Violence and Education; School Safety

Taken a drastic action against school shootings in every school in our nation might be difficult, but as a parent and legal practitioner; there are many options out there for us to follow if every organizations and agencies including our school’s authorities work together. In this respect the

School shootings are a common occurrence on daily news. Students shouldn’t terrify going to school with the mindset that a shooter will show up with intention of killing people. Ideally, students leave home for school to learn, and not worried someone will come in and shoot everyone. When I was younger I would go to the bathroom worried a shooter would enter my school leaving me alone in a life or death situation. School security improvement is extremely important because children should feel safe and never in danger. Also, schools need better ways of helping children feel safe when they come for six hours everyday. More could be done for students, not only as prevention from shootings occurring but from relieving young children of unnecessary anxiety.

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.

After the Sandy Hook, there were countless ways for students to be safe at school. In Preparing for the Unthinkable: School Safety after Sandy Hook news article, Vicki Bauman said, “ Instead of gates, guns, and metal detectors, let’s invest in the things we know will make us safer: counselors, health care, teaching positive behavior, and making sure we have services to reach out to disconnected youth and pull them back on track.” Therefore, violence is not the answer to any question or issue. The community and school system should take a stand and get the necessities that the schools need to have a safe environment for the students and faculty and staff. The school can invest in law enforcement. The law enforcement will be able to conduct a consistent search through a metal detector. The law enforcement will help the students to avoid bringing prohibited weapons to school as well as, there to protect the school.

Whereas the causes of school violence are mostly theoretical, the effects of mass school shootings are stark and terrible. In the past twenty years there have been many incidents, both small and large scale, of shooting in schools. Two of the most well known of these are the Columbine shooting in 1999 and the Sandy-Hook shooting in 2012. Twenty-six people were killed in the Sandy-Hook shooting and thirteen in the Columbine shooting (“School Safety Timeline.”). One boy described his experience at the Sandy-Hook shooting as, “I saw some of the bullets going past the hall that I was right next to, and then a teacher pulled me into her classroom” ("What Happened in Newtown”). It is hard to imagine the terror and life-long effects that such an incident would cause among children. These stories cause a fear in many students that makes it difficult to create an environment for learning. It is obvious that something must be done to protect children of all ages in public school.

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

If you recently picked up a newspaper or turned on to see the news you may have question what is happening in our schools and begin to think whether our schools are still safe places for children. Recent school shootings have set feared in many parents about their children's safety in our schools. Since last year number of school shootings by students have occurred regularly. On Tuesday February 29, 2000 in Mount Morris Township, Michigan a six-year old boy shot his classmate to death in their first grade classroom. Police reports show that the two youngsters had an argument the previous day. A single shot was fired inside the classroom at Buell Elementary School around 10 a.m. The young boy said he brought the gun to school to frighten

There were over 200 school shootings in America from 2013 to 2015 — an average of nearly one a week. In all, these incidents resulted in 59 deaths and 124 non-fatal gunshot injuries. A staggering statistic considering that protecting children at schools has been and will be one of the top priorities for all Americans. Americans disagree on many topics and have diverse social and economic beliefs , but we all agree on providing safe and secure learning environments for our students. Government officials and school administrators face substantial altercations balancing parents’ expectations on keeping the students safe, and understanding the best available solutions with limited funding. These

Violence in schools encompasses a number of different acts. Whether it’s physical or emotional bullying or even cyber-bullying; violence within schools is a major problem and it’s only increasing. However in a number of cases these may only be the beginning. Sometimes people take it a step further and actually bring a firearm into the school and start shooting it. Unfortunately school shootings have occurred throughout the country at an alarming rate. When someone shoots another (especially within the confines of a school) everyone is effected by this immense act of violence.

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.

Since the tragic incident at Sandy Hook Elementary where 26 people, 20 of them being six-seven years, lost their lives to an active shooter several state legislators have been introducing and passing laws that allow educators to carry weapons on school boundaries. Others are calling for a banned-on assault weapons and stricter background checks. U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer introduced several bills for school safety that included, use of surveillance equipment and secured entrances (Weiler and Armenta, (2014). Colorado voted to allow high school principals and superintendent to act as school security officers and in doing so allowed them to carry concealed. The author conducted this research with a survey, they sent it to over 40 principals, of those 40, 19 replied. There were seven questions included in the survey. The first question asked the principal to assess the safety level of their schools. They rated their school safety on a scale from five to 0, five being very safe. Fourteen of the principals assessed their schools at a four. On average, many the principals felt their schools were safe, didn’t worry incidents like Sandy Hook. However, weren’t confident their schools were ready if something like Sandy Hook happened to them. In conclusion, the authors believe the principals’ opinions are quite different than the

Columbine, Sandy Hook, and the UT Tower shooting are just a few examples of the terror parents, teachers, and students face today. More and more massacres and threats are affecting our schools on a daily basis. No one should fear to receive an education and certainly no parent should fear their child entering the doors of an elementary school. What can we do to prevent these tragedies from happening again? How can we strip the worry from the men, women and children involved in our educational systems at work today? The only options to putting an end to the untimely and unfair deaths of our teachers and students is tighter security, psych evaluations, and armed personnel. This means of security should not only be present in high schools or Jr. Highs, but should be present in all of our educational buildings, including colleges, elementary schools and child care centers. All of the places listed should be aware and willing to respond with any force necessary to protect their lives and the lives of others. More security cameras, attending at least one anti-bullying program per school year, teachers need training to psychologically assess a troubled student, and armed teachers should all play a role in defending and keeping our schools safe. This is not taking our freedom but protecting our right to live and learn.

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.

During the past decade, school safety has been at the forefront of many school districts safety polices and plans. With recent high profile school shootings, the question school districts continue to ask is how do we keep our schools safe? Administrators face heavy scrutiny when weighing approaches to school safety and student discipline. Likewise, school employees have the right to work in safe environments devoid of life-threatening behaviors (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). America’s founding fathers understood the importance of a public school education. They believed educating its citizens would allow them the opportunity to learn new skills while becoming successful and productive people in society. However, our founding fathers did not predict the severe behavior changes our schools face in educating disruptive and dangerous students. America’s school districts are charged with providing solutions for disruptive and dangerous students (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). School officials must address these issues with research-based interventions and collaborative resources that provide a safe learning environment for all stakeholders (Elliott and Mihalic, 2004; Schoenwald and Hoagwood, 2001). Boards of education continue to support school efforts to rethink best practices for disciplinary alternative middle schools (DAMS). Many school districts focus on research-based interventions and resources that manage aggression and