The Impact Of Community Violence On Children And Youth

Violence at school is defined as physical or verbal attacks on a person while on school grounds or on school property ("School Violence essays", 2017), or any activity that is able to create a disturbance in an educational system (Blanco, 2017). In today's societies, School violence is spreading dramatically, which has caused many problems among students, families and faculty of schools.

The somewhat recent event of Sandy Hook has been a major focus of debate among any serious discussion about school violence in America. Yet, just since Columbine, there has been over 100 school shootings, not including stabbing, rape, or even fist fights (in which there was serious injury or death). Despite this unprecedented level of aggression among our nation’s youth, the nation, in its entirety, has not dedicated an appropriate amount of time and energy to coming up with a solution. The bulk of the hard work needed in order to create a safer atmosphere for our children has been left to our teachers. Yet, the workload of a teacher, along with his/her inability to interfere in out-of-classroom affairs, would make him/her extremely inefficient in doing so. What exactly are these expectations? How many of these standards can a teacher feasibly meet?

Reports by the U.S. Department of Justice and Education point out that more than eighty percent of public elementary and secondary schools report experiencing at least one violent incident, ranging from physical fights and bullying to rape and assault with a weapon. Shooting rampages have occurred across the United States ranging

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

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

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.

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.

It is without a doubt that there has been an increase in violent crimes in schools throughout recent years. School shootings continue to become more and more common, especially in North America. Safety concerns for any and all students and staff in schools are at all all time high due to the high number of fatal and non-fatal occurring incidences. Since 2013 to the present, it is estimated that the United States has seen approximately 205 school shootings. Weekly, that is a shocking one shooting on average. Many of these shootings have resulted in the injuries and deaths of multiple of students and staff members. (Everytown Research, 2017) Evidently, school shootings are tragic events that affect so many more people than just the victims. However, these events are also interesting to look at from the psychological and sociological point of views. Through much research, it can be concluded that school shootings are a complex problem that are caused by a mix of improper brain development and societal and media influences which motivate school shooters to emerge. Psychological factors may include struggling with mental illnesses and/or abuse that leads to damaged brain development. Additionally, being bullied and/or the role of the media are examples of sociological factors.

Prothrow-Stith and Quaday (1995) look to identify risk factors associated with violence and ways to provide intervention strategies in helping overcome the unsafe environments they are exposed to. The identification of 4 factors helps promote support for students exposed to violence: (1) access to coping skill strategies; (2) participation in the coping skills; (3) development of self confidence and self esteem levels for cognitive capability; (4) contact with adults who share characteristics of caring and a strong individual who practices positive prosocial behaviors (Prothrow-Stith and Quaday (1995). Schools are place where the tools for helping children exposed to violence. Authors, Prothrow-Stith and Quaday 1995) state, “Schools are charged

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

It is important to define few key words under this subject of School Violence and the School System as a starting point. “The term school system generally refers to public schooling, not private schooling, and more commonly to kindergarten through high school programs” (Abbott, 2015). Schools are knowledge centers where people receive formal education; that is a form of learning “in which the knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through” teaching, training, or research (Abbott, 2015). School violence is any form of violent activities in the school premises. This situation does not affect students, it affects teachers and parents. Many schools

My college experience has given me many opportunities to make some incredible memories and the ones that have had the biggest impact on me are those where I am working with individuals with disabilities or troubled backgrounds. This journey has enriched my life and has provided me with some important life experiences that I plan to use to help become the best teacher that I can possibly be. It is always said that teachers make learning fun but what happens when outside circumstances have a negative impact on a student. The world is a very different place now than when I was growing up. I was fortunate to have to have the love and support of both parents as well as my brother and sister but that is not the case for many individuals. As a future educator I must be passionate about my teaching and demonstrate a love for learning while setting high expectations for all students. This is why I believe it is critical to understand the effect violence has on the emotional and behavior needs of a student’s learning ability. To be able to motivate students, a teacher must first understand and be supportive of a child’s needs and struggles. I believe childhood violence can have a direct and immediate impact on them and that it can be potentially overwhelming on the ability of a child to learn. Are children who are exposed to violence more likely to suffer from attachment problems, regressive behavior, anxiety, and depression? I have seen first-hand in my afterschool field

E., Rose, W. H., Homa, J., & Cunningham, A. B. (2001)). The second article researched school and violence by media coverage of isolated acts of violence committed by students for school property has increased concern about school violence. Reports documenting higher levels of school violence in the face of a general decline in crime rates, together with several high-profile cases, have resulted in a reactive preventive security response ((Thompkins, D. E. (2000)). Congress has passed several initiatives aimed at reducing levels of school violence. Gangs and gang activity within our nation 's schools are often linked to increased levels of school violence, but little explanation has been offered for this increase. Greater security measures have been taken by school administrations in response to the problem, and, while these may reduce levels of school violence in some communities, they can also help to perpetuate a culture of fear that has been created by intense media coverage of such violence. The third article that I found that studied school and violence would by explores gender violence in schools in what is commonly known as the ‘developing world’ through a review of recent research written in English. Violence in the school setting has only

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

According to Morrison (2002), finding solutions to the problem of bullying and other forms of school violence is not easy. VNS suggested that a service network including childcare facilities, counseling offices and resident collaborators should be established soon to protect children's rights more effectively in Vietnam (2011). Kelly suggested that teachers should encourage students to talk about violence (n.d.), he further state, “Be open to student conversations. Make yourself available and let students know that they can talk with you about their concerns and fears about school violence. Keeping these lines of communication open is essential to violence prevention” (n.d.). Teachers also can help prevent school violence by getting parents involved (Kelly n.d.). He firmly believes, “Just as with