Being born during the civil war had exposed me to violence at the early age. I have witness the guns fire attack, the fighting jet attack, and the dead bodies of killed victims. Unfortunately, millions of children are exposed to severe and chronic violence at the early age of childhood. It is terrible to imagine a five to fifteen years old child witnessing violence at home, school, and street. The children who witness violence can be affected emotionally, physically, expressively; they can experience anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, and fear. The exposure of children to violence at early age has been explored in the mess media such as music, books, newspaper, and television. Music particularly, has been used as channel for children who witness violence to express their feelings. Also the music serves a channel to educate public about the negative aspect of exposing children to violence at early age.
Many artists have written numerous songs about violence and children. The song with the title “Runaway love” was written by Christopher Bridges, Dougles Davis, Keri Lyn Hilson, Jamal Jones, and R Walter. The song was performed by Ludacris feat. Mary J. Blige. The song features three verses of a fictional story telling the troubles in the lives of three runaway female teenagers; a nine year old named Lisa, a ten year old named Nicole, and an eleven year old named Erica. Each of the girls ended up running away to escape her owns problems.
The first version involves Lisa, the nine year old girl, who never met her father. Lisa’s mother is addicted to drugs. She brings men to the house at different hours of the night, and the men end up in the Lisa’s room. “. . . Sneaking in her room when her momma’s knocked out, trying to have his way and litter Lisa says ouch, she tries to resist but then all he does is beat her”. When the nine old Lisa tries to stand firm, they just beat her, and when she informs her mom about it, she doesn’t believe her. Unfortunately, hundred thousands of children are raised by drugs addicted parent(s) who have no moral obligation of being parent(s). When parent(s) consumes illegal drugs, it can mean risks to the health and well-being of their children. According to the media, children who are raised by drugs addict parent(s) are more like to witness and experience violence at home then children raised by parent(s) who don’t consumer drugs and alcohols. In reality, many children witness drug violence or crimes associate with drugs at home/neighborhood. In fact, there are numerous cases in which we have seen or read about runaway child in the mess media. According to National Runaway Switchboard, “Between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away in a year”. Every year, 1.6 to 2.8 million youth runs away from homes. Perhaps, runaway children are escaping abusive violence at home or mentally disturbed by the violence they had witness. “In one study, 79% of adolescent runaways and homeless youth reported alcohol use in the home, 53% reported problem drinking in the home, and 54% reported drug use in the home” (Hope Networks). There is no doubt that drugs are always association with violence at home and in poor communities. In the poor communities, consumer or activities of drugs are widely spread to extent that it affects the well being of children at home/neighborhood. In addition, many children in poor communities don’t know their father. And being with father is devastating to many children. In a contrast to traditional two parent homes, children raised in single parent homes are at risk for number of less desirable outcome. Some children who witness violence and abuse at home are left with no alternative, but to runaway just like Lisa.
The second version involves Nicole, a lonely ten year old girl. Nicole was disturbed by fact that she wasn’t beautiful and nobody liked her, and she kept wondering why. In addition, Nicole was physically abused by an alcoholic stepfather. “Alcoholic step-dad always wanna strike her, yells and abuses, leaves her with some bruises”. Sadly, Nicole lies to schoolteachers when she is asked why she has bruises. To endure the abuse by her stepfather, Nicole promises her best friend, Stacy to be close friend forever. Unfortunately, Stacy was killed in front of Nicole by a drive by shooting and she was traumatized by the incident. Eventually, Nicole decides to run away. It is misfortunate that children in the urban cities of the United States have experience and witness high levels of crime and violence. Caitlin Johnson state, “Children who witness violence in their homes and neighborhoods, recent studies suggest, may not be as resilient as medical and mental health specialists once believed. It turns out that kids exposed to violence—especially the estimated 3.3 million to 10 million kids a year who've seen brutality between people they love and trust—are often as traumatized as those who are directly victimized”. It is unfortunate that the medical and mental health specialists have failed to acknowledge the surprising of children who witness violence. According to McAlister Groves, Carol who is now an adult is still traumatized by the violence she witness when she was eight year old. One day, Carol came home from school and found her mother severely beaten and tied up in their home. “Her mother had blood on her face; an eye was badly swollen. Her clothes were torn”. She later learned that two men broke into their home; raped and terrorized her mother before they fled. Carol concluded by saying that, “I am not the same person I was before my mom was raped”. Sadly, millions of children witness these kinds of assaults everyday; hence, they are helpless to prevent it or get help. The FBI estimates that 72 of every 100,000 females in the United States were raped last year (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Statistics, 1996). Such traumatic experiences can have lasting negative effects on child’s health. According to research, children who witness domestic violence face increased risks: the risk of exposure to traumatic events, the risk of neglect, the risk of being directly abused, and the risk of losing one or both of their parents. All the negative outcomes of witnessing violence may affect child’s well-being, safety, and stability.
