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VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
Term Paper ID:26667
Essay Subject:
Causes & effects, statistics, types, weapons, gangs, race, media, politics, possible solutions, focusing on high schools.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Causes & effects, statistics, types, weapons, gangs, race, media, politics, possible solutions, focusing on high schools.
Paper Introduction:
Violence in American High Schools
Introduction
The more publicly visible and horrifying acts of violence in American high schools, and junior high schools, this past year have just been the tip of the iceberg. Violence in American schools has increased dramatically - often associated with youth gang activity. In looking at some recent figures for the school year 1996-1997, there were 4,000 cases of rape and sexual assault reported. There were also over 11,000 cases of physical assault reported, including assaults with weapons. This seems to be correlated, to some extent, with an increase in youth gang violence which has more than doubled during the past two decades (Owens, 1999).
Violence i
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Children today often have few chores or otheractivities, but a great deal of leisure time. Scitovsky, T. When violence came to our rural school.Educational Leadership, 54(1), 77-81. Even more fundamentally, however,he noted that the most important thing in the middle of a crisis is to takeaction, rather than dither and philosophize (Litke, 1996). Antiviolence education in high schools. Since there are different forms and levels of violence, it is likelythat different approaches will be needed to deal with them. Youth gang membership had increased to 65 , young people by 1995, with gangs located in over 2, separate cities(Jackson, 1999). Zero-tolerancepolicies - if linked to alternative school programs - also have promise fordealing with troubled students, while improving the atmosphere for themajority of their peers. There islittle indication of looking to the research, or creating new research, onreasons for the explosion of violence. Everyone already believes that theyknow the reasons, depending upon their standpoint.Consequences What are the consequences of this kind of political posturing? Litke'semphasis on a multifaceted, action approach seems useful. Another tack that has been taken by a large group of people is theneed for education about conflict resolution, or training in non-violencein high school. Obviouslyrivalries between gangs, and between different school factions, impact thepublic schools and place both students and staff members in increasingdanger.Causes Almost everyone has an opinion about the causes of increased violence,from those who believe it is violent video games to those who contend thatit is the result of not having prayer in the schools. In some respects, thisexplanation sounds like the old saying "Idle hands make the devil's work".That does not mean it is inaccurate, however. It involves both young men and youngwomen, although young men are more often associated with extreme violence.Again, much of this is related to youth gang activity, or to the activityof young gang wannabes. For conservatives, that includes support of theChristian church, the Ten Commandments, and access to guns. Eugene,OR: University of Oregon. This might be a good recommendation for the Congress, althoughunlikely to be heeded. What has seemed to have some effect is the determination by schools totake a zero-tolerance approach toward violence. (1998) provideda knowledge-based intervention to approximately 35 students in the 11thgrade studying this. For liberals, thatinvolves gun control. For themost part, however, the emphasis has been on lessening access of youngpeople to guns and other kinds of dangerous weapons. This seems tobe correlated, to some extent, with an increase in youth gang violencewhich has more than doubled during the past two decades (Owens, 1999). In looking atsome recent figures for the school year 1996-1997, there were 4, casesof rape and sexual assault reported. Latham, S. The Task Force also recommended that schoolswork more closely with mental health professionals to identify and treatchildren before they become violent. Edwards, C., Lehrer, E. Insight on the News, 15(23), 6. However, EPA and other officials indicated noreasonable link between the contaminants and the behavior (Edwards et al.,1999). Yet, Congressresponded to the Columbine High School massacre by eliminating all new gun-control proposals - despite wide-scale public support for some measures.Instead of passing new gun-control legislation, the House chose to respondto the problem by passing a law giving states the right to post the TenCommandments on public property (Garrett, 1999). One of the more unusual suggestions, although an interesting one, isthat school violence is caused by boredom. (1999). Jackson, L. (1999). Journal of InterpersonalViolence, 13(6), 726-742. Certainly when high percentages of teens report sufferingfrom either physical or sexual assault, or both, there are likely to belong-term effects (Hilton et al., 1998). For example, he indicated that it was important to be both proactive andmultifaceted in dealing with student violence. This makes them satisfying and relieveschildren's boredom. There were also over 11, cases ofphysical assault reported, including assaults with weapons. Scitovsky (1999) suggested thatmany young people are bored from lack of sufficiently challenging physicalor mental activity. Gaustad, J. Inthe short term, that might mean more security, including metal detectors.In the long-term, it would seem to require a more compassionate interest inAmerican youth that does not serve simply as a platform for politicking. For example, Brown (1999) noted that racial hatred needs to beconsidered as a primary cause of many outbreaks of violence in highschools. Some of the more common explanations, however, have focused onproblems of gun availability, media violence, and increased hatred andincivility. They used measures studying knowledge gained andattitudes toward certain behaviors and peers. Interestingly enough, there are those who contend thatschool violence could be lessened by arming teachers, ensuring that theycould control, or deal with, any violent students in that way. And Lavigne, S.E.