their morals. One of the ways that children’s morals are bent so that gang violence becomes more acceptable is the influence of television and movies. The average child spends more time at a TV than she/he spends in a classroom. Since no one can completely turn off their minds, these children must be learning something while watching the television. Few hours of television watched by children are educational, so other ideas are being absorbed during this period of time. Many shows on television today are extremely violent and are often shown from a gang's perspective. A normal adult can see that this is showing how foully gangs are living. However, to a child this portrays a violent gang existence as acceptable. 'The Ends Justifies the Means' mentality is also taught through many shows where the "good guy" captures the "bad guy" through violence and is then being commended. A young child sees this as perfectly acceptable because he knows that the "bad guy" was wrong but has no idea of what acceptable apprehension techniques are. Gore in television also takes a big part in influencing young minds. Children see gory scenes and are fascinated by these things that they have not seen before. Older viewers see gore and are not concerned with the blood but rather with the pain the victim must feel. A younger mind doesn't make this connection. Thus, a gore fascination is formed, and has been seen in several of my peers. Unfortunately, children raised with this sort of television eventually grow up with a stronger propensity to becoming a violent gang member or 'violent-acceptant' person. "Gangs bring the delinquent norms of society into intimate contact with the individual."1, (Marshall B Clinard, 1963). So, as you can see if television leads a child to believe that violence is the norm this will manifest itself in the actions of the child quite, often in a gang situation. This is especially the case when parents do not spend a lot of time with their children at the television explaining what is right and what is wrong. These parents do not have the adequate amount of time in their busy schedules to monitor their children properly. Therefore, the influence of newer books and some types of music will enforce this type of thought and ideas. Once this mentality is installed in youngsters they become increasingly prone to being easi

Some topics in this essay:
Clockwork Orange, Marshall Clinard, , Justifies Means', Guardian Angels, Merton Nisbet, gang violence, join gang, violent gang, parents children, minds children, bad guy, peer pressure, gang situation, makes life, violent gangs,