are white men.” I find it startling that white men are the ones committing the gun violence while being less likely to do so. In order to try and understand why this is happening, sociologists are using an intersectional theoretical approach to study crime and its victims. They are looking at how race, class, and gender are deeply intertwined and producing different outcomes in different social contexts. A startling statistic that I found in this article was that in 2015, toddlers were responsible for more shootings and shooting deaths than terrorists. That is a very startling statistic because toddlers are somehow getting access to these guns and committing violence. According to the article, “Children shot accidentally— usually by other children— are collateral casualties of the accessibility of guns in America, their deaths all the more devastating because they are preventable.” Having access to guns is definitely preventable because it all starts with the parents. They need to lock up their guns more securely so we can prevent these things from happening.
The article youth violence takes a very particular approach on gun violence and school shootings. Gun violence can be determined in many ways such as race, age, gender and income. Some other factors include social media and who one associates with. A sociologist named Michael Kimmel explains that these people all share the same race and gender too. Criminologists and sociologists say that a vast majority of these high-profile, school shooters are white men. Following the aftermath in Newtown Connecticut, former president Barack Obama signed an executive order requiring more research on gun violence by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies. According to the Washington Post, toddlers were more responsible for shootings than terrorists in 2015. Prevention efforts can be focused toward those communities and individuals most prone to the situation. I believe that social networking and news broadcasting play a big role in these shootings. News channels saying things like “This is the deadliest mass shooting in this state and or the United States” is poisoning the minds of those that are mentally ill. If you take a moment to stand in their shoes, they see that comment as a challenge and furthermore, try to break that record and get their name in the headlines as the deadliest mass shooter. It’s rare that you hear a reporter make a case or report about something good that law enforcement does for the community. They are more focus on making the most clickbait story which focuses on drama and things that hit people in the feels the wrong way.
Gun violence spreads rapidly. You are more likely to engage in this behavior if you are involved with people who do so. Everything involved including other people that know the individual is affecting their likelihood of getting shot also. Predicting who is more likely to pull the trigger will help us to know what to look for and get it to stop. Race and gender are common when looking at past gun violence experiences such as school shootings. To prevent these acts happening again policy proposals need to be taken into consideration to change the system.
Social media can make youth violence worse because almost every youth individual is on social media nowadays. Youth violence on social media has been a thing for a while. Several children for instance, will use social media to bully or start fights with another individual. It is so easy for them to do this because they are behind a screen which makes them more confident to say whatever they want. I do not think social media would help the problem of youth violence because not everything on the internet is good but also not everything is bad. I have witnessed crime on social media a lot. I know you can buy illegal things off the internet. You also will see individuals posting videos of fights that go in or out of school. And like I stated before, online threats and cyberbullying was a big thing when I was growing up. I have even seen hacking and fraud on social media before. A lot of times you may see someone hacking someones social media account and acting like they are the person they hacked or getting into someone elses account and posting inappropriate things on someones account.
The first thing that cannot agree with is comparing a BB gun that Ralphie wanted to a real gun! Many kids want BB, airsoft, and or paintball guns when they are young. Are we going to start protesting NERF guns or water guns next too? I honestly believe that you cannot predict a shooting unless you are a counter terrorism agent investigating it. Violence is going to happen and non matter what we do, criminals who want to commit a crime will find a way. Children on the other hand must be taught what is right and what is wrong. White Americans own more guns than African Americans. This idea of gun violence being a public health crisis is, to me, inaccurate. Yes, HIV and aids gets spread around easily, but shootings are often targeted crimes. Guns are becoming popular because everyone is talking about them More people want guns because soon, people are going to, if not already, are going to try and ban them. You don’t see people out looking for AIDS or HIV. Myself, I do not worry about being a victim of gun violence. IF I did, I would not step outside my house. I never grew up around guns, yet I own one and planning to buy another within a month. There are people that own guns who I do not trust with one, but they never pointed it at me, nor gave me a reason to worry about them harming me.
