<p>There is nothing more horrific than a school shooting.&nbsp; Sure to bring masses to the streets and walk-outs demanding change, it is a tragic and sickening repeated event that happens every year to unlucky communities.&nbsp; In the aftermath, there are calls for change and the need for youth violence prevention. But, what does this actually mean?</p> <p><strong>What are the causes of youth violence?</strong></p> <p>There are many noted and researched causes of youth violence, including the most commonly discussed elements: mental health, desensitization through the media, access to guns, and social exclusion.&nbsp; These are all factors influencing youth violence, without question, but there are also other important factors to consider when looking at youth violence with a bigger scope:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Many risk factors: </strong>There are many variables and factors that will impact today&rsquo;s youth in their possible graduation to violence.&nbsp; Amongst the examples above, there are many home-related causes as well as social expectations.&nbsp; Many believe that we, as a society, will never know the true causes of a rampage schools shooting.&nbsp; There are so many complex and interacting factors that determining the sole cause will be impossible to untangle.<br /> <br /> This leads to discussions turning to understanding youth violence on a larger scale and understanding it for the risk that it poses to both school children as well as children and teens out in the world.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>There is a difference between aggression and violence:</strong> In youth, there is a strong difference between aggressive behavior and violent behavior.&nbsp; In understanding this difference, warning signs of all youth violence will be easier to predict and watch for without misunderstanding aggression as violence, or vice versa in children and teens.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>School vs street violence: </strong>realistically speaking, school shootings - as horrifying as they are - are rare.&nbsp; Street violence is much more common and causes many social problems throughout communities, particularly in the US.&nbsp; By putting more efforts into understanding and working to prevent street violence, youth violence itself will be drastically reduced and it will help make school shooting rampages even rarer as a hoped direct result.</li> </ul> <p><strong>What does this mean for prevention?</strong></p> <p>When looking at the data, it is clear that there needs to be a wider scope when looking at something as heartbreaking and horrific as a school shooting.&nbsp; This wider view will allow for communities to help stop a school shooting rampage before it begins.</p> <p>By reducing youth violence through the scope of urban street violence and proper awareness of its ability to escalate, this will help future school children be safer both on the street as well as in schools long-term.</p> <p>Regardless of the focus that one takes on youth violence, researchers and experts agree that the prevention of youth violence and all of its examples, forms, and situations, should be a national priority.&nbsp; The goal should be to alleviate the symptoms and thereby &ldquo;cure&rdquo; the problem so that youth violence is no longer a potential cause for concern in children or teens, both in the school systems or outside of them.</p>