FREE ESSAY ON PREVENTING SCHOOL VIOLENCE

PREVENTING SCHOOL VIOLENCE

The number of extremely violent crimes occurring in schools has been increasing over the
last three years. Incidents that deal with school violence occur 16,000 per school day,
which is equivalent to once every six seconds (Kipnis 11). School violence has been
around since the1950's, but back then it was more an issue of juvenile delinquency than
violent behavior (Baker 3). Crime in and around schools is threatening the well being of
students, as well as the staff and surrounding communities. When looking at the urgent
problem of school violence one must take into account several factors including the
characteristics of the offender, the causes for the violence occurring, and the solution
techniques.
To act out violence, in school, against each other, is the common definition for school
violence (Gerson 15). The characteristics of the offender play a great role in being able
to prevent school violence. Parenting failure has been found to be the number one cause
for the violence occurring in schools (Futrell 2). When students were polled in 2000,
seventy-one percent stated that there was a lack of parental supervision in their homes
(Futrell 5). Sixty-six percent of those polled also stated that there was little if any
family involvement in their school activities (Futrell 5). Students who have been abused,
neglected and/or received little support from a caring adult are extremely likely to show
their frustrations with violence (Kipnis 2). The home life problems of students
definitely contribute to school violence. Currently, fifty-seven percent of children
under the age of ten have two working parents or a single parent, and more than ten
million students return to empty homes everyday (Kipnis 19). 
Another factor that contributes to school violence is peer pressure (Volkoh 4).
Thirty-four percent of students believed that school violence occurs because of peer
pressure (Futrell 9). Peers of violent offenders believe that the offenders take place in
the violent incidents to fit into a crowd and do not think about the repercussions (Baker
33). Peer pressure is the fastest growing factor contributing to school violence (Gerson
46). 
Another factor that has been found to contributing to violence occurring in schools is
drugs and alcohol. When investigated, prevention groups found no variation in the
convenience for students to access drugs and alcohol (Kipnis 73). Students with different
family incomes, location, and different ethnic backgrounds had the same access (Kipnis
74). In the last two years the consumption of alcohol during a school violence incident
has increased thirty-nine percent (Futrell 6). 
Society believes that violence occurs only in bad neighborhoods; this is false (Gerson
39). School violence has been found in all neighborhoods. In rural neighborhoods, school
violence occurs ten percent of the time, occurs thirty percent in suburban schools, and
occurs sixty percent in urban schools (Kipnis 69). Violence is also occurring at all
school levels. It has been found that thirty percent of the violence occurs in elementary
schools and seventy percent of the time occurs in secondary schools (Kipnis 70). School
violence has also been found to occur more in males than females. Males are the victims
of school violence eighty-three percent of the time and are the offenders ninety-four
percent (Kipnis 4).
With violence in schools rising, teachers and parents need to know what to look for in a
violent offender. It has been shown that many violent offenders have the same
characteristics and give many warning signs, but they go unnoticed (Baker 41).
Characteristics that teachers and parents should look for in children are persistent
disregard for or refusal to follow rules, lack of interest in school, absence of
age-appropriate anger control skills, depression or mood swings, artwork or writing that
is bleak or violent or that depicts isolation or anger, and self-isolation from family
and friends (Futrell 5). 
School violence is also taking place with different types of weapons. Since 1997, an
increase in guns being used to carry out violent acts in schools has increased three
percent (Volokh 14). In 2000, it was shown that in violent acts in school, knives or
razors were used fifty-five percent of the time, clubs or baseball bats twenty-five
percent of the time, and firearms twenty percent of the time (Volkoh 11). Inner-city
school students report carrying a weapon in school twenty-five percent of the time, and
forty-four percent reported carrying weapons out of school (Gerson 21). Weapons being
brought to school have become a real concern for school administrator's and parents. 
Many schools have placed police officers full time on school grounds. The full-time
presence of law officials, while rare at elementary schools (one percent), was found in
ten percent of middle schools and nineteen percent of high schools (Volkoh 6). It was
also reported in thirty-nine percent of large schools with 1,000 or more students, in
thirteen percent of city schools and schools with fifty percent or more minority
enrollment, in fifteen percent of schools in which principals felt there were some
serious discipline issues, and in twenty three percent of schools in which at least one
serious crime was reported in 1996-97 (Futrell 3). With all the school violence going on
in the United States little has been done to prevent it from occurring. 
Researchers began to take a hard look into school violence once the Columbine shooting
took place on March 20, 1999 (Kipnis 38). Since the Columbine shooting, school boards
have been addressing the problem of school violence through multiple approaches:
education; prevention; and intervention of both the staff and students (Kipnis 94). 
