African American Teen Violence

Teen violence have become increasingly problematic and is taking over many of the inner-city schools that these young African American teens are forced to attend. Each year, teen violence increases, especially in schools. Many people want to blame the black males for the way they act and the violence that they commit, but simply blaming these young African American males does not help solve the problem or decrease it. Often, a student may act in such a violent way because of the lack of support in their communities, homes, and classrooms. Young African American males may be subject and exposed to violence in the home and lack of a family structure. In some cases, this ultimately leads to participation in gangs and an increase in gang violence …show more content…
This even leads to lower self-esteem and confidence in these students which also leads to violence. This leads to violence because young males tend to turn to gangs in which they feel as if they are a part of a “family” or “brotherhood” where they feel accepted and loved opposed to feeling like a rejected individual in their own communities and homes. Being a thug or gangster than starts to become a factor in this young African American’s individual life because he may feel as if he must be exactly like the gang he is a part …show more content…
"The climate should create expectations for high academic standards, establish acceptable norms and rules of conduct that do not tolerate harassment, bullying, undesirable gang activity or other aggressive behavior, and create and enforce fair policies for dealing with aggression if and when it occurs." (Ngwe, 2004). Having a program like this would help make schools, communities and homes better because it would give the kids something desirable and even fun to look forward to. Other programs would help as well such as the Boys to Men program which is a mentorship for young men. This will give the young black males someone to look up to. Some mentors have been through the same thing that some are going through right now and they will be able to speak positive and be an example that they can make it too. Another program is the African American Leadership program that shows young men how not to be followers, but how to lead. This will teach and show them that it's okay to take initiative sometimes and not be in someone else shadow. One last program that would be beneficial is the Young Men of Color Program where adolescents are shown that being an African American is something to be prod of because we have so much to offer to society. All these programs will