Community Violence : Schools And Teachers ' Challenges, Strategies And Support Needs

Violence in society is increasing dramatically and not only is it out in the streets, but it’s in the school systems as well. However, school violence has been becoming more and more of a problem all over the nation in the past several years. School violence needs to stop because no one should be afraid to go to school without feeling like it’ll be their last day.

A sudden increase of youth violence in public schools in early 1990 has caused many to raise concerns about violent behaviors in schools. In the past, the most common form of violence that took place in schools was bullying, physical fights, or

Through my teaching experience I have found that school violence encompasses many forms such as verbal harassment, non-verbal harassment, cyber-bullying, intimidation and any act that devalues a student’s self-worth. According to Detroit Public Schools, “it is the intention of the District to provide as safe and nonviolent learning environment for its employees, students, parents, and visitors as is possible. To this end, the District strives to maintain an environment free of threats, harassment, intimidation, physical and verbal abuse, and coercion” (Detroit Public Schools, 2009). The purpose of this policy is create a safe environment where students are free from any tape of harassment. The policy goes on to state it is the staff's responsibility to, “be educated and aware of potential signs and signals of violent or threatening behavior in students”(Detroit Public Schools, 2009). In other words, it is necessary for the school staff to remain vigilant of these signs and address them as soon as appear. Based off the nature of the action the school will follow a course of discipline suited to the accused

Schools are no longer a safe havens for furthering knowledge; instead violence is occurring at alarming rates. Common occurrences in schools include: physical altercations, severe property damage, and bullying behaviors. According to “ThefutureofChidren.org,” youth violence in schools costs the public 158 billion dollars each year. In this decade, that rate of children inflicting violence on other children and teachers is staggering. Today’s teachers are being trained on gun safety, school lobbies are being installed with bullet proof glass, and counselors hold

These principals were asked to list what they considered serious or moderate problems in their schools. The most frequently cited problems at all levels were the less violent behaviors such as tardiness (40%), absenteeism (25%), and physical conflicts between students (21%). The NCES report found that violent crimes occurred at an annual rate of only 53 per 100,000 students. The critical incidents that are typically the focus of school safety debates were reported to be at least "a moderate problem”: drug use (9%), gangs (5%), possession of weapons (2%), and physical abuse of teachers (2%). The continued use of this of this policy is mainly due to the perception of violence in schools continually being exacerbated by extended media coverage when isolated events of school violence occur according to Martinez

School violence can be prevented by parents, communities, teachers, and even classmates can help reduce violence and improve the overall school environment, Also, education and consequences must occur in the home by parents and educators to effectively help reduce school and youth violence. This strategy stands in contrast to use prevention strategies, such as metal detectors and other security measures to help determine benefits and evidence that may offer knowledge and experience in preventing school violence that can enhance approaches to end school

As violence in the community makes its way into the schools, it is pertinent that school administrators have a plan in place to help reduce and eliminate acts of violence within their classrooms (Lunenburg, 2011). Becoming proactive, rather than reactive, is crucial because according the to the National Crime Survey conducted in 2004, “the number of crimes committed at or near the 85,000 U. S. public schools was estimated at more than 3 million annually, with 185,580 people injured…on any given day, it was not uncommon for students to carry guns to school” (Lunenburg, 2011, p.

     Even since the shooting at Columbine High School caught the attention of America and all the world on April 20, 1999, high school shootings and other forms of violence at schools has been plaguing America during the last ten years. It is also found that most of the violence that occurs in high schools is caused by young men. Students aren’t feeling safe at school anymore and parents are enraged that students could bring the weapons to school in the first place. Many people have brought their own opinions into play about why violence in schools occurs. Such causes range from violence in the media, being treated poorly by peers and administrators in school, all the way to poor parental

In the past, the rise of school violence created a fear for state and federal legislation so they took strict action on creating policies to ensure security throughout public schools. “The 1980’s and 1990’s spawned fear and media reports of young people, often minorities, committing horrific crimes, wilding events, and gang violence” (Mallet). In contradiction, most shootings in the past occurred in “safe” school districts- white, suburban, and middle class areas

¨School violence refers to criminal acts committed at educational institutions such as elementary, middle, and high schools as well as colleges and universities” (¨School¨ 1). A recent school violence happened on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, at Sandy Hook Elementary School. On that day, “twenty-year-old Adam Lanza Adam was armed with a variety of weapons, including two handguns and an assault rifle (“Guns” 17). With those firearms, he killed his mother, six adult staff members, and twenty first-graders (17). When school violences such as Sandy

Students face many pressures and issues today. School violence is just one of the many things students are dealing with. School violence can affect their social, emotional, and mental health. Seaside District School has designed a competency based violence prevention program to be implemented in grades K-12. Prevention begins with awareness and education. Student disruption is a big problem within the classroom. We must monitor and reduce the risk behaviors that many students exhibit that put them at risk. It is out goal to provide a safe environment for optimum learning. Safe schools are created through the efforts of the whole community.

The violence prevention program followed a theory called Health Promotion Model for Childhood Violence Prevention and Exposure (Regan, 2009). The program was implemented at a charter school in Philadelphia. The program’s target population consisted of 9th and 10th graders who were enrolled in a health class. In addition, the program focused on four topics: gang violence, gun violence, dating violence, and anger and conflict management. Moreover, the program was implemented for three weeks and it consisted of presentations and interactive activities. In the first session, a 40-minute presentation was given which cover local and national statistics about gang violence and gun violence (Regan, 2009, p.30). Furthermore, there was an interactive

violence that occurs all over the world presents the support of how more teachers need

School violence has become of the most pressing educational problems in the United States. Gang violence and high profile shootings across the nation cause concern within schools. Communities struggle to understand why these events take place and how they can be prevented. The overwhelming response to solve the issue of violence in schools is the increasing societal pressure to execute zero tolerance. Zero tolerance is driven by the educational philosophy, policies, and practices of school communities. Stakeholders expect schools to be a safe place for staff and for students. Stakeholders assume that a positive classroom environment, safe students, and school enjoyment are conditions necessary to create a positive climate where learning takes place. This assumption can be backed with research. A calm classroom environment, teachers’ management of disruptive behavior, and students’ view of school safety are factors that have been found to directly correlate with student achievement in the classroom (Ma & Willms, 2004). Safety and a feeling of not being threatened during school hours have been found to be important to students’ achievement. Failure to remove a disruptive or an unruly student from school has been found to have a negative impact on achievement and creates a great risk to school staff and students (Garbarino et al., 1992). Teachers cannot teach and students cannot learn in an

Research Problem/Issue: Numerous studies examine the impact of community violence on children and youth; however, very little literature examines the influence it has on teachers teaching in urban schools (Maring & Koblinsky, 2013).