School Violence And Fueling Fear, By Aaron Kupchik

The issue of school safety has become a controversial topic in the United States, due to tragic acts of violence occurring on a daily basis. American citizens should never have to cope with the negative impact of school violence, no matter how often they hear about the tragedies (Jones, "Parents" 1). In the past, schools were viewed as a safe place for children to get an education. Recently, the concern over violence in schools has taken a toll on many parents, school administrators, and legislatures (Eckland 1). Studies have shown that there are over 3 million acts of violence in American public schools each year. Not all occurrences are serious and deadly, but they occur on a daily basis throughout our country

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.

School shootings have become well known around the world due to the coverage by the media. . These shootings are a serious concern and have parents constantly concerned about their child’s safety when they are at school and also have students thinking twice about any unusual or suspicious behavior. The media appears to play a large part in school shootings and it is important to analyze the deviant behaviors of the shooters in these horrific instances and the fear they create in schools. Does the media play a large part in school shootings or does the media play a large part in the sensationalism of school shootings and the fear they create both in schools and with parents?

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

Since the establishment of public education in the United States, schools have provided a sense of security and belonging to their students. Although sitting through lectures and doing homework may not be the most exciting thing in the world, students will always have a lunch to eat, a roof over their head, and a supportive teacher or counselor that they can talk to. Despite the “safe” environment and presence of authoritative figures on school campuses, trouble always finds a way to break out. Simple misbehaving and occasional fights are a common occurrence on most school campuses, however a new breed of troublesome and violent students has hatched. The

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

Even though the public education field is determined to end violence in schools, the continuing pressure of the negative effects of zero-tolerance policy engulfs students’ records undesirably. More than three decades have passed and zero-tolerance approaches in schools have failed. Whereas cases should be judged on an individual basis, zero-tolerance policy negatively affects the relationship of education with juvenile justice given that zero-tolerance policies do not accommodate adolescent development.

Which school has been targeted today? Should I help my child put on a bulletproof vest? Almost every day when we turn on the TV, there is a news about shooting. We are glued to the TV screen, feeling like living the extremely dangerous era. However, Barry Glassner, sociologist, claims that our sense of fear has been exaggerated intentionally, and we have remained enormously fearful for questionable dangers. Glassner’s book The Culture of Fear discloses that journalists, politicians and organizations handle our sense of fear to grab our attention and profit from our anxiety, giving actual cases. Glassner showcases crimes in the news that hid facts behind fictional things, that employed temporary crimes to avoid reporting existent crimes, and that were reported in the way

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

There is a shift in schools happening from using punitive punishment to using restorative practices. This is because, “The criminalization of certain kinds of misconduct in schools has created what is referred to as the “school-to-prison pipeline” or “school to- jailhouse track.” Common adolescent misbehavior is often handled as criminal behavior by the police rather than by schools through traditional disciplinary procedures. Research has shown that police are summoned to schools for behavior that is not necessarily criminal” (Ashley and Burke). Skiba states a truth in discipline mentality, “The message of zero tolerance is intuitively appealing. When disruption and disorder threaten

School violence is the act that threatens and alters the school environment with harmful consequences on students and educators’ wellbeing and impact students in a negative way (Reininghaus, Castro, & Frisancho, 2013). It is obvious now than ever that we lives in a world where the safety and security of individuals are in question, especially that of school students where safety against school shootings remain everyone’s major concern. The terror of Virginia Tech mass murder in 2007 and Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 traumatized the nation. As of the time when Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting took place, the massacre was considered the second-deadliest school shooting in the United States when Adam Lanza, a Twenty-year-old carried armory of hundreds of rounds of deadly ammo, that was enough to kill nearly every students in the school (Lee, 2013). Thus, the causes of this growing problem of school violence are: Bullying, psychiatric drugs and access to weapon.

Many have researched to see if zero tolerance policies actually work. When looking at these policies we have to recognize the tough decisions made by teachers and school administers when it comes to school violence, but it is important to recognize the gaps that exist within these policies that negatively affect students and their communities. It is true that these policies aim to protect against intra-school violence, but the truth is that these policies often work in major punishment for trivial offences (Skiba and Knesting 2001). The implementation of these policies has become civil rights issues for both sides of the political spectrum, organizations like the ACLU and the Rutherford Institute have both criticized the policies and have defended students who are being negatively affected by this era of discipline. Still, defenders of the policy believe this will still be the one cure all for the growing trend in violence across America. Even though it is a common belief about zero tolerance, it has been around for a couple of decades now and the evidence does not support the common belief. With the question of: do zero tolerance policies make schools safer? The answer is not necessarily. There is this common misconception that booting “problem” students benefit the school. But it has been tested that with the increase of zero tolerance discipline such as suspension and expulsion does

Over the past two decades the US schools have faced serious occurrences of violence. Accordingly, the prevention of school disruption and violence has evolved into an essential and crucial consideration. Beyond the avoidance of toxic violence, it is commonly agreed that on one hand teachers are not able to teach and on the other hand students are not able to learn in an educational institution portrayed by disturbance. A national survey conducted in 2004 declared that parents and educators of secondary and high schools had almost mutual view regarding the necessity of having adequate school discipline and student behavior in order to succeed (Public agenda, 2004). Certainly, schools as educational institutions have the right and responsibility to create an inclusive, effective, and safe learning climate. Nonetheless, there is a tremendous controversy regarding the approaches in keeping inclusive and safe school environment. Instead of traditional ways of dealing with misbehaviour on a case by case basis, analyzing the conditions of each situation, and the repercussions for the overall safety of the school environment, almost each school district in the USA now applies zero tolerance policy that extremely restrict discretion in particular cases, involve law authorities, and designate students from school (Skiba et.al, 2006). These policies generally require out-of-school suspension or expulsion on the first offense for a

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

Nearly 20 years after our nation's schools began using zero-tolerance discipline policies to curb violence, drug usage and threats of violence, reform efforts are now in the works. Recent data on the rates of suspensions and expulsions have lead school officials to the question: Are zero-tolerance policies are being overused? Today there are many school districts are trying new approaches, such as behavior counseling, which were strongly encouraged by the Obama administration. Advocates of these policies agree that some school districts have been overenthusiastic but say schools are much safer today largely because of said policies. Critics feel that the harsh discipline doesn’t always match the crime and that having armed security or School Resource Officer’s only feeds the so-called “School-to-Prison Pipeline”.