Violence ... could it be justified?

 This project marks the end of my first unit in a class called Who Am I. We are reading a book called "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder. we have been studying different philosophers and their beliefs and how we still use those beliefs. This action project is for us to express our truths and beliefs. I learned a lot about myself in the making of this AP because I had to really dig deep within my thoughts. 

DBrito · Violence

Hello, I am DB a 9th grader at GCE lab school and  I believe that violence could be justified.

But not all violence could be justified, I have never liked violence, but I know that one day I would have to defend myself and I have always thought that all violence was bad until someone explained to me that self-defense is a good thing, that it could be justified or be considered right. 

But how do we know if it’s bad?

There is bad violence, as in, fighting someone just because you felt like it and it’s sad to say that stuff like that happens every day, but when someone sees something like that, there is some sense of wanting to help. But if someone defends another person from violence by using violence, would it be right?

I would say that it depends on the intensity of the situation because, in certain situations, you could help without provoking more violence. Being smart, call 911, find an alternative. If there are no alternatives, then fighting is the final option. 

So how do we know if it’s good?

In the case of self-defense, I say that it could be justified mostly because if you are in a situation in which you are getting beat up, and can’t run away or evade the situation, you could only fight back, I think that it would be considered right. Everyone has fight or flight instincts, some usually fight, while others fly. I would probably fly because I am a person who gets scared easily and I don’t like violence.

As I was growing up, I luckily never experienced violence… unless you count video games, then i guess i kinda did.  

I was about 13 years old when I saw a real-life physical fight, I was walking down the stairs of my school to get to class and I saw a HUGE crowd of people and in that crowd there was a circle, and in the circle there were two girls and they were fighting. So many people were laughing and smiling, while others yelled “fight” over and over again. Sounds like something from a movie, but it was real, i was there, i saw, i heard. And now I see that violence amuses a lot of people, mostly younger people. And the 7th grade fight by the stairs proved it.