Radell Oliver
Comp & Research 101
Dr. Lopez
Violence In schools
School is a place where students go to learn. Each student should have the opportunity to develop the skills of problem solving in a nonviolent manner. Educators should have in mind the students culture. Instead of labeling them as trouble-makers, give them a chance to learn how to cope, and deal with problems by teaching them the steps to take. There has to be some consistent ways of solving these problems. Not with the punishments approaches that some school takes, but by solving practices and the implementation of respect, fairness, and discipline. In recent years, we have heard a lot about school shootings and youth violence. But we still do not know what drives school children to commit violent acts. Many people blame movies that seem to glorify violence, like “Natural Born Killers,” or video-games that treat violent action like fun, such as the Grand Theft Auto Series.
I do not believe, however, that these representations of violence are the main cause of the apparent escalation in youth violence in recent years. The main reasons that teen violence has escalated, in fact, are increased pressure on school children, the abuse of recreational drugs by teenagers, and the increased accessibility of guns. Teen violence also can be cause by emotional stress and environmental stress that students have upon them within the household or in a public environment around their peers.
School violence is widely acknowledges as a serious public health issue (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2012) indicates that close to 12 percent of high school students were involved in a physical fight at school in 2011, and 5-7 percent of students either brought a weapon to school or they were threatened by another student carrying a weapon. In the 2009-2010 academic year there were 11 fatalities in schools, over half of which involved firearms (National School Safety and Security Services, 2012)
Punishment approaches by the school to solve violence are not the correct ones. They blame the violent student, but rarely do anything to solve the problem, or prevent further harm. The uses of these punishments are not successful because they do not solve these issues from the root of the problems. Schools need to resolve the problems before they escalate. If they deal with the source where violence is coming from, and address the problem early and consistently then school would be stronger and safer. Educational systems use surveillance to punish the student, however, if they are replaced with the base for education, and the restoration of a healthy community then the amount of violence would be minimal. Most teenagers today, who have to deal with many social issues, are experiencing a lot of pressure from school. This pressure puts a great strain on many teens. Naturally, some will experience a greater strain that others. If any of those who do feel the pressure of school life as a significant burden also have a naturally tendency to be violent, then the consequences can be serious. This is especially so when you consider the apparent ease with which teenagers can access weapons.
In a 2011 nationally representative sample of youth in grades 9-12 12% reported being in a physical fight on school property in the 12 months before the survey (Robers S, Zhang J, Truman J, Synder TD). 5.9% reported that they did not go to school on one or more days in the 30 days before the survey because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school(Robers S, Zhang J, Truman J, Synder TD). 5.4% reported carrying a weapon on school property on one or more days in the 30 days before the survey (Robers S, Zhang J, Truman J, Synder TD) 7.4% reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property one or more times in the 12 months before the survey. 20% reported being bullied on school property and 16% reported