Violence among children has been widely studied and researchers found, amongst the tons of reasons, the three most common causes of it and those are: violence can be caused by experiencing violence directly, violence can be strictly related to a poor habitat and living in poor communities, or it can be an effect of a prolonged exposition to media and technology. Direct exposure to violence can lead to violent children and future violent adults. Two are the main ways a child can be directly …show more content…
As doctor Osofsky states in one of his researches, children “living in low income areas, experience ‘chronic community violence’.” (34) When talking about “chronic community violence”, Osofsky refers to a frequent and continual exposure to random violence in the community. Recent estimates show that almost 4 million children a year witness or are victims of community violence. This massive exposure have significant effects during the children’s development. In fact, children who witness violence in their homes or communities show excessive irritability, immature behaviors, sleep disturbance. Emotional distress fears of being alone and regression in toileting and language. Thus, the effects of community violence on children are atrocious. Not to forget that this massive exposure leads children to become aggressive adults. They start in their adolescence to attach themselves to gangs that substitutes the families they never had, and they learn to integrate violence as a system of dealing with disputes and frustrations. As some researchers demonstrate, the main cause of youths attaching themselves to baby gangs and violent peers is to substitute a missing parental role. To enable a child to cope and to heal, studies shows the need of a strong relationship with a caring and competent adult, most often a parent. Ironically both the cause of violence among children in poor