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CCR and ThinkTANK

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The three questions to answer in your essay:

  1. What are the causes of youth violence?

  2. How has violence affected your life?

  3. What can we do about youth violence?

Suggested Outline

I. Introduction
     
Lead/ Hook - Make a broad statement about violence (teen violence, violence in school, etc). 
     
Transition - A statement about how it's "our" responsibility to help reduce violence would work right here.
     
Thesis - Make a bold claim or statement about the impact of and importance of reducing violence.

II. What are the causes of youth violence?
     Topic Sentence
     Examples and Elaboration
     Concluding Statement

III. How has violence affected your life?
     Topic Sentence
     Examples and Elaboration
     Concluding Statement

IV. Conclusion
     Restate the problem
     Call to Action: What can we do about youth violence?

Examples from former students

The Weapon of the Strong

     Betty Williams once said, “I always say that non-violence is not the weapon of the weak. It is the weapon of the strong.” In this quote she is saying that violence is never the right decision. People who resort to violence are weak people who won’t put in the effort to be a good person. In today’s society, violence is very problematic and, unfortunately, also very common. Violence can be found anywhere and everywhere you turn: on the streets, in schools, and sometimes even in your own home. It is such a serious issue, yet little has been done to put an end to it.

 

     Poverty, among other things, is a significant reason for violence. People who live in poverty may see others that seem to have it all and think that it isn’t fair. They could then grow jealous and plan to harm or steal from those who are more fortunate than they are. Poverty can make someone stoop to such a low level that it can result in disaster. The situation becomes a modern version of Robin Hood: Those in poverty take from people who have more than them, but instead of giving to others, they use what they steal for their own benefit. Although not mentioned often enough, this is still an urgent cause of violence as it can lead to robbery which can, in some cases, be fatal.

 

     Luckily, I have never experienced violence first-hand, but I have received the second-hand effects. Because violence and crime are such common occurrences nowadays, I’m not allowed to stay home alone for long periods of time, go outside unsupervised, or go over to people’s houses if my parents don’t personally know them. The amount of violence has gotten to a point where I, or anyone else for that matter, can’t simply step out of our house without feeling on edge. Not only do I experience the effects at home, but also at school. More precautions are taken to ensure the safety of the students and staff. For example, lockdown drills are being put into practice more often than before, and more constables have been put in schools.

 

     Violence has become such a major issue that it may seem impossible to put an end to it, but it is quite the opposite. One solution to violence is to start positively impacting the lives of young children, whether it be through mentoring or education. When children are young and able to make their own decisions, it can be easy to determine what kind of path he or she will take in the future. Most troublemakers are prone to violence and if they’re never told or shown otherwise, they can grow up with that same mentality. Adults and even peers of those kids should intervene and direct the child towards a better path. Helping just one kid at a time can prove to be effective in the long run

 

     At the moment, we’re living in a violence driven world and nothing seems to be getting better. Although terminating violence for good may seem far-fetched, we can succeed in doing the impossible. All it takes is one person to take a stand; one person to lead the movement. That one person can then inspire others to follow suit. A world without violence would no longer have to be a place of fantasy.

Making A Difference

 

     Violence is one of the worst things in the world and is mostly caused by emotions. The most common one is anger. If there is violence, there is anger. Sometimes different emotions turn into anger. Most of the time people who are jealous turn to violence as an answer. That and other emotions are why there is violence in the world.

 

     Violence has gone everywhere in the world even to schools, hurting and killing a lot of students. This has made me feel insecure around people that are really angry or get angry easily. Living in a life of worry is not the way I want to live. However, schools are taking action. They have made changes to their security in order to protect students like us. 

 

     Since I haven’t been directly affected by violence, I cannot really know what people who have been affected feel. Violence is probably why sometimes life is so complicated. Violence has made my life more complicated and difficult over the years passed ,and it is probably going to make my life difficult in the future years.

 

     Maybe I can’t stop violence all together by myself, but I can make a difference to someone in the world. Something I can do is report any type of violence to a trusted adult. I can also prevent violence from happening. I can do this by telling an adult if someone is planning to be violent. If not I can always try to calm the person  down so no violence happens in the future.

 

     Violence is something that is “bad” in a way that is not explainable. It is something that is just “bad”. Violence is bad for every single person in this world, especially the one or ones, causing the violence and the victim that is affected by it.  Violence is something that should not even exist. It scar’s a person emotionally and sometimes even physically. Violence is bad for the economy since it stops the “flow” of the work. If violence is not stopped our world will end in a very cruel way . This will make people regret ever do violence if they had in the past. If something else doesn’t end us, violence will in the future if not now. Violence should be stopped right now while it is still an option to the world. We have a chance in having the life we always dreamed about, a life where everyone is at peace with each other and there is no reason for violence to even happen. We need to stop this world from suffering more because of us and how we act. 

 

     In order to stop violence we need to act. We need to all get together and something. Someone doing something by themselves then it doesn’t really affect but if everyone does something no matter how small, violence can be stopped.  Everyone should do something for the  world no matter how small. If we stand united, we can do something to stop violence without having to use unnecessary violence. We should all be safe from violence. The dream of many people is that there is a place where there is no violence. So let's all achieve that dream.

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