Violence Reflection Paper
Violence has existed in our world for many years regardless if people agree or not. It seems to be commonly forgotten that we have evolved and what we see as violent today is not what people believed to be violent in the past. This also has a large effect as to what is considered violent now. Violence can be perceived in many ways whether it be in our nature or that we learn to become violent. The reasons as to why we are violent ranges from our advanced technology to our own beliefs and values.
Most people believe we are naturally violent because it is how we survived over time. We started off as hunters and gatherers who had to fight for food and land. We based living off of survival of the fittest. If we think about children who are quite younger than us and are unable to speak they sometimes become angry and may result to crying or hitting because they cannot get their point across. This is not intentional violence but they are just trying to get what they need and want resulting in some type of harm. This is an example of being naturally violent.
In other circumstances I do believe we grow to become more violent than we may already naturally be depending on certain situations. As we grow older we can experience violence through many ways. The main source where we can find violence is through media. We can find it everyday by just watching television. It seems to be very rare to watch the news and see a story that isn’t related to war or crime. Video games and a lack of parent support may create acts of violence and make it seem like a norm in today’s society. Without boundaries, we are free to do what we want when we want. All of these examples have a large impact on how harmful our world is. As we grow older we try to challenge these boundaries and test the real world which may lead to violence. People seem to be most vulnerable and innocent when they are children because they are still learning and do not see the world as it really is which is why we have to censor what children see from a young age.
Violence does not always have to pertain to physical harm. It can be perceived in ways such as leaving someone or something worse off than they were before whether it be verbal abuse, mental abuse etc. The severity of these acts also varies. If we think back in time to our ancestors and the way they became violent, we can notice a difference compared to how we recreate these acts of violence today. It is clear that over time we have become more in tune with technology. Nowadays we have guns, narcotics and even religions that contribute to our violence. Our ancestors did not have access to such technology and drugs etc. What we see as normal and violent today is different than what they saw as normal and violent in the past. We have grown with morals and values that have given us the knowledge to know what is right from wrong.
Overall it is believed by many, that humans are born naturally violent. The intent to be violent is not always there but it all depends on what others define violent as. Violence can carry a broad definition creating a lot of discussion. Depending on your upbringing and how you view things in your daily life describes if we are naturally violent or we learn to become violent. In my opinion we are brought into the world innocent. As we grow up, we are taught how to do everything in our daily lives. Due to media, the environment we are raised in and our own personal issues, we may not be able to express ourselves in the proper way. This results in violence. We eventually become violent in some way whether it is intentional or not.