Social Media-
I feel like social media is the root of most of violence with youth. Technology was up and coming as I grew up I went from a flip phones and a huge bulky desktop with a myspace and an AIM to a smartphone that does everything with a facebook and a snapchat. Their are so many ways of getting information and talking now its crazy. Their are so many ways to commit crime straight through a computer and phones its almost inevitable to not see something or someone promoting youth violence. I know I see so many videos of kids fighting in and out of school settings. Whats worse than that? Seeing videos of grown adults fighting in streets and stores, they wonder why some of the youth resorts to violence, these are some of the role models. And all the time I see posts with kids holding guns in their profiles on facebook or snap chatting guns and drugs. Its hard to avoid witnessing any crimes on social media. People started posting homicides on facebook live, hoomicides, rapes, shootings, drug deals gone wrong, drugs in general on social media. Can anyone scroll down their timeline and not see a crime being commited .
I would say legally, white Caucasians own most of the guns in the United States. I personally worry about being a victim of gun violence when I am walking through specific places and/or late in the afternoon or night. I would never want to put myself in the situation where there is someone holding a gun straight at me when I have no idea why and/or not carrying one on myself. And just by saying that, that shows to people that if one person carries a gun, another would want to and another would want to and so on and so on. One day I went to a zoo with some friends and one of the girls took their gun in with them. I asked her why, she definitely doesn’t need it but she did anyway because she said that anywhere she goes the gun goes as well. I was completely against what she believed in because we were in a zoo, no one was going to hurt anyone and especially with children that just want to see animals. Social media helps and doesn’t help at the same time. Social media, depending on what you have, keeps us informed of what is going on and the effects of what happened with youth violence and things that youths aren’t supposed to do. But on the other hand, when something gets promoted a lot, then youths may want to grab other people’s attention and want to be on social media as well.
1)I feel that Kimmel’s model can not really predict violence and school shootings. Different surveys and tests have been done by different people but one thing that can not be measured is opportunity. Many mass shootings are not planned but because a series of events have occurred it causes them to retaliate. 2)Most people who own guns in the United States are older Caucasians. Some youth are brought up learning to hunt, their father may be cops, or they just grow up in an environment where guns are always around. 3) Guns are becoming more socially acceptable and soon there will be laws passed that allows many people to carry a firearm. 5) Gun violence is something that should be treated like a public health crisis. Guns are becoming more popular and killings are increasing. It is easy to obtain a firearm and many are not afraid to use them. Treating this problem like a public health crisis may help lower crime rates and help us all live in safer communities. 6) No, personally I am not afraid of being a victim of gun violence. Throughout the day there are many crimes you can become victim too but gun violence is the least one I worry about. 7) Social media is part of the problem with the world today. Our youth sees rappers and actors portraying thugs with weapons and tattoos and they want to follow them. In my opinion social media is becoming influential in the wrong way and it’s continuing to get worse.
What do you think about treating gun violence like a public health crisis?
i believe it shouldn’t for the fact that its something that with the right exposure you can be a part of that environment but its a “you should known better” kind of thing. from a young age we have had that implanted in our heads things such as… stay away from these types of people, stay out of trouble, don’t do drugs and so on. Even if not heard from parents, someone that cared in your life told you that at least once. Looking at social media, the news even mutual conversations. You see whats going on the question is why do you want to be part of that crowed? For some its they are neglected in school or even worst at home but they are neglected and thats where the issue begins for them. Most of the time the only people that pay attention to them while they are neglected is the bad influences.Once this happens you begin to adapt to their culture and way of being and living but I wouldn’t say it can be treated as a health issue. the reason I say this its because its a mater of culture your around a group of people for a period of time and their habits and way of being rub off on you, sometimes more then others but that does happen. Another reason is they are trying to fit in to a crowed and get dragged into that and once again this is a “you should of known better” because you see what violence leads to and that leads to the question why would you want to associate with people that can bring that type of harm to you? The last reason I believe can fit in here is they actually have mental issues and they are not being attended to. In my eyes that should fall on the parents to some degree. reason for me saying this is because, they are the ones that usually know difference in character and attitude and they just blow it off and choose to ignore it. Nobody is perfect but with situations such as these you could never be to sure.