YouTube Spawning More Youth Violence?

Hardly a day goes by without a new story being run on cable news about a teenage fight being taped and then uploaded to the popular web site YouTube. After listening to many of these so called experts talk about this new problem I have determined that it is many of these experts that need to seek mental health treatment and not most of the teens involved in these fights. While listening to these well educated fools on television the past few days one would think that before digital cameras and YouTube that teenagers almost never got into fights. Oh please, since the beginning of time teenagers have got into fights and the fact that many of these fights are among women is nothing new either. As young people grow up they must learn boundaries and part of that learning process involves a fight or two.

These crazy teenage fights are a very small part of what YouTube brings to the average person. Since discovering this web site over a year ago, I find myself turning to it to keep up not only with the latest news of the day – but also to listen to some of my favorite music artist preform at venues I would never be able to attend myself in person. To me, YouTube is one of the best things to come out so far in the Internet generation and the way that even an average person is able to upload video images and make those images searchable to the entire world in minutes in simply amazing. There will always be knee jerk individual that will try and close down the world to bad news that they personally don't think people should see. However, that has never worked before and it will not work today with YouTube.

No loving parent wants to see their child involved in a fight at school or one appearing on YouTube. However, there have always been fights between teenagers and there always will be. In the same way there will always be bullies and also the people that bring them back down to size. Teenagers, and we all were one at some point in the past, are like a blank slate when it comes to lifetime experiences. As adults we often times forget how dumb we also were back during our teenage years. However, if we allow our minds to open up we will all realize that not only did we all take part in fights when we were young, on many occasions we just stood by while other fights were happening and did not report that activity to a parent or teacher. To teenagers nothing is worse than a snitch.

I think it is time for parents and some mental health experts to start looking in the mirror when they find problems with today's teenagers and stop blaming new technology like YouTube. I can still remember getting into fights as a teenager and I'll bet most of you reading this post can remember, as well. What worries me more than the fist fights that are being uploaded to YouTube are the ever increasing numbers of teenagers that are settling short term disputes with the deadly force of a firearm. While growing up I always had access to guns, but never once did it cross my mind to reach for that gun when I had a dispute with another person. However, the world has changed for the worst in this area because far too many times, teenagers reach for a gun to settle disputes, when instead they should be using their fists to settle an argument.

Title: YouTube Spawning More Youth Violence?
Written: April 10th 2008
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