The Importance Of Mass Shootings

I believe that we should prevent shootings from happening in schools because schools are meant to be a safe education environment for students and faculty. There are many ways that school shootings can be prevented and the two most important ones are hiring more school security officers and having counselors help out troubled kids. Since 1980 till now, there have been many school shootings. Many innocent lives have been taken. Schools have become less safe.

There are a lot of other issues that go into why someone decides to commit a mass murder, and so often these reason go unexplored. School shootings may be able to be prevented completely but there are steps that can be taken to ensure that the chances of it happening are low. School shootings are rare but they are also tragic. Schools are supposed to be a safe environment for children to learn, but in some cases they become a nightmare. Most people that commit school shootings are young students who lost their way.

As crime rises in today’s world, this raises a concern if a student were ever find himself in a life threatening situation, would he even know how to properly defend himself? Schools should be looking for answers to discover ways to protect defenseless kids. An answer to this chaos would be to offer self-defense classes in schools, to give students the life learning lesson of protecting one’s self. However, this controversial topic is not accepted by every school board. Even though some school boards argue that schools who offer self-defense classes are ultimately encouraging violence, they are incorrect because these classes should be available in schools to offer students the ability to feel safe and to build self-discipline.

There should be a new approach when dealing with this situation and it needs to start with educating the community. The typical anti-violence measures most schools are now taking are increased security, police in the hallways, and zero tolerance. Increased security in schools is to believe to alleviate school violence because of the increase of shootings in schools by students possessing guns. Some high schools have adopted the idea of having metal detectors as students walk in to make sure they are not carrying any weapons. Additionally, police in the hallways is another anti-violence measure that some schools use when teachers and

Helping students become better kids (not doing violent things) does not only have to be done in school it can also be done outside of school, in synagogues, churches or programs in the local park. Family life, the things that occur in school and the neighborhoods that the teenagers live in are some of the Page #6 major causes of teen violence in school. If the families, the schools (faculty) and the neighborhoods help these violent teenagers then in the future there won’t be this problem anymore (or it will at least be reduced).

Imagine going to school and you cannot help but think about a stranger being able to walk right in through the doors with a weapon and start to attack the school. Nowadays that is the case with many schools. School safety is knowing that when you are at school there is no life threatening danger. The only thing that should be on your mind is what you have been doing in school, and what you will do. School safety has changed since schools first started, in the past mass school shootings were not as common as they are today.

There are many factors for the occurrence of school violence. The two most common factors are substance abuse, association with gangs, and guns. School laws try to prevent these factors from endangering the youths in the schools. Many school officials and citizens are convinced that the growing problems of student disruption and general lack of respect for authorities are attributable directly to an over emphasis on students’ rights. The increase in violence, drugs, and weapons in schools has directed our attention to the need to talk all reasonable steps to ensure a safe learning environment for students and teachers.

The director of the CSG Justice Center, Michael Thompson said, "Anyone who wants to make students feel safer in school, improve high school graduation rates, and close the achievement gap needs to have a plan to reduce the number of youth who are suspended from school.” (U.S News). Mr. Thompson made this statement with regards to the negative effects that “zero tolerance policies” is having on the public school system. The “zero tolerance policies” were originally a war against drugs, and other major issues that school’s faced in the early 80’s. Now, instead of creating a learning and welcoming atmosphere in schools, the enforcement of “zero tolerance policies” has increased the amounts of students who are suspended and expelled each year.

Through using these methods, hopefully we can start to stem the amount of, and types of violence that has been ruling the schoolyards these days. It is important to provide for these changes, so that the youth of today can become safer. There are many goals associated with fixing school violence, and they are often varied and different. The main goal of avoiding school violence is to preserve the well being of the students and staff members. The well being of students and staff is considered to be a very minimal amount of bodily harm or injury due to school violence.

Youth violence had once been thought to be an urban public school problem; a consequence of poverty and family dysfunction, but stable suburban and rural communities are now also experiencing it, as are private schools. While early intervention is absolutely necessary to help prevent violence, I believe all school operations and staff must be directly involved to effectively reduce the crime. There is sometimes a contradiction between school policies and practice. Many districts and schools have comprehensive regulations for dealing with violence, but enforcement may be uneven or lax. This creates a situation where teachers do not feel supported when they impose discipline, students do not feel protected, and the violence- prone think they will not be punished.