Early intervention is believed to be the best approach to preventing school violence
(Kipnis 16). Early intervention is applied through counseling and mentoring programs
placed within each school for students and teachers who believe they or other students
are having a problem (Kipnis 22). Mandatory safety programs have also been placed in
schools that are implementing the early intervention programs (Kipnis 27). Safety
programs allow students and teachers the opportunity to be taught how to deal with
violence if it occurs. This allows the students and teachers to feel a little at ease
that, if something were to occur, they would be prepared.
Another suggestion that school boards and researchers have recommended for schools to
prevent school violence is discipline codes (Futrell 13). These discipline codes should
be determined by each school system. They should also be clearly defined to all the
parents, students, and teachers each year. Principals in each school also need to look at
the discipline codes as a positive influence and not negative. They should also encourage
to students to look at them the same way. A final suggestion that has been given to
schools is that the discipline codes should be enforced firmly, fairly, and consistently
(Futrell 6).
An additional approach many school systems have implemented is staff training (Futrell
10). Of teachers polled in 2000, fifty-two percent, stated that they interacted more with
their students did then with the students' families (Futrell 8). Many teachers also said
that they could see violent features in students starting as early as pre-kindergarten
and also see that nothing is done about these students (Kipnis 77). Staff training at
schools should include strategies to work with families outside of school and work with
the surrounding communities. 
One final approach that administrators and parents need to take in order to prevent
violence from occurring within schools is to try and reduce the stress of students (Baker
61). It has been shown that fourteen percent of students that had committed violent acts
on school grounds had very high levels of stress (Baker 83). A way in which schools can
implement this suggestion would be that all students go though a required evaluation with
a psychologist on a monthly basis (Gerson 165). This would allow the school
administrators to take a closer look into their children's minds and be able to prevent
problems that arise from the stress of the children. This could lead to a decrease in
violent acts performed on school grounds.
Students and teachers are feeling increasingly unsafe in school. Teachers polled in the
Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teachers showed that one out of every six
teachers had become a victim to an act of school violence (Kipnis 22). In 1997,
Children's Institute International Poll of American Adolescents surveyed students, and
forty-seven percent thought their schools were becoming more violent (Volkoh 6). Ten
percent of these students were also in fear of being hurt or shot by other classmates
(Volkoh 7). Twenty percent of students polled were also afraid to go to restrooms because
the restrooms were unsupervised and were the target spots for many violent acts (National
Center for Educational Statistics, 1998). Many schools have taken steps to allow the
children and teachers to feel at ease while they are at school. Some steps many schools
have chosen to put into place are random locker checks, video cameras, and metal
detectors near the front entrance (Futrell 8).
Studies have shown that in order for school violence to be prevented all of the
intervention programs mentioned above need to be in place (Baker 98). One school should
not just implement one of the suggestions. William Modzeleski of the U.S. Department of
Education once said, There is no one program, no silver bullet, so that you can get one
program up and say, Here it is if you put this program in your school, you are going to
resolve violence.(Kipnis 30) On April 15, 2000, President Clinton granted the public
school systems in the United States $41 million in grants, which went to twenty-three
communities to make schools safer and to prevent violence occurring with in schools
(Futrell 11).
School violence has increased forty-three percent in the last three years (Volkoh 12).
Sixty-two percent of students and thirty-eight percent of teachers are in fear of
becoming victims to the new trend of school violence (Kipnis 106). Violent behavior
taking place within the school systems does not just affect the victims; it affects all
the students and staff. Acts of violence carried out during school affects the student's
ability to concentrate on their academics. Something needs to be done so students and
teachers can get back to the real reasons for school; the academics. Violence in our
schools—whether it involves threats, fistfights, knives, or firearms—is
unjustifiable and unendurable.
Bibliography
Baker, Falcon. Saving Our Kids from Delinquency, Drugs, and Despair: Solution through
Prevention. New York: Cornelia & Michael Bessie Books, 1991.
Futrell, Mary Hatwood, Powell, Lee Etta. "Preventing School Violence." September 1998.
Columbia University. 
Gerson, Mark. In the Classroom: Dispatches from an Inner-City School the Works. New York:
The Free Press, 1997
Kipnis, Aaron PhD. Angry Young Men. New York: Penguin. 1999
Volokh, Alexander, Snell Lisa. "School Violence Prevention: Strategies to Keep Schools
Safe." January 1998. Reason Public Policy Institute.