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School Violence
In the past several years, there have been many instances of violent acts
(including murder) occurring throughout the United States. Littleton, Colorado;
Springfield, Oregon; Edinboro, Pennsylvania; and West Paducah, Kentucky are
just a few of the small towns that have been hit by such a tragic event. Due to
the fact that all of these are small towns, students, parents, and communities
alike are realizing that no town is really safe . . . an outbreak of school violence
can happen anywhere. Were any of these children showing any warning signs?
Are there any factors that parents and teachers could consider when dealing with
a "problem child"? What measures should communities take in order to prevent
a shooting from happening in the future? In the wake of an increased awareness
in school violence, it is essential to determine some factors that can contribute to
violent behavior, why school violence occurs, and also violence prevention
tactics in order to prevent future occurrences of violence from happening in
school.
There has been a lot of discussion on what the typical "child murderer" is
like. Many people think that there is a stereotype of a kid that would have violent
tendencies. In the most recent school shootings, the killers weren't all drug
addicts or loners. Some of them were intelligent, young people. One of the kids
was a "straight A" student. Yet another had a lot of friends, and was active in
School Violence 3
school activities. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two students who opened
fire at Columbine High School were the killers who were the most discussed
throughout the press. They had been invo...
... middle of paper ...
... can finally suppress this devastating epidemic.
Bibliography:
References
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. "Understanding Violent
Behavior in Children and Adolescents."
http://www.aacap.org/factsfam/behavior.htm 24 Sept 99
Basketball Diaries. Palm Pictures. Polygram Video, New York, New York; 1995.
Begley, Sharon. "When Teens Fall Apart." Newsweek, 10 May 99. 42-43.
Kantrowitz, Barbara. "The New Age of Anxiety." Newsweek, 23 Aug 99. 39-40.
Leland, John. "The Secret Life of Teens." Newsweek, 10 May 99. 45-49.
Mietkiewicz, Henry. "Studies Link TV Violence and Viewer Aggression." Social
Issues Resources Series, Vol. 4 Article 79.
Skeesis. "Monsters Among Us . . . The Tragedy at Columbine High"
http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/coroner/columbin.html 24 Sept 99
On April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on Columbine Highschool killing twelve fellow classmates and one teacher. School violence changes our youths morals. From bullying to peer pressure, youth are exposed to school violence everyday. What is school violence? School violence varies from accounts of “death, homicide, suicide, weapon related violence, in the US.” (c1) School violence can occur to and from school, while attending a school sponsored event, on a bus, or at an activity.
Cho poked his head in the room a couple of times and looked around before exiting and entering a different room. The first shots were heard across the hall, in the hydrology class. It sounded like a nail gun or hammer hitting concrete blocks.
We humans have always sought to increaseour personal energy in the only manner wehave known: by seeking to psychologically steal it from others—an unconscious competition that underlies all human conflict in the world. (James Redfield, 1993, The Celestine Prophecy, New York: Warner Books,65–66)
“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” I have often heard. We know people kill people. The real issue now is whether or not people can change people. Some are of the opinion that we are capable of doing so; by implementing new reforms and tightening school security, people are, in effect, saying they have the solutions to the problems. The violence of recent school shootings has wrought anxiety and fear in parents, teachers, and administrators across the nation. The massacre of Columbine turned a public school library into a cemetery. The shooting in Oklahoma ripped us from the comfort of a stereotypical and easily recognized threat; now popular straight-A students pull guns without black trench coats. The violence has become unpredictable and, in all cases, extremely frightening. In response to the threat, schools have engaged in extensive prevention programs, often banning book-bags, implementing dress codes, setting up metal detectors, or requiring students to attend anger management classes. Such attempts at reform sound efficient on paper and may to some extent alleviate the anxieties of parents, but they are like storming castle walls with slingshots. The object of reform in this case is not tangible or always plausible. The object of reform is the human heart, the internal person. We need to understand that the problem is bigger than a trench coat or a gun; therefore, dress codes or metal detectors cannot solve it. These reforms are often vain attempts at prevention. They hinder education and provoke students. Policy makers and schools need to be aware that no simple public mandate can suffice as a solution.
School violence has become an increased peril, affecting not only those involved, but the society in itself. The underlying reason for this phenomenon is that it is derived from bullying and easy access of weapons. It can even happen by the hands of a person who does not attend the school where the act takes place. Bullying has become an epidemic in America amongst school children. Though there are rules enforced about weapons at school, the weapon is usually not detected until the incident takes place. I have witnessed violence in the form of fighting while in school, however, I have never imagined that it has become so aggressive and affects children at younger ages. We must take a bold stand to stop these incidents from occurring!
