School Shootings Essay, Research Paper
Georgia, Colorado, Virginia, Oregon, Michigan, and Tennessee are the sites in which some of the most viscous school crimes have occurred. In this day and age it seems as if school isn’t a safe haven for America’s children anymore. School shootings are on the rise more than ever in today’s society with kids as young as 9 years old committing these gruesome crimes against their classmates and instructors. To see this type of action among kids is heartbreaking and sad. People wonder what makes a child want to kill another or how did they get their little hands on such a powerful weapon. Most of the young killers today find it very easy to gain access to guns and bomb making material via the Internet. By using the internet these kids can create fake identities in order to gain control of weapons and other materials they need to complete their missions of hate and murder. This report will discuss the warning signs and possible causes behind the recent actions of these young killers and expose their possible motives for wanting to commit such crimes at a young age.
Most people think that they know their kids so well that they would know if their child was capable of killing someone. The truth is that no one knows their children as well as they think. People don’t know what signs to look for when they have a troubled child living with them. On the next few pages is a watchlist for noticing signs of violence in your child.
Watch for Signs… Take Action
See also:
The Department of Education and the Department of Justice have also produced an early warning guide for spotting trouble in schools
Know signs that kids are troubled and know how to get them help. Look for such signs as:
· Lack of interest in school
· Absence of age-appropriate anger control skills
· Seeing self as always the victim
· Persistent disregard for or refusal to follow rules
· Cruelty to pets or other animals
· Artwork or writing that is bleak or violent or that depicts isolation or anger
· Talking constantly about weapons or violence
· Obsessions with things like violent games and TV shows
· Depression or mood swings
· Bringing a weapon (any weapon) to school
· History of bullying
· Misplaced or unwarranted jealousy
· Involvement with or interest in gangs
· Self-isolation from family and friends
· Talking about bringing weapons to school
The more of these signs you see, the greater the chance that the child needs help. If it’s your child and he or she won’t discuss these signs with you, see if a relative, a teacher, a counselor, a religious leader, a coach, or another adult can break the ice.
Get help right away. Talk with a counselor, mental health clinic, family doctor, a psychologist, religious leader, the school’s dean of students, or the office of student assistance. The faster you find help, the more likely the problem can be resolved.
Not your child? Recognizing these signs in any child should set off alarm bells for any community member. If you know a child well enough to notice these changes, constructively express concern to the parent(s), who may already be taking action and would welcome your support. If parents appear disinterested, speak to the child’s teacher or counselor.
12 Things Students Can Do
Help stop school violence with this starter list of ideas. Some require only individual action; some require concerted effort. Some address immediate issues; others address the problems that cause violence. Consider this list a launching pad — there’s lots more that can be done. Check the resource section for places to contact for more ideas and help in carrying them out.
Refuse to bring a weapon to school, refuse to carry a weapon for another, and refuse to keep silent about those who carry weapons.
Report any crime immediately to school authorities or police.
Report suspicious or worrisome behavior or talk by other students to a teacher or counselor at your school. You may save someone’s life.
Learn how to manage your own anger effectively. Find out ways to settle arguments by talking it out, working it out, or walking away rather than fighting.
Help others settle disputes peaceably. Start or join a peer mediation program, in which trained students help classmates find ways to settle arguments without fists or weapons.
Set up a teen court, in which youths serve as judge, prosecutor, jury, and defense counsel. Courts can hear cases, make findings, and impose sentences, or they may establish sentences in cases where teens plead guilty. Teens feel more involved and respected in this process than in an adult-run juvenile justice system.
Become a peer counselor, working with classmates who need support and help with problems.
Mentor a younger student. As a role model and friend, you can make it easier for a younger person to adjust to school and ask for help.
Start a school crime watch. Consider including a student patrol that helps keep an eye on corridors, parking lots, and groups, and a way for students to report concerns anonymously.
Ask each student activity or club to adopt an anti-violence theme. The newspaper could run how-to stories on violence prevention; the art club could illustrate costs of violence. Career clubs could investigate how violence affects their occupational goals. Sports teams could address ways to reduce violence that’s not part of the game plan.
Welcome new students and help them feel at home in your school. Introduce them to other students. Get to know at least one student unfamiliar to you each week.
