Personal Experiences and Violence There

Personal Experiences and Violence

There are many news reports, studies and articles which clearly show that there has been a recent increase in violence among the youth in our country. The problem of violence at schools in particular is an issue that has been highlighted by the horrendous events at Columbine High School. There are even some studies that suggest that violent scenes at schools are becoming endemic and no longer isolated occurrences.

There is also little doubt that serious incidents of violence affect the very young and can be a severely traumatic experience. Simply observing a violent incident can have a negative effect on the individual and, in some case, can result in long - term psychological trauma. Violence is essentially an abnormal disruption of a healthy and stable normative environment and, as such, can have a profound impact on an individual's growth and development. I can illustrate this to a certain extent by describing a memory that has not left me since my youth.

When I was nine years old I witnessed my first violent scene. It was late one afternoon on a warm spring day. I was feeling at ease with the world and I had recently achieved some success at school and was walking home bathing myself in the gradually fading light. My life at that age was a typical suburban mix of school, friends and family activities. The people in my neighborhood were generally affable and there was also no serious aggression - at least until that day. This does not mean that were no arguments or disagreements in my life - but these were nothing compared to the raw violence that I was subjected to.

As I turned the corner to my house I was suddenly flung to the ground. I had no idea what had happened and was winded. It took a few minutes for me to come to my senses and I found that I was almost in the middle of a fight between two older boys. The faces were white with rage and anger and twisted into the ugliest grimaces that I had ever seen. What shocked me was that at first I did not recognize these two boys, but then realized that they were two of the neighborhood children that I saw each day. It was difficult for me to recognize these two faces behind the bestial masks of aggression that were vividly displayed before me.

I'm gonna kill you," one of boys snarled into the face of the other. I remember that his name was Tony and he was the kind red-haired boy who had helped me fix a puncture on my bike a few weeks ago. The other boy who had black hair, simply snarled and pushed back

The two were locked together in a struggle, tearing and grasping at each others shirts. "Yeah," said the black - haired boy" let's see you do it." This tussle seemed to go on forever until Tony suddenly stepped back and hit the black -haired boy hard in the nose. The blood jetted from the boy's face. I was so shocked by the sight and the amount of blood that I was sure that he was going to die. The shock galvanized me into action.

Stop" I shouted," stop fighting." don't know where I got the courage to shout at these two older boys, who were in my eyes little more than dangerous and vicious animals. It was pure reflex and my high - pitched voice suddenly brought them back to their sense. "Why are you fighting like this," I asked hoarsely?