Violent Teenage Delinquency Stems from the Home

White Supremacist Jeff Hall (with megaphone) shot and killed by ten year old son.

A ten year old boy from Riverside, California was charged with murdering his father in May 2011. His father Jeff Hall was the head of the Neo- Nazi Southwestern chapter. When the police first arrived at the scene of the crime they were not sure if this shooting was intentional or unintentional. The shooting occurred at 4 a.m. that morning and when the police and firefighters arrived Hall was pronounced dead with one gun shot wound to the head. The ten year old said to the police that he shot his father but there was a further investigation held to make sure he was telling the truth. When the boy retold the story of how the shooting had occurred he gave a very descriptive version of it according to the Press Enterprise the ten year old, “…gave a step-by-step account of the slaying, including how he got a loaded handgun, "pulled the hammer back, aimed it at his dad's ear while he was asleep and shot him," according to a court document…The boy told Riverside police Detective Roberta Hopewell that he was "tired of his dad hitting him and his mom" and also suspected his father of infidelity "and thought he might have to choose which person he would live with" (Ashbury, De Atley). This child has had a violent past and has even gotten kicked out of school for being violent. A therapist who evaluated the ten year old boy stated, “…told Hall both children were aggressive and developmentally delayed.”I realized the extent of their anger and poor social skills," Hall wrote in a custody declaration. "(The boy) was removed from several schools for his wild and sometimes violent actions" (Ashbury). This horrific event that happened is heartbreaking and unsettling because a young ten year old boy murdered his own father because of all the abuse and violence him, his siblings, and his stepmother underwent. Most violence stems from the home, and is a learned skill. It is important that parents and families are both cautious and aware of how they treat their children and their spouses.

Children are like sponges, they soak up everything they see and hear which is why the adults in a child’s life have to be very cautious of their actions. According to the Focus Adolescent Services, “When children are disciplined with severe corporal punishment or verbal abuse, or when they are physically or sexually abused, or when they witness such behavior in their home, it is not surprising that they behave violently toward others”. A lot of the children who are subjected to this type of violence just have to put up with until they are old enough to figure how to get help and get out of the situation. But sometimes it is too late and the damage has already been done. According to the National Child Abuse Statistics it states, “Children who experience child abuse & neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime” (Childhelp). Its statistics like these that make me believe that children are of utmost importance and should be treated and raised as such. They are precious little beings and it upsets me to see how violent children have become because of the abusive relationships they have been raised in.

 People who know kids of abuse can help by contacting prevention and treatment programs. There are many prevention and treatment programs to help these poor, innocent children such as Childhelp which has a hotline to help abused children get out of their horrible situation. Childhelp has many programs such as; foster care, group homes, community centers, treatment facilities, and advocacy centers. Childhelp also has a national child abuse hotline for people who suspect or have witnessed a child that has been abused. This prevention and treatment program can be found all around the nation, but there are also small treatment programs that are more focused in certain states and cities, but provide similar helpful treatment to these children. Unfortunately “A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds, and about 3 million reports of child abuse were made, however those reports may include multiple children” (Childhelp). This report means that there are probably many more children out there being abused that they do not know about, and these kids need our help.

The more I have researched children who are abused in their homes the more helpless I feel to be able to help these kids. These children are born into such a horrible life at home and have no way to get out of it unless some outside party notices the abuse and can get them out of their situation. But more often then not a child can’t get out of their abuse and have to go through it until they are old enough to move out and move on. But then we have to worry about the fact that the same children who were abused as kids will also abuse their significant others and their kids. The one thing that we can be hopeful in is people find the kindness in their hearts when they see or suspect a child is being abused they will do something about it or call professionals so it’s not too late for a child. This topic is very sad and we can learn from this little boy who shot his father, and all the other children out there being abused to treat them well and take care of them because they are our future.

Works Cited

Ashbury, John. “Son 10, charged in Neo-Nazi Dad’s slaying”.  http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20110505-son-10-charged-in-neo-nazi-dad-s-slaying.ece

Ashbury, John, De Atley, Richard K. “NEO-NAZI SLAYING: 10-year-old boy described shooting”. http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20110519-neo-nazi-slaying-10-year-old-boy-described-shooting.ece

“Teen Violence”. http://www.focusas.com/Violence.html

“Childhelp”. http://www.childhelp.org/