are kids more violent today due to labels

i saw in the news about the poor boy in florida who was burned by a group of violent kids and i just read of a mom in new hampshire who was killed by violent kids.

i know kids being exposed to violence makes them violent but can the fact that these days violent kids are labeled bipolar instead of criminal make for more violent kids?

back in the old days if a kid was violent they would be sent to reform school. there if they acted out they would be pepper sprayed, shackled, and put in a cell.

today a violent kid is labeled bipolar, put on anit psychotic meds that don't do anything but give them side effects, and when they attack a peer or staff at a psychiatric residential facility they are simply held down and injected with a med that makes them drowsy.

if a violent kid knows if they act violent they won't go to a scary reform school but to a easy psychiatric residential facility will they be more likely to be violent?

one of the mom's of the violent kids who set that poor boy on fire said - they're good kids. looks like the apple don't fall far from the tree. i think the parents who raised these violent kids should also go to jail for being so stupid to raise such violent kids.

i bet these violent kids have a history of being in a psychiatric residential facility where they were labeled bipolar instead of criminal.

I do think kids are more violent than in any time in the past... why is this??? well, there are many theories..... I'm not so sure giving a kid a "label" would result in being more violent though..... but I do agree with the finding that kids who view violence MAY become violent themselves.

There are some studies and some controversies about the very drug that kids are given to "alter" their character is contributing to their violent behavior. Most school shootings were done by boys that had been but quit or that were on psych-meds. There is now a warning label on some of these drugs saying how the reaction in young people could be suicidal and/or violence. I don't think anyone under 18 should be on such mind altering drugs---- why do we so often turn a blind eye to these mind altering drugs that are put into a young, still developing brain? I feel especially sorry for boys, as they are targeted the most-- since their natural behavior is more physical and active-- seems the psych industry is helping the public to drug the "natural boyness" right out of them..... so sad.....

Also-- I've been thinking -- wonder if they've done a study on the brain reaction to preservatives and unnatural additives/chemicals in the foods young people eat. This is something that is different from how kids ate 50 years ago... could there be a correlation? i wonder.......

I just hope that whatever the reason/s, it's figured out soon.....I think this is becoming a very sad world.

mariposa

my point was in the old days violent kids paid a price (reform school) for their violence and today they may avoid paying the price by being sent to a psychiatric residential facility.

i've actually seen kids be in an excellent facility (meaning very professional) get worse.

maybe the problem is today we try to rehab violent kids via psych facilities when in reality (sadly) you usually can't rehab somebody who has seen nothing but violence growing up.

they say when you witness violence it actually changes your brain.

back to my main point i don't want to see more kids the victim of kid violence so the violent kids need to pay a price for their violence.

i would say most assertively that it is NOT the labels which are to blame. rather, it is the abdication of responsibility by both parents and society which comes closely on the heels of a label (read that "stigma") which has caused the decline. i agree- crime and punishment. of course, that tactic will just drive some to learn more and more creative ways to avoid being caught.

that's what i was trying to say. if you label somebody with a disorder then they don't have to take responsibility for their criminal actions. what's wrong with saying what you're doing is criminal and you need to take the responsibility to change it?

I gotta say, I do think labels are thrown around too easily. I mean if someone's a little eccentric or aloof they may be classed as Asperger's, BPD seems to be diagnosed a lot in young teenage girls, maybe some don't have a PD and it's just to do with hormones as they're growing up. ADHD seems to be diagnosed at hyperactive children (mostly boys), whereas in the past they'd just be looked at as mischievous children.

I'm not downplaying these disorders for those who have them. I do think getting a label over your head may subconsciously restrict you, or you may tend to act more like the label.

i hope i don't sound like a "witch" posting about sending kids to reform school but why are these kids walking the streets when they probably have a history of violent or crime acts?

i know it's not their fault stupid adults raised them to be violent.

I think it all depends on the person. I know someone who was a criminal, who had and maybe still has bipolar symptoms, I think that if he got sent to an asylum that it may do some help. And, I know that if I got successful treatment for my disorders that I would NOT be as violent.