Start (or sign up for) a “peace pledge” campaign, in which students promise to settle disagreements without violence, to reject weapons, and to work toward a safe campus for all. Try for 100% participation
School anti-violence policies and programs run the gamut from general educational improvement efforts to interventions that target specific types of illegal or anti- social behavior. The most effective are directed by a clearly-defined administrative entity, and have line-item budgetary status. They involve parents in a variety of roles and, as appropriate, also draw on community leaders and resources. Initiatives are directed at both preventing violence and at punishing and rehabilitating perpetrators. Their goal is to create a safe school community that believes in and practices nonviolence in resolving differences.
Overall School Improvement
In recognition of the fact that student misbehavior (and even gang membership) can be a reaction to ineffective schooling and to feelings of frustration and failure, some districts are restructuring schools to increase student engagement, attendance, and performance. Indeed, school reform programs around the country, especially those requiring strong family involvement, report increased attendance and student satisfaction. Many schools that cannot totally restructure still strive to better meet the education needs of students through more accurate identification of learning disabilities and personal attention. A related reform is downsizing schools, since it has been widely documented that smaller schools have fewer disruptions and incidences of violence.
Schools can also reduce violence by promoting mutual respect among all members of their community, student self-respect, and appreciation for diversity. They demonstrate respect for students through availability of good facilities and resources, such as up-to-date textbooks, laboratories, and computer equipment. It is also believed that the appearance of a school adds to the perception of safety, and that a well cared for school is less susceptible to vandalism and violence. Unfortunately, schools in urban areas, where violence can be a particular problem, are among the most overcrowded and poorly equipped and maintained.
School Safety Policies
Institutionalization of a code of conduct demonstrates a commitment to violence prevention and helps staff and students feel safe. The code should clearly explain school rules and punishments for infractions. A cornerstone of all policies is the Federally-mandated “zero tolerance for guns” provision. Some schools also institute zero tolerance provisions for other types of offenses, such as assaulting a teacher, so that violent students can be removed from regular classrooms. Because some disruptive students might welcome expulsion, many policies assert that the school response to certain specified acts will be legal prosecution.
Dress regulations, particularly those forbidding clothing associated with gang membership, are increasingly popular. Requiring uniforms is thought to increase students’ commitment to school goals and to reduce theft of expensive clothing and jewelry.
Policies can be created at three levels: district, school, and classroom. Since there are different concerns at each one, it is reasonable for students to be governed by several complementary policies. Collaborative development by administrators, teachers, parents, and even students, with a review for legal compliance, helps ensure that a policy will be respected and enforced. Periodically reviewing a policy for appropriateness, effectiveness, and completeness maintains its usefulness over time. Copies are given to administrators, teachers, parents, and students. Students may also have the rules explained to them in assembly or a classroom to be sure they understand the purpose of the rules, the parameters of acceptable behavior, and the consequences of infractions.
Prevention Strategies
School Security. The most common school security measure is the monitoring of students when they move through the hallways and in places where they congregate, such as restrooms and the cafeteria. School staff members have traditionally served as monitors, but increasingly schools are hiring security guards to patrol the building and to provide security at events. In the most violence-prone areas schools may form partnerships with the police to visit periodically or even to patrol the halls regularly. However, some educators believe that a police presence has a negative impact on teaching and learning and that the need for them is an indication of administrative failure. Others welcome police support but provide special training for dealing with students in a school environment. Probation officers with on- site offices can provide help to students who have already engaged in illegal behavior.
Some schools use parents as monitors and teachers’ aides. Doing this is inexpensive and can be an effective deterrent, since students may be more reluctant to behave badly when watched by someone they regularly see in the neighborhood. Further, involving parents gives them a sense of ownership of anti-violence efforts and may help them reconsider their own attitudes about violence.
To keep students from bringing in weapons some schools use metal detectors and others administer systematic or random searches of students’ bodies, possessions, and lockers. Since there is a strong relationship between student violence and use and sale of drugs, administrators make special efforts to keep schools drug-free, through both education campaigns and searching. The courts have been divided about the constitutionality of searches for either weapons or drugs, however, and some methods, such as use of drug-sniffing dogs, are being challenged legally.
Teacher Involvement. To dispel fears and help teachers feel supported, meetings about violence issues are held regularly, possibly as a component of general staff meetings. Administrators provide accurate information about violent occurrences and responses to them, involve faculty members in prevention efforts, and listen to their concerns. Also, teachers’ input can be invaluable, since it is common for them to have information about the threat of violence (and, also, gang activities) before administrators do, and to have suggestions for how to deal with it based on personal knowledge of the students. Teachers can also meet in groups to discuss ways to establish and maintain control of their classroom and a climate conducive to learning, and to brainstorm strategies for working with disruptive students.
