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introduction to a formal report on ways to prevent school shootings
Seriousness of the problem Violence at school
causes and effects of violence at school
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In order to solve the problem of violence in schools, we must first find out who the problem is. Being that not every teenager is prone to participate in such violent acts as what happened at Columbine, there must be specific environment imposed on a particular biology to turn a teenager into an Eric Harris or a Dylan Klebold. These are not normal, healthy teenagers, and they don’t just become killers overnight. They become killers because they are already deeply disturbed individuals who can be sent over the edge by all sorts of innocuous influences. Violent teens often have specific characteristics that put them at high risk for committing these crimes. These high risked students may display some of the following traits. First, violent students often indicate their intentions before acting violently through drawings or writings. (Juhnke et. Al., 1999) They also make threats of violence towards others. Next, students prone to violent behavior tend to have a history of violence or aggression. (Juhnke et. Al., 1999) This may include other students, boyfriends/girlfriends, and animals. Violent students often have hypersensitivity toward criticism. (Juhnke et. Al., 1999) These students report perceptions of being teased, harassed or being picked on by those they were violent toward. This tormenting can also cause a student to isolate him or herself and withdrawal from friends and family, which is another sign that something is wrong. Another fairly obvious characteristic includes those children who are inappropriately given accress to firearms. (Juhnke et. Al., 1999) When students are given a gun, it gives them a sense of power. Some choose to take advantage of that power, as we have seen in numerous high school shoot...
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...olence in our schools. European Education, 32 (1), 20. Retrieved October 26, 2001 from EBSCO databases
Hayden, T., Rogers, A. & Wingert, P. (1999, May 3). Why the young kill. Newsweek. P.32-35.
Juhnke, G. (1999). Assessing potentially violent students. ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Student Services. Retrieved November 3, 2001.
Manson, M. (1999, May 28). Columbine: Whose fault is it? Rolling Stone.
Neihoff, D. (1999). The biology of violence: How understanding the brain, behavior and environment can break the vicious circle of aggression. New York: Free Press.
Schwartz, W. (1996, October). An overview of strategies to reduce school violence. ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education. Retrieved October 21, 2001.
Trump, K.S., (1998). Practical school security: Basic gueslines for safe and secure schools. Thousand Oaks, California. Corwin Press.
14)) Prothow-Smith, D. and H. Spivak. "America's Tragedy." Psychiatric Times. Vol. XVI, Issue 6. June, 1999. , A survey of mounting teen violence, including a detailed discussion of several biological precursors to violent behavior patterns.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2002). Are America’s Schools Safe? Students Speak Out: 1999 School Crime Supplement. Retrieved April 28, 2005 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp/pubid=2002331.
School safety plans have had an increase in focus over the past decade due to the increase of televised coverage in mass school shootings. School officials relied upon the moral rationales that support aggressive street policing as they struggled to” reach the students” and make sense of the new disciplinary policies while maintaining their identities as educators (Garret, 2001). In reacting fashion, schools placed an emphasis on gun safety. As originally enacted on March 31, 1994 the Gun-Safe Schools Act (GFSA) required each state receiving Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds to have in effect a state law require local educational agencies LEAs to expel from school for a period of not less than one year a student who was determined to have brought a weapon to school (Thomas, 2006). The focus of trying to keep guns out of schools had administrators putting plans in place with little information as to what works for schools. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Educatiohttp://ed.grammarly.com/editor/content?page.paperReportKey=#n (2003) informed educators that they needed to add the possibility of terrorist attacks to the safety plans of schools knowing that this would stretch the ability of schools to meet the needs of the students and community. Reactions to school sho...
Alan Fox discussed some typical characteristics of school shooters which included easy access to guns. Other characteristics were alienation, frustration, and low self esteem. Mr. Fox stated that these kids typically just don’t feel good about themselves. He blames the recent spate of school violence on the media and instant popularity arising from intense news coverage after the violence which encouraged a surge of “copycats”. He also discusses the role of violence seen in today’s movies, MTV and video games. Ignoring the warning signs of potential explosive juveniles was also sighted as a reason for this surge in school shootings.
In 2007, thirty-three students and faculty were shot and killed by a former classmate at Virginia Tech University. The shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, was a senior at Virginia Tech and was majoring in English. Two years earlier before the attack, Cho was ordered by a judge to seek help after making suicidal remarks to his roommate.
Columbine High School experienced one of the greatest traumas in 1999. Two rouge seniors named Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris set out to school with minds focused on something other than English papers. No, they were busy planning on how to blow up the majority of their entire high school students and staff. Their home-made bomb never activated, this being the case several hundred lives were spared. Unfortunately when Harris and Klebold realized that their explosive never detonated they continued inside the school building. They then proceeded to kill twelve classmates and one teacher. Twenty-one were injured (Rosenburg). Could you imagine being present that day at what you thought was going to be just another Monday? How devastating! Even worse, try to fathom being the mother of one of the students shot and killed. No matter how many tears shed and prayers offered, restoring their life is impossible. The comparison of this pain to what average people go through every day makes life seem like a fairy-tale. Harris wrote in his journal about all the things he hated. Teenagers with deep hatred dwell on that thing and never let it go, but because the two boys killed themselves after the incident, no one can be completely sure why these seemingly average teenagers killed so many students. They obviously hated a lot of things in life. Maybe they were victims of bullying, maybe they were exposed to too many violent video games? The possibilities are endless and judging by the journal, whether or not they were mentally stable is one thing to consider. In this paper we are going to zero in on the four most likely cases of what would push someone to this extreme.
