It Is Up To The People
To Stop The Violence
by Janelle Campbell, Tenth Grade
Violence is a word which has affected many people's lives.
Violence is a thing which appears everyday in many different forms, whether it be
T.V.,
billboards, movies, flyers or any other medium. Violence is many things in itself; it is
an act, an emotion, a thought and to many people, a way of life. Many claim they are
violent by nature, that they are urged or driven by force. It is written that a conflict
is a fight or struggle for mastery, a clash of opinions or interests, or an inner
struggle. One might say violence starts with a conflict, and when no solution comes to the
problem, violence occurs. There are many known forms of violence. One of them is verbal
violence. Verbal violence can be a spoken taunt or a bombardment of hateful, disgusting
words. These words break open the hearts of their victims, fill their eyes with hurtful
tears and make them hate their abusers.
In many cases, verbal violence leads to physical violence because most people do not
like to be insulted. To be picked on, teased and made fun of leaves a person with not only
hurt feelings but hurt pride. This causes many people to want to hurt back, to make their
attackers feel how much turmoil and hurt they felt. When someone torments another, it not
only humiliates that person publicly, but it grabs at the wall into one's physical being.
As the wall crumbles, your eyes see nothing but hate and violence. You see nothing but
darkness. This is the cause of violence.
Violence occurs in many places; at home, school or work. There is no evident reason why
it happens anywhere, but it does happens. Some doctors say that it's not a specific group
of people who are violent. It's that certain people have a buildup of anger, and they
sometimes get upset, have an outburst of anger and explode anywhere they are.
The problem is that we never know who has a buildup of anger. One might describe this
buildup as a dam, and when a brick of this wall comes out, all the water splashes through.
This water is anger, ever-flowing and unstoppable.
The solution to violence is not as easy and clear cut as many political figures say it
is. Violence is not a scab on the skin of society; it is an ever-bleeding wound that,
without daily care, will infect the whole body. Then it will be too late, because when the
body dies, the soul dies with it.
Violence is a very complex situation with an even more complex answer. One should not
ask for a solution to this problem from someone who has no idea what violence is, from
someone who has never experienced it or from one who is not affected by this ever-growing
obstacle. You must go to those who are affected by the problem, tempted by the problem,
and those very few who are eager to fight the problem.
Violence is an ever-growing problem that can possibly be solved, but the answer is
divided into three possible stages.
Stage 1:
We must identify the problem. Stop blaming the problem on everyone you
think is at fault, because maybe they also blame the other person, and then we have a
world of people who think everyone is wrong but themselves. It is a problem in our city,
state and country, and it is up to the people to STOP THE VIOLENCE.
Stage 2: Find another punishment for violence. Set up more programs within the
prisons that help the inmates deal with their anger, teach them to open themselves up and
not hold all the anger inside. Teach them that they can live a life without crime so that
we can start to heal the wound and wrap the scars.
Stage 3: This is a job for the whole population. We must learn to accept
criminals and those who have committed violent acts into our society. There are many, many
people who commit crimes; some may be violent by nature, some were deeply hurt in their
childhood. No matter the reason, the point is that they must be accepted now. Belonging
has a powerful impact on those who were never embraced as a part of the human family.
There will be those who will refuse to lose the shackles of fury. Those that continue to
commit crimes will be dealt with as justice sees fit.
Violence is known to all people and comes in many forms. It may be in the city, the
neighborhood, even next door, but it never consumes the rigid code of morals that everyone
contains in their hearts, mind and soul. As the wound that violence has made on society's
fragile flesh heals, let the suffering that violence has made in one's heart heal as well.
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