Training in violence prevention-for ancillary staff such as school bus drivers, as well as teachers-can both make the school safer and help staff feel more secure. Programs can include development of the ability to identify students at risk of anti-social behavior for preventive intervention, to identify and diffuse potential violence, and to deal safely with violence should it erupt. Some staff training covers the same issues that comprise training for students, such as conflict resolution, and it can be effective for staff to participate along with students.
Since at-risk students respond positively to personal attention, teachers can help youth resist violent impulses and the lure of drugs and gangs by offering them extra help with their schoolwork, referrals, informal counseling, or even just a sympathetic ear.
Sources
http://www.uncg.edu/edu/ericcass/violence/docs/victim.htm October 1995 Refer to publication number: NCES 95-204
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/violence/98030017.html
By looking for these changes according to the watchlist a parent might be able to notice the signs of violent behavior in their child and possibly stop something terrible before it happens so the world doesn’t have to see another tragedy.
What exactly causes these kids to think that murder is the answer?
Every expert in every category of any subject has his or her own reasons for why young kids commit these crimes. Most of the kids involved in this type of situation has been barred, banned, or excluded from a certain group of people. The same kids are also often laughed at, picked on, or talked about. When this happens these teens and pre-teens often think of revenge as a way of stopping the ridicule from their peers. This often means that the quickest solution is the best solution. Most of these children look for a way of placing more pain upon those that laugh at them. They look for a way to inflict more pain on others as a way of getting them to understand how their words hurt. In most of these cases murder is the best way stop the laughter, jokes, snickering, and fingerpointing.
We as a society need to take action against this type of behavior. If we work with our children and play an active role in their life then maybe the violence can stop. Parent should set a positive example for their kids in the hopes that they won’t commit any of these crimes. Most children get their behavior from watching their parents’ behavior. In most cases violent parents produce violent kids. In other cases parents who refuse to see the violence in their child is also allowing that child be violent.
Figure 1. –Sixth- through twelfth-graders’ reports of the occurrence, witnessing, worry about, or victimization, by selected incidents: 1993.
_____________________________________________________________________________
PERCENT OF STUDENTS | Occurred | Witnessed | Worried | Happened
ON A SCALE OF 0 | | | about | to student
TO 100 |__________|___________|____________|____________
| | | |
Bullying, Physical Attack, | | | |
or Robbery | 71% | 56% | 25% | 12%
| | | |
Bullying | 56% | 42% | 18% | 8%
| | | |
Physical Attack | 43% | 33% | 10% | 4%
| | | |
Robbery | 12% | 6% | 6% | 4%
____________________________|__________|___________|____________|_____________
* Students who reported more than one type of incident are included in the overall victimization percentages only one time.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Household Education Survey, 1993.
Table 1.– Percentage of students reporting the occurrence of, witness of, worry about, or victimization through robbery, bullying, or physical attack at school, 1 by school and family characteristics: 1993
______________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Number of | Crime or threats at school
| students |____________________________________________
Characteristics | in grades | Has | Has | Worried | Happened
| 6 through | occurred | witnessed| about | to him
| 12 | | | | or her
| |__________|__________|__________|____________
|(thousands)| % | s.e.| % | s.e.| % | s.e.| % | s.e.
______________________|___________|____|_____|____|_____|__ _|_____|____|_______
| | | | | | | | |
Total . . . . . . . | 24,060 | 71 | 2.0 | 56 | 2.2 | 25 | 1.2 | 12 | 0.7
| | | | | | | | |
School grade level 2 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Elementary school | 2,663 | 60 | 5.7 | 47 | 4.8 | 29 | 3.3 | 13 | 2.0
Middle or junior | | | | | | | | |
high school | 7,418 | 77 | 3.0 | 60 | 2.5 | 34 | 1.8 | 17 | 1.1
Senior high school | 11,539 | 71 | 1.1 | 58 | 1.3 | 20 | 0.8 | 8 | 0.6
Combined | 2,440 | 60 | 7.1 | 45 | 5.6 | 19 | 2.9 | 11 | 1.7
| | | | | | | | |
School type 3 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
Public, assigned | 19,507 | 73 | 1.8 | 58 | 2.0 | 26 | 1.1 | 12 | 0.8
Public, chosen | 2,683 | 71 | 7.2 | 54 | 6.1 | 27 | 3.1 | 10 | 1.7
Private | 1,870 | 45 | 2.9 | 32 | 2.3 | 13 | 1.6 | 7 | 1.1
| | | | | | | | |
School Size 4 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |