Be Aware of School Violence

Violence in school is a big problem, there should be no reason our kids should be scared to come to school; according to the CDC, kids grades K-12th are constantly at risk of potential violent outbreaks from gang memberships, hazing, peer pressure, and drug usage. Cyber-bullying  has been a popular cause with the rise of technology and social platforms in the past few years; usually the culprit to the war between social acceptance. Mostly teens resort to being included in gangs for a sense of being appreciated and belonging somewhere; or because social media pushes them to the edge to “be hard” and not care about school.

Celebrities are always flaunting drugs, sex, and crime with no consequence. We need to encourage more grounded behavior, more acceptance in a school environment where kids can learn ways to talk to their teachers and parents about what they are going through and healthy ways to tackle their issues.

It’s been recorded that 24% of students have been in physical fights or encounters on school property! And a recorded 7% of students did not even bother to appear on school campus in fear of their safety in class or on their way home. This is very upsetting; that a place of education and improving oneself for a better future and career have been morphed into this jail cell where everyone fears for themselves. A student should never be scared to get an education; in a 2001 poll it shows 75% of kids fear a school shooting can break out in their own community. Is that the type of environment we want the future of our world to be? As supervisors and parents, it is their duty to insure the safety and success for these kids, and the way schools attack this need to be improvised. It has gotten better over the years, but it could be better, especially in places like San Francisco and Detroit; where high schools our teeming with violence. A classroom should never; under any circumstance be a threat of shooting breakouts; that’s saddening and horrific. There has to be ways to prevent these catastrophic incidents by studying the habits of students and preventing potential violent intentions.

It’s often proven violence never tends to be spontaneous; their are always signs leading up to these actions; an underlying distaste against one another that someone may lash out like this. The lack of social acceptance or feeling left out can fuel a rage that will cloud someone’s mind and the lack of emotional management leaves them using their words, fists, and weapons, maybe guns. Students are often left vulnerable to being pushed to do things that aren’t good for them; they are out on the streets talking to gangs and buying drugs instead of taking that soccer ball out to the school field. Kids need to be encouraged to stay off the streets and participate in activities that not only help with your school education but helps you “belong” to a healthy group in school. Staying around school campus encourages good grades because they like to be there, they want to attend; and to attend you have to keep those numbers above waters.

But when kids act up, and that is inevitable; we have to have proven ways to successfully correct the student while still giving them a chance to stay in school. Before some schools adopted a “zero tolerance policy”; in attempt to decrease disobedience with the threat of strict consequences from minor infractions. This actually did the complete opposite and stirred more controversy between students and teachers; a sense of rebellion surging through schools. Schools would end up passing out suspensions and expulsions, electrifying dropout rates because of the lack of desire to jump over so many hurdles to stay. The zero tolerance also seemed to target some ethnicities more than others which is never acceptable. The school would seem as enemies to the students which is the opposite of what the goal was; so the school board overhauled the whole system. With a whole lot of trial and error it was found a looser consequence system with stern administration proved beneficial in keeping students interested and educationally invested willingly. Students felt comfortable with teachers to approach them and saw them as friends yet abided by their supervision; the schools who adopted this new method soared with positive rates compared to the zero tolerance policies. More kids were attending and more 3.0 GPAs were reported in school semesters.

In All Quiet On The Western Front we see mental illnesses were a serious issue, depression, anxiety, and anger clouding up the sense of consequence. Kids in school are put under so much stress and expectations from other peers, their mental health have been at risk. Teachers and guidance counselors should be invested in the well being of a student, not only to avoid incidents like shootings but to prevent self harm like suicide. Social displacement often makes kids feel unengaged in class with no desire to stay; resorting to drugs to help with their emotions. And when students reach out to drugs, problems start to evolve to another level. When a student is under the influence of drugs on school campus, not only are they putting themselves in danger but they are putting others in danger with their lack of common sense and consequence lashing out in violent actions without truly understanding their intentions; especially while being distracted with those feelings of rejection, stress, and dismemberment; they feel no mercy towards their students.

Like this paper stated before, violence in schools are still a big issue in cities like San Francisco and Detroit, but since 1999; violence rates have dropped significantly but the school board still has to reach out towards lost and confused students; and craft a safe environment for students in classrooms; a no judgement campus. Students should open up and talk about what they are going in order to take steps to tackle their issues and not run to violence and drugs to make their problems worse.

If you care about student safety, you would help to make safe place for students by encouraging them to say and do what they aspire and scorn drugs and gangs no matter how cool it may seem. Encourage students to stay in school and if they make a mistake, give a little wrist slap, not expulsion; do not take their education away in attempt to keep them.

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