“Kill me, please. I can’t believe I did that.” These were the chilling words of Michael Carneal, a fourteen year old boy who massacred a group of students in a prayer circle at his school (Johnson). Many cases of school shootings show students distressed and sometimes incapacitated by certain mental diseases that cause them to lose conscious control of their actions, such as Carneal who was later diagnosed with schizophrenia (Johnson). Many more cases however, are perpetrated by students suffering from severe depression or extreme psychosis. Nine out of ten shooters surveyed were depressed and/or experiencing suicidal thoughts (Toppo). “Research shows that people who carry out school shootings are usually social outcasts, full of rage, and show little signs of remorse or regret during their crimes,” (Johnson). One of the most famous school shootings was the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in which 15 people were killed and 24 injured by two high school students (Timeline of Shootings). One of the shooters, Dylan Klebold, was later discovered to be a severely depressed and miserable youth, whereas his partner Eric Harris was discovered to be a psychopath with a strong superiority complex and need for control (Toppo).
There have been many school violence acts including many tragic school shootings. Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hooks Elementary were some of the most deadly school shootings in U.S. history. There have been many violence prevention programs that have been established and used to prevent such acts. The most used prevention program is called the Zero Tolerance Program. Other programs have been used, but have they been successful programs? School issues and bullying are some issues with school violence, but some of these issues may come from the home. Some of the school shootings and other violent acts are not from a student of the school sometimes it is from someone from the outside. The Sandy Hooks School shooting the shooter was not a student. The school system is sometimes more worried about the students succeeding in life and not realizing that there is a problem with the student and that he/she may need some mental attention. The media is always right there when tragedy strikes. Are people trying to get the attention of the media when they a creating a horrific act? Many schools have implemented intervention and prevention programs, but are they working?
Khadaroo, Stacy Teicher. “Why Do Kids Kill? School Murders in Sparks, Danvers Revive Questions.” Christian Science Monitor. 25 Oct 2013: n.p. SIRS Issue Researcher. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the American educational system has undergone much transition in response to our changing society. Though there have been many problems raised throughout the years in regard to what our school systems should be teaching our children, there have also been many developments.
Even since the shooting at Columbine High School caught the attention of America and all the world on April 20, 1999, high school shootings and other forms of violence at schools has been plaguing America during the last ten years. It is also found that most of the violence that occurs in high schools is caused by young men. Students aren’t feeling safe at school anymore and parents are enraged that students could bring the weapons to school in the first place. Many people have brought their own opinions into play about why violence in schools occurs. Such causes range from violence in the media, being treated poorly by peers and administrators in school, all the way to poor parental decisions. Although these are only a few of the possible causes for violence in schools, they are defiantly the most prevalent reasons.
In recent years, tragedies have been visited upon schools across the country. From Kentucky to Oregon to Colorado, the notion of schools as safe havens has been shattered by the sound of gunfire. These acts are not limited to any geographic regions or family backgrounds, nor do they have a single catalyst. Those who have committed such heinous acts have done so for different reasons, at different times, in different schools. But these acts of school violence have at least one thing in common- they have spurred all of us to take a look at what can be done to better protect children and teachers at school. Protecting our children is not simply a matter of public policy. It is a matter of strengthening basic values, of teaching children right from wrong, of instilling in them respect for others. We each have a responsibility to work to end youth violence and to keep schools safe for children and for those who teach them. Youth violence in many schools has reached universal proportions. It is not only happening in our high schools, it has also made its way into our elementary and middle schools. Everyone seems to have a different perspective on why there is such a problem with school safety. Some say it is the parents’ fault, some say it is the media, and others blame the schools. Yet, the question still remains. What can be done to make schools safer for the children and staff? One thing we need to do is learn to listen to our children and observe their behavior. According ...
The issue of school safety has become a controversial topic in the United States, due to tragic acts of violence occurring on a daily basis. American citizens should never have to cope with the negative impact of school violence, no matter how often they hear about the tragedies (Jones, "Parents" 1). In the past, schools were viewed as a safe place for children to get an education. Recently, the concern over violence in schools has taken a toll on many parents, school administrators, and legislatures (Eckland 1). Studies have shown that there are over 3 million acts of violence in American public schools each year. Not all occurrences are serious and deadly, but they occur on a daily basis throughout our country (Jones, “School” 6). This has caused many parents to worry about the well-being of their children while they are in class. This has also led to an increase in questions and concerns by parents and guardians. Many people have asked, “What are you doing about safety and security on my child’s campus” (Schimke 2). School violence is the cause of elevated worry and fear for their children, and school districts should enforce better security.
Violence in American schools has triggered debates on the root cause of student’s anger and aggressive behavior and proposed proactive solutions.
Aggression has been linked to significant repercussions in academic and social functioning (Farmer et al., 2011); and studies on youth have concluded that physical aggression was a predicting factor which preceded risky behaviors which developed later on in the adolescents that were studied. Those dicey inclinations included early onset of sexual activity and tendency to unsafe sexual behaviors, as well as substance abuse that incorporated tobacco, alcohol and drugs (Deater-Decard, 2008). This is an indication of how important is to prevent and intervene before aggression can lead to other dangerous and risky behaviors. To Deater-Decard (2008) it is essential that we continue to understand and improve our capability to decrease aggression, and to minimize the impact on our society.