Advanced Essay #4: Violence always has negative consequences

I don’t care what anybody says, I personally think that violence always has a negative consequence. I stepped outside of myself and imagined multiple scenarios where violence could possibly have a positive consequence. Within all of those circumstances lies a negative consequence for someone or something. The first scenario I envisioned was a professional fighting ring. Of course both fighters signed up or wants to be apart of the fight and are possibly making millions of dollars but at the end of the day someone gets hurt. For some, the benefits or good aspects about pursuing the fight may outweigh the bad ones but within that scheduled fight is a negative consequence. I could go in-depth about the long term effects of constantly getting punched in the face but my point has been proven for this scenario.

Another scenario I envisioned was if someone attempted to hurt you or someone you love. Of course defending yourself or your loved one would be the most reasonable thing to do but in order to do so there is going to be some pain involved. I’m a very passive person and would rather choose violence as a last resort, when it’s absolutely necessary. Some people say that violence is never the answer but I personally find that statement to be false. I can think of tons of situations and scenarios where violence would be the most logical choice of action but none of them make the consequence positive for everyone/everything involved.

With that being said, it’s all about how you deal with those negative consequences that come with violence. The Youth Art and Self-Empowerment Project (YASP) deal with children under 18 years of age that committed crimes. Children in the program have been charged as adults after they committed their crime and YASP do not agree with this. “The number of teenagers under the age of 18 who are held in adult jails and prisons in Pennsylvania has increased drastically over the last fifteen years.” They battle this process by providing space for incarcerated young people to express themselves creatively and to develop as leaders both within and beyond the prison walls. They’re focused on ending the practice of automatically trying and incarcerating young people as adults.

Violence isn’t always physical. One can be teased and get their feelings hurt which is just one of the mental/verbal ways people can be hurt. Women are often targeted by men in unwanted sexual ways. A CNN article further explains the issues surrounding this topic in their article “Hey baby! Women speak out against street harassment”

“Fear and discomfort are what define sexual harassment. Not every catcall is followed by unwanted physical advances, and yet that reality has to be considered a distinct possibility for safety's sake.” The only way for this type of violence to not be negative is if the women likes it or is ok with it. What are the chances of that?

A more simple and straight-forward example is war. War is a state of armed conflict between different nations or states, or different groups of people within a nation or state. The negative short term effects of war are the many lives lost during battle. There’s a possibility for many negative long term effects from a war but The New York Times give a real life example and explanation of the long term effects World War II has. “America didn’t just lose the war, and the lives of 58,000 young men and women; Vietnam changed us as a country. In many ways, for the worse. It made us cynical and distrustful of our institutions, especially of government. For many people, it eroded the notion, once nearly universal, that part of being an American was serving your country.” The negative consequences of violence don’t always happen right away.

In conclusion, one of the reasons why violence continues to occur is because people don’t always see the consequences. We are often blinded by how we are affected or the lack of. In the actions of sexual assault/harassment, physical violence, and verbal violence the offender may not realize the consequences because the harm is being inflicted upon them. With sexual harassment and verbal violence if the offended doesn’t speak up the offender could never know the impact they had on that person. Men who catcall women don’t realize how degrading it can be. Before and during acts of violence

Works Cited:

Smith, Emily. "Hey Baby! Women speak out against street harassment." CNN. October 6, 2012. Accessed March 10, 2017. http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/06/living/street-harassment/.

Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project (n.d.): n. pag. Print.

Marlantes, Karl. "Vietnam: The War That Killed Trust." New York Times . Accessed January 7, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/07/opinion/sunday/vietnam-the-war-that-killed-trust.html?_r=0.