Violence is defined by the World Health Organization as "the intentional use of physical force

or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or

community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death,
psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation",

Violence is the use of physical force to injure people or property. Violence may cause
physical pain to those who experience it directly, as well as emotional distress to
those who either experience or witness it. Individuals, families, schools, workplaces,
communities, society, and the environment all are harmed by violence.Violence is a
social and health problem for all who experience and witness it. Violence takes many
forms.

For every young person killed by violence, 2040 more sustain injuries that require hospital treatment.
Non-fatal violent injuries involve substantially fewer firearm attacks than fatal assaults and involve a
greater use of fists, feet, knives and clubs.

youth violence includes aggressive behaviors such as verbal abuse, bullying, hitting, slapping,
or fistfighting. These behaviors have significant consequences but do not generally result in
serious injury or death. Youth violence also includes serious violent and delinquent acts such as
aggravated assault, robbery,rape, and homicide, committed by and against youth. In addition to
causing injury and death, youth violence undermines communities by increasing the cost of
health care, reducing productivity, decreasing property values, and disrupting social services.

Media Influence
Violence in the media can influence your teen and can cause them to act
aggressively. A study done by several universities, The Influence of Media Violence
on Youth, states, "Research on violent television and films, video games, and music
reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of
aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts." The
'media' here is defined as anything your teen sees, hears or interacts with that can
be found on the Internet, on television, in magazines, at the movies, in video games,
in advertising, etc. Our teen's existence is filled with media that may have aggressive
messages. More about the media and teens:

Your Teen's Neighborhood

Where you live, your teen's neighborhood, can cause your teen to act more
aggressively. The CDC points to several community risk factors for youth violence
including diminished economic opportunities, high levels of crime and socially
disorganized neighborhoods. Therefore, if you live in a neighborhood where teens
are forced to join gangs to survive and fighting is the norm, your teen is apt to act
aggressively and participate in violent behaviors.

Domestic and Child Abuse

Children who live with violence in the home can become violent people. If your teen
is living with domestic abuse in their home, they are learning how to abuse. As child
abuse is seen as a cycle, children of abuse can become the aggressors. This
aggressive behavior often starts in their teens.
More than once I have received e-mails from mothers whose teens are acting
aggressively towards them. They go on to say that their husband treats them badly,
yells at them, is hard on their children and is basically a bully in their household.

These moms wonder why their teenagers don't understand how they are hurting
them since they've been a victim of their father's abuse as well. What these moms
need to realize is that their teen learned their behavior from their father. It is a sad
truth and not easy to fix, but that is the cycle of abuse.

Insufficient Parental Supervision

Teens who received insufficient supervision by their parents or parental figures are
prone to engaging in aggressive behaviors or criminal activity because they make
poor choices. When parents do not take an active role in their teen's life, teens go
out of control. They make friends with the wrong people, they don't strive to do their
best in school and they stop caring about their future. Teenagers need fair and firm
discipline - this is one of the reasons why.

Peer Pressure
Peer pressure can cause youth violence when your teen's friends are prone to
aggressive behaviors. This could be juvenile delinquent behaviors, risk taking
behaviors like drinking alcohol or taking drugs or being part of a social group were
being aggressive is part of the norm - being part of the football team would be an
example of that.

Drug Use
Teen drug abuse and addiction can lead to violent behavior. While recreational drug
use is supposed to make you feel good, prolonged use of illicit drugs often bring
feelings of depression, anger and frustration. This can lead a teen to exhibiting
behaviors of aggression and rage.

Traumatic Events
Dealing with traumatic events can cause violent behavior in teens. For instance, if
the teen loses a friend in a car accident that they were also involved in they could get
angry at the fact that they were the one that lived. As anger is a normal stage
of grief, a violent outburst from this teen seems almost justified.

Mental Illness
Mental illness is also another cause of violence among teens. Mental health
issues like ADHD, bipolar, ODD, conduct disorder or many of the others that are
being diagnosed today, all have aggressive behaviors or angry feelings as common
symptoms.
Mental illness sometimes hides behind other causes of youth violence. For instance,
a teen with bipolar disorder may be using drugs. If this teen becomes violent, the
drug use could hide the fact that the bipolar illness is part of the cause. You can read
more about this in this article: Understanding Dual Diagnosis in Troubled Teens.