TAC (Teen Advisory Council) Views
What Things Help You Decide Who Your Friends Are?
How Can We Help Prevent Teen Violence?
Ryan says:
- We as a society must bond together to help rebellious teens.
- By playing our parts as friends, siblings, parents, and grandparents we can help to diminish the teen's rage, or his or her uncontrollable anger. We must act as mediators.
- We must assert ourselves by involving the teen in group discussion, and activities. If that doesn't work, there is always a choice of a child psychologist. Although the teen may resent it at first, it will probably become routine, and the anger will fade.
Corey says:
- One way to prevent teen violence is to educate yourself, as well as those around you, on efficient ways to learn how to cope with anger.
- Try not to let yourself be so easily persuaded by words to start a fight with someone.
- Due to different situations, sometimes backing down isn't that easy.
- If you back down from a fight, your friends or others may mistake this for a sign of weakness and taunt you.
- But try to control yourself and walk away from the whole thing anyway.
- When you think of it, isn't it kind of stupid that we, as teenagers, are fighting each other over silly things, such as words? We are the future generations of this world, and we should be united together to provide a strong foundation for those future generations.
Sandy says:
- Why do so many teens feel that the best way to get what they want to across is to use violence? I believe that perhaps the environment they were brought up in affects their mentality and ways of dealing with difficult issues in life.
- I feel that the best way to help prevent teen violence is to get the word across. We need to put the real issues out there and get teens who feel that they have to result to violence to see the horrible consequences of such actions. They need to realize that they will throw their lives away if they choose that path.
- If teens feel they need to resort to violence, they should go to juvenile centers and witness the consequences firsthand. Teens that previously used violence can speak to them and make them realize that they had the same mentality, but look where that mentality brought them.
- Parents need to monitor what their children watch on television because even some cartoons are too violent.
- Parents should also monitor where their children are going and who their children are going to be with.
Reene says:
- I think schools and programs such as the YMCA should have assemblies and orientations about teen violence.
- Teens should be encouraged to talk out their problems instead of fighting.
- To promote this idea of talking about problems, schools should have clubs about teen violence. They can also have a Teen Violence Prevention Day when teens give the schools the weapons they own.
- Metal detectors should be placed at schools' entrances in order to ensure that weapons are not being brought into the schools.
- Parents should talk to their children and tell them to always talk about their problems before they fight or use weapons.
- If talking and punishing teens does not work, I think parents and schools should get the police involved. The police should be able to fine teenagers if they fight and the police should confiscate weapons from teenagers.
- Partly because of gangs, teen violence will always be a struggle unless the whole community works together to stop it.
Finally, also remember the Health Power motto:
Action's The Way 4 Health Power!