Eric Harris

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.

Unfortunately, the notion of schools being a safe place is no longer a trend across American schools. Disturbing mass shootings in the U.S continue to shock the media. A school shooting is when someone attacks a school using a gun. The Secret Service says these shootings are "deliberately selected as the location for the attack". The reasons massacres occur in schools is because of poor security, violence in video games/media, and bullying. Shockingly the U.S. has the most school shootings than any other country in the world. According to the FBI, mass shootings occur, on average, every 2 weeks in the U.S. While the cause of school shootings are sometimes unpredictable, it is a growing issue and they need to be prevented. Most shooters don’t have mental issues, they have a plan to kill, so there is no singular cause that creates violent people. On April 16th, 2007, the most deadly school massacre occurred. Seung-Hui Cho killed thirty-two students at Virginia-Tech. As Americans, we no longer should turn on the news and witness these gruesome murders. We try to make sense of these murders, but it’s ineffectual. There are measures we can take as a society to help. The number one question in a school massacre is, "why would a person that has a capable sense of mind even do that?” It is our moral responsibility to fix these issues. In order to stop this problem, we need to find its roots.

The intention of this paper is to look at and present some issues and strategies that members of a school community think about when trying to create safer schools. Particularly when addressing an active shooter in a school setting. A major issue to consider when trying to keep all schools safe, is the simple fact that no two schools are the same. Understanding this can lead us to the conclusion that it is impossible to have one global plan or program that can be 100% effective in all schools. “Violence prevention programs work best when they incorporate multiple strategies and address the full range of possible acts of violence in schools. For any set of policies to work, it must be established and

School should be a place of peace and opportunity, but gaps in the system of gun control threatens the safety of faculty and students. School shootings have killed a total of 297 lives, young and old (Slate Magazine). Gun control has been a continuous nationwide debate for many years. It seems that no one wants to take a stance against guns unless they are personally affected. In order to take control of the matter and prevent more incidents from continuing schools need to change. To achieve a safe environment in schools need to educate faculty, safe and students, heighten security, and assess mental health issues.

"In October 1997, a 16-year old in Pearl, Mississippi, first killed his mother and then went to school and shot nine students, two fatally; in December 1997 a 14-year old went to his school in West Paducah, Kentucky, killed three students and wounded five others; in March last year, two boys, aged eleven and thirteen, killed four girls and a teacher outside their school in Jonesboro, Arkansas; the next month a science teacher was shot dead, allegedly by a 14-year old, at a school dance in Edinsboro, Pennsylvania; last May in Fayetteville, Tennessee, an 18-year old student allegedly shot dead a classmate in the school car park; two days later, in Springfield, Oregon, a 15-year old opened fire at his high school, killing two

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

We never thought that a day would come where parents would be weeping over their child’s death, and such little hands could hold such a weapon that determines if a person lives or not. School shootings are on the rise more than ever in today’s society. We imagine school to be a place where we make new friends, learn about our society and gain an education. We all picture a safe place where our future all begins. Lately we often ask ourselves why do high school shootings occur and what goes on behind the minds of these individuals. As an average American we often overlook things and say “that could never happen at my school, school shootings rarely happen”. Communities all over the county live in fear of school shootings. Instead, we should feel secure in sending our children to school and not be afraid of what happens at school five days a week, seven hours each day. American schools have now become a dangerous place and high school shootings have been occurring all over the county leading to more and more deaths each year. Due to the number of school shootings each year we often have to ask ourselves who are these shooters and why do these events occur?

School shootings have been happening all over the country for the past four decades, but it wasn’t until the 1990’s what the impact from experiencing a trauma of this magnitude can do both psychological and psychically started coming to light as well as creating more national attention for the arising problem in our nation. In 1998 in small town in Oregon, Kip Kinkel walked into Thurston High School killing four and wounded twenty-three students and in 1999 in Colorado at Columbine High School Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into school killing fifteen and wounded twenty-one, making it the worst school shooting of the decade. Fast forward to 2007 and we’re in Virginia at the small college campus of Virginia Tech, were Seung-Hui Cho opened fire killing thirty two and wounding many more while then in 2008 at Northern Illinois University Steven Kazmierczak walked into Cole Hall killing five and injuring twenty one.

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

I recommend including students, faculty, parents, and community representatives in the process of developing the school safety plan. The plan should be responsible for providing advice and making decisions about critically important cases of violence and crime, evaluating the state of school safety, and proposing revisions to the school discipline code and school safety plan as deemed necessary. A safety assessment should be conducted to determine the state of school order and safety. A survey of staff, parents, and students could help to determine their views and recommendations regarding school crime and violence. The survey data should be analyzed so the leadership team and community can address the issues. The school is gated off from the community and ringing a bell is required before the gate is

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.

Unfortunately, school shootings and threats have become more common throughout the past 18 years. One of the first major school shootings that brought attention to gun violence in America was the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. According to the U.S. History website state that two teens, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, went on a shooting spree throughout the school. After killing 12 students and one teacher, the boys then killed themselves. During the investigation on the boys motives, investigators came to the conclusion that most likely the shooting was connected to bullying because the boys were members of social outcast groups, and violence in video games. It is unfortunate that bullying may have been the cause of this awful event in history, but it is even more upsetting that school shootings like these, have happened again at an even worse

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

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

  Conflict and differences of opinion exist in every healthy organization. Americans need to try to take control of today's youth and the violence that is and has been developing in this country for many years.  Although violence will never be extinct, there are many different ways to reduce violence.  Each school and student population has different ways of dealing with and helping to curb the need for violence in schools.