Violence at School: Will It Ever End?

The use of police in schools has been on the increase since the shootings at Columbine High school in 1999. However, over the last 10-12 years the increase is due mainly to available government funding. These “Special Police” are now called “School Resource Officers” (SROs). While the proponents of the SRO program believe that the presence of a Police officer represents all that is right and moral and what our children should aspire to be.

The School Resource officer program provides the use of trained full-time Police Officers who will work within the educational system. The objectives of the School Recourse Officer Program is to promote and assist schools in providing a safe learning environment which will also improve relationships between law enforcement and the youth of today. The program attempts to promote a better understanding of the Law Enforcement Officers' role in society while educating students, parents, school personnel, and the community on important issues such as gangs, violent crime, drugs, and other related topics. The program also provides a positive role model in the educational system. The Primary focus of this program is

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.

While researching School Resource officers or law enforcement officers in schools it has been discovered that the research is on the effectiveness of SRO’s is mixed or limited on keeping schools safe (Justice Policy Institute, 2011). There has also been research that was conducted in the last few years that concluded that the safety of schools can be improved without the help of SRO’s and or Law Enforcement’s approach on discipline (Justice Policy Institute, 2011). While reviewing the research of Dewey Correll at the University of Virginia , he suggested that when using highly structured and defined rules that are created to be strict and fairly enforced, while having the support of adults, SRO’s are not necessary

Schools around the nation are contracting polices officer to patrol their schools and students. Police officers are known as School Resource Officer’s (SRO’s) like if given them a different name would matter, instead of being resourceful they are up holding the law in harsh ways. There are many SRO’s in schools and this has led to high number of arrests and criminal charges, instead of keeping a safer environment for the children it is becoming a hunting ground (Schept, Wall, & Brisman). Before when a child did something wrong they were given detention, standards, a parent-meeting or maybe even sent to the office, but now the student are sent to the police officer in their schools. Once they are sent to her/him they are punish in such a different way where they can be expelled, suspense or even taken to jail.

Although these ideas are all effective in preventing an attack that hasn’t happened yet, there was no significant suggestion made that could truly stop an attack that was in progress. Kevin Leatherbarrow, a high school English teacher, said, “We’re sitting ducks,” “You don’t have a chance in hell. You’re dead – no ifs, ands, or buts.” Finally, the seed was planted; teachers should be armed in order to protect themselves and their students incase of an attack.

RQ #2: Does interaction with an SRO impact Graham ISD students’ and the communities’ sense of school safety?

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

According to Agnich (2010); Böckler, Seeger, Sitzer, & Heitmeyer (2013, p. 2) there has been an unprecedented trend in shootings, especially within the last decade. But, one of the most feared shooting tends to happen at schools where are children attended. These types of shootings put fears in teachers, education administrators, parents’ and students. Even though these incidents can happen

Each day in the United States, Americans send over 53 million children, approximately 20 percent of the population, off to school with little no issues (Safer Schools Ohio, nd). Keeping our children safe has become an immense undertaking for school districts. Many districts around the country have chosen to partner with local police agencies to provide school resource officers (SRO) in their schools. For many, the additional security is welcomed by parents, however, there are others that claim officers in the school leads to more arrest, suspensions, and the school-to-prison pipeline. This paper will discuss the history of the SRO program, the duties of the SRO, and the impact the SRO program has had on school

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

Every day students across the country wake up and go to school seeking an education. They learn basic skills and knowledge from classes such as English, math, biology, physics, photography and so many other classes that prepare students for adulthood. However, what is most alarming is that students have to cope with violence that is now occurring in schools. In the past, school violence involved bullying and mistreatment, but in recent decades weapons are now a part of the violence students encounter. Violence is a way for youth to gain authority over their peers. Additionally, violence in schools has promoted a national debate on gun control, bullying and plagued the overall learning experience in school environments. Not only do people need

Violence in our schools is an issue that has become more prominent in the last few years. News articles about violent deeds within the school setting are on the increase. Our society demands that schools are safe for our children. In order to maintain a peaceful environment for all, we must address and inform our schools, children, and parents as well as the neighboring communities about the issue of school violence. As David W. Johnson, the author of Reducing School Violence states, “To eliminate violence and resolve destructive conflicts, schools must first admit that such conflicts are out of control.” (Johnson 7) Schools in general must identify with these issues in order to deal with them.

     The most effective and most common method in dealing with violence in schools is conflict resolution.  It has been used in many different states and in several different formats to try to give the students, faculty, and parents an

Topic: School Violence General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To inform what needs to be done to stop school violence. Central Idea: To inform the effects, causes, and solutions of school violence. INTRODUCTION:      Since the April 20, 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado I have been looking deeper into the issue of school violence. The number of extremely violent crimes committed by students has been increasing in the last few years.