School Violence

Introduction

Violence in schools is increasing at an alarming rate as more teenagers gain access to weapons. It is important to devise a plan which could reduce this violence and make schools safer for future generations.

Discussion

Facts about School Violence although fears concerning school violence have increased in the last several years, recent studies show that most children are safer in school than out of it. Fatal incidents of school violence remained relatively uncommon in 1999, with the odds of dying a violent death in school being one in two million. Additionally, most injuries that occurred at school were unintentional, not the result of violence. Although deaths from violence are rare in schools, there are some facilities that have a serious problem with violence, creating fear for the staff, students and their parents. This fear can prevent students from performing well academically since it increases the amount of stress they are under and in many cases increases truancy.

In the 1996-97 school years, more than half of all U.S. public schools reported experiencing at least one crime incident, and 1 in 10 reported at least one serious violent crime. Although fewer school-associated violent deaths have occurred in recent years, the total number of multiple victim homicide events has increased, from 2 events in 1992-93 to 5 events in 1997-98 (Austin, 25).

During 1999-2000 there was a decline in deadly violence and weapon use, however the proportion of students who were injured with a weapon at school remained as high in 2000 as it was during 1983-1993, when the epidemic of youth violence was at its peak. In 1997, the top three causes of injury in school were falls, sports-related injuries and assaults. In 1999, 14.2% of students nationwide had been in a physical fight on school property one or more times during the preceding 12 months. A survey in 1998 revealed that 10.6% of students reported that they had been bullied sometimes' or weekly', thirteen percent reported bullying other students, and 6.3% reported being both a perpetrator and a target of bullying (Erickson, 97).

The most frequent type of bullying these students experienced was insults concerning appearance or speech. Males reported bullying more than females, while girls were more likely to report being bullied with derogatory rumors or sexual remarks. Boys more commonly reported being slapped, hit, or pushed . In 1997, crime and violence was greater in middle and high schools than elementary schools. Students ages twelve to eighteen were victims of more than 2.7 million total crimes at school in the 1999-2000 school years, with students under age fourteen being more likely to be crime victims .

Criminologists predict an increase in crime because of the predicted increase in the teen-age population (Klug, 45). Anti-Bullying A report by the Secret Service and U.S Department of Education found anti-bullying programs are more likely to prevent school shootings than metal detectors, student profiles and police officers. The Interim Report on the Prevention of Targeted Violence in Schools found that in three-fourths of the cases studied, student ...