What about the peers or friends children correlate with? Could this have anything to do with children’s violence today? Some say definitely. All of the crimes being committed today have been prepared by usually junior high students. Junior high students are at an impressionable age where how they act or what they do is very important to them and how others view them. So why not have all the kids see you as a “hard ass” or “someone who isn’t scared of anything”? Why not show people that you can kill, or whatever the case may be. Peers do play an important role on how children are shaped and what might cause violence in teens today.
A kid does not just start out violent; many factors contribute to the shaping of a violent teen. Where you grow up and who you live with play a major part. If you live in the rough side of you...
Violence in our schools is an issue that has become more prominent in the last few years. News articles about violent deeds within the school setting are on the increase. Our society demands that schools are safe for our children. In order to maintain a peaceful environment for all, we must address and inform our schools, children, and parents as well as the neighboring communities about the issue of school violence. As David W. Johnson, the author of Reducing School Violence states, “To eliminate violence and resolve destructive conflicts, schools must first admit that such conflicts are out of control.” (Johnson 7) Schools in general must identify with these issues in order to deal with them.
obtaining weapons to ensure their safety. Nearly half of all males and one-third of all
be affected by school violence due to two reasons. First, middle school students are in an
As a society, how should we respond to the violence taking place in schools? How do we respond to the traumatic events of the twentieth century, where a series of school shootings lead by students at 12 different schools planned and carried out violent shootings that resulted in the deaths of several students and teachers at each school? These events alone have come from the United States, in fact from Washington, Alaska, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Oregon, Virginia, Colorado, Georgia, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Michigan, Florida, and California (Daniels 2011). In July 1998, President Bill Clinton said that this series of school shootings had "seared the heart of America." Our society feels impotent and concerned and most of all aware that this is a situation that needs immediate attention. Call it an epidemic of violence threatening all American schools as some news reports have published.
I go to gross movies and listen to heavy metal and rap music and I haven't killed anybody, does that make me a potential killer?” These things provoke anger, temper, and crummy attitudes. Gross visuals and music dull sensitivities. They teach the wrong way to handle problems. Make no mistake about this. No matter what defenders of this junk may say, violent movies, video games, and gross music have consequences that include more arguing, hitting, abuse, and other violent behavior; sometimes even killings like happened in Littleton. However, instead of focusing on the real problem, most of the attention has been focused on guns. Yes, these boys used guns. They also made and used bombs. Obviously, kids can't have guns at school. But weak solutions about controlling gun sales would not have stopped these kids from getting guns-or from buying nails, propane and other things they used to make the bombs. These kids broke a dozen laws in doing what they did. Another law or two on the books would not have prevented the massacre in Littleton. Common threads in this and other episodes of school violence have been that the kids have watched lots of violent movies and videos, listened to gross music, and played violent video games. I'm more worried about filling kids minds with gross violence in videos, movies, and video games than I am about guns. I'm also very concerned about the disconnect from parents and the lack of respect for authority. Parents need to take charge.
Preventing school violence has been an issue in our society for so long it has almost become commonplace. According to an article on www.infoplease.com, since the year 2000, there have been a recorded 64 shooting related incidents that involved publicly occupied areas. That is an occurrence of almost five per year. Of those 64, 94% of these incidents were school related shootings. The violence goes from elementary schools all the way up to college universities. The statistics are not pretty by any means. So what are we to do? Should we institute better security? For all of these tragedies, it is time reasonable measures are finally taken to implement new methods of prevention and to address the school violence issues as a severely significant problem.
Step 5: Critically analyze the disciplinary insights into the problem and locate their sources of conflict:
Violence in schools is an omnipresent cause of angst for parents, teachers, and administrators. The high rates of aggression, threats, and physical harm at schools have not only been investigated by researchers but have also been regularly covered in the media and hence have drawn additional public attention to the problem. “According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety indicated approximately 76% of schools reported violent incidents for the 2007-2008 school year….65% of the primary schools, 94% of the middle schools, and 94% of the high schools….Physical fights have been noted as the most common form of violence on school grounds” (as cited in Fahsl & Luce, 2012, p.214). Opinion polls “rate school discipline as one of the biggest concerns in U.S. public schools” (Fahsl & Luce, 2012).