The final version involves Erica, an eleven year old girl who was pregnant by a sixteen year boyfriend. Erica thought she was in love, but after she became pregnant, her boyfriend bails out on her due to the fact that he is not ready to be a father. In addition, Erica’s family is poor, so she has no money for an abortion. Erica knows that if she tells her mom she is pregnant, her mom will be very angry and disappointed with her. At the end, Erica runs away to avoid confronting her mother. In fact, Erica didn’t witness any violence according to the song, but she fear how her mother will respond to her pregnancy. Perhaps, Erica was a victim of child abuse or she had witness a domestic violence in the past. According to Rosemary Chalk, “. . . more than 90 percent of all reported incidents of child maltreatment occur in families below the median income (estimated at $40,611 in 1995); 40 to 50 percent of all incidents occur within families whose income fall above the poverty level (estimated at $15,569) but below the median income”. Children who are raised by poor families are more like to witness violence than children who are raised by rich families. It is possible that Erica had witness violence in the past because she didn’t runaway for no reason. Children who run away from home are normally fueled by an overload of depression, fear, and anxiety that are driven by witness of violence. The song is basically reminding the public about what is happening in our communities. Children are running away to avoid violence the witness at home.
The song with the title “I’m Ok” is written by Christina Aguilera and performed by Christina Aguilera. The song describes the story of a girl in her teen who learn how to grow up living in an abusive house that she called home. She never knew where to turn for protection. It hurt every time she sees her mother being beaten by her father and hearing all the shouting/screaming. Simply, she cries in her room hoping that tomorrow will be brighten day. The pain she endures at the early age remains the same and she still remembers how she was traumatized by her abusive father. “. . . Daddy, don’t you understand the damage you have done, to you it’s just a memory, but for me it still lives on. It’s not so easy to forget all the lines you left along her neck when I was thrown against cold stairs and every day I’m afraid to come home in fear of what I might see there”. In overall, the lyric is expressing the feeling of child who witness violence in her home. Her abusive father has caused a pain she will live on for the rest of her lives. Andrew Karmen states, “Being neglected and/ or physically abused and/ or sexually abused as a youngster becomes a risk factor for entering into a cycle of delinquency, crime, and violence later in life”. Basically, those who were physically abused face the gravest risks of becoming lawbreakers. A research into child abused indicates that beatings are more likely to occur when the two parents fight viciously; one or both of the parents are currently drug takers and/or alcoholics or the mother/father was raised by a substance-abusing parent.
In reality, children are exposed to violence at home and public places. For example, a man was killed last month (July) in the present of two children at the gas station in federal way, Washington. According to University of Pittsburgh, “In Los Angeles, it is estimated that children witness one of every five murders”. Basically, varieties of violence/crimes occur every day in the United States. Violence/crime ranges as car accident, domestic violence, homicide, street fighting, robbery, gangs, property damage, and much more. Children are in danger of being traumatized by violence they have witness at early age. According to University of Pittsburgh, “children who witness violence offer exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as withdrawal, anxiety, or nightmares”. When an adult is out of control, there is very little to nothing that a child can do to prevent violence; hence, violence at home enhances the development of post-traumatic stress disorder in children. Seeing a parent or relative assaulted can be devastating to the child. According to Dr. Shakira Franco Suglia, “. . . important biological effects occur in children living in high-crime neighborhoods, although with less severe distress symptoms than those experienced by children diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. As a result, they may not come to the attention of healthcare providers and a large number of children may be impacted with broad adverse health effects”. Children who witness violence in their homes, experience a broad range of negative developmental such as sleep disturbances, academic difficulties, separation anxiety, depression, aggression, passivity or withdrawal, distractibility, concentration problems, hyper vigilance, and desensitization to violent events.
In conclusion, children who witness violence at early age tend to be negatively affected by what they had witness and experiences. Unfortunately, millions of children are exposed to violence everyday either at home, street, or public places. According to scholars, children who witness violence developed a post-traumatic stress disorder that affected them emotionally, physically, expressively; they can experience anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and fear. Many artists have written numerous songs with the purpose of educating public about negative aspect of exposing children to violence. Some of children who are raised by abusive families; where children experience a daily environment of inconsistency, chaos, fear, abandonment, denial, and real or potential violence are left with no alternative, but to runaway in order to escape violence.
Bibliography
Chalk, Rosemary and Patricia King, Patricia. Violence in Families Washington, D.C. National Academy Press, 1998
Garbarino, James. “Children Who See Too Much: Lessons from the Child Witness to Violence Project” http://books.google.com/books?id=3_wTck5iC6MC&dq=child+who+witness+violence+book&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=RSWWxM3nas&sig=6Ba13YwpPJZTSCLiR9xt4nOFCZ4&hl=en&ei=sW58Sr2OGYn-MJe04O4C&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Groves, Betsy. Children Who See Too Much: Lesions from the Child Witness to Violence Project” Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 2002.
Hope Networks. “CHILDREN OF ADDICTED PARENTS: Important Facts” Copyright© 2005 Hope Networks Inc., 08/12/2009 http://www.hopenetworks.org/addiction/Children%20of%20Addicts.htm
Karmen, Andrew. “Crime Victims: an introduction to victimology” Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2007.
Johnson, Caitlin. “Hidden Victims: Caring for Children Who Witness Violence” March 20, 2000.
Suglia, Shakira. “Children who witness violence show symptoms of post-traumatic stress”, 22. April 2009 14:28.
University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development. “Witness to violence” Report # 16 Effects of Violence,1998. < http://www.education.pitt.edu/ocd/publications/backgrounds/16.pdf>