(1998). Violence in American schools has increaseddramatically - often associated with youth gang activity. Let us look atseveral of these. As for the consequences of the current level of violence in highschools, and associated with high schools activities, the damage isincalculable. Bibliography Brown, C.S. The media has tended to avoid looking at theconnection of racial hatred and violent behavior, and certainly has notimplied that violence is connected with being Caucasian (although some havenoted that the most egregious incidents are connected with males, not withyoung girls). These leaders favoredintimidation and bullying, while showing little respect for rules. The House fires blanks. However, positive effects werenot limited to victims. Boredom - an overlooked disease? In response, the Task Force proposed that the State Board ofRegents in New York develop a special curriculum in civility, citizenship,and character which would be required and would be taught to studentsbeginning with kindergarten. Gang activity and gang violence has extended onto school grounds, withactivities including harassment, drug-dealing, fighting, intimidation,violence toward teachers, vandalism, assault, and recruitment of youngerchildren to be involved in gang activity (Gaustad, 199 ). The easy availability of weapons of all sorts has certainly beenblamed many times. Another unique explanation that was dismissed by professionals wasthat toxic waste led to the actions of the boys at Columbine High. Challenge,42(5), 5-15. The author indicated that itwas probably the basic community support that made a difference and he hadseveral recommendations for schools dealing with similar violence problems. Owens, B. These tend to be related to the causes thatpeople identify as leading to increased violence. They noted that alternativepunishments and school need to be available for children identified as out-of-control or behavior problems (Latham, 1999). For young men, the consequences can be as severe as death,and more frequently include physical trauma, emotional trauma from the lossof friends and involvement in violent atmospheres, schools suspensions andlong-term problems with obtaining jobs, and prison.Possible Solutions Again, there are many different suggestions regarding possiblesolutions to the problem. (1999). Interestingly enough, however, some research has shownthat such training has been counterproductive, leading to more negativeattitudes, rather than changes in behavior. Violence is not limited to large urban school systems, either.Violence seems to extend throughout the country, affecting all racial,ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Litke, C.D. There was not sufficient follow-up, however, in order to judgethe enduring nature of the favorable effects. (1999). New curriculum sought to curb student violence.New York Times, October 8, p. He suggested an advisoryprogram and awareness of group dynamics. Violence among our children. Hilton et al. This leads in to another explanation of increased high schoolviolence, which tends to be the explanation preferred by conservatives.The emphasis here is on the decline of morality in the United States, oftenconnected with feminism, mother's working, and no prayer in the schools.Clearly, most of the politicians, and most of the interest groups, talkingabout the causes of violence in American high schools are less interestedin the real reasons than they are in reinforcing their own ideologies andputting forth their own agendas for cultural change. A new leadership group took over which seemed to havedifferent values than leaders from the past. Did toxic wastepollute the minds of Columbine High? Essentially this meansthat there are no warnings for students who engage in violence on schoolproperty, or bring items to school that can be used as weapons. (1999). Nonetheless, there are some locales in which guncontrol has been viewed favorable and action taken. For example, The governor's Task Force on School Violence appointed byGovernor George Pataki indicated that a common thread in high schoolviolence is a lack of respect for others, including authority figures andpeers. Thelikelihood is that there will continue to be incidents of the same typeuntil some means of effectively addressing the problem is developed. (1999). Corrections today, 61(5), 62-66+. Vital Speeches ofthe Day, 65(24), 764-766. For young women, the results mayinclude long-term dysfunction in relationships, including becomingaccustomed to a level of violence within dating relationships that extendsinto marriage. And Hickey, J.G. ERIC Digest Series Number EA 52. Garrett, M. However, students with theleast knowledge to begin with were the least likely to attend theintervention sessions, and perpetrators of violence tended to know lessthan victims and be less likely to attend. News and WorldReport, 126(25), 25-26. Even in the Congress,there is some movement in which politicians seem willing to requirechildproof trigger locks on new handguns and to prevent children under 18from buying semiautomatic weapons or obtaining them from others. For example, a rural school in Alberta, Canada developed a problemwith violence during a time of community growth and growth in the studentpopulation. Hilton, N.Z., Harris, G.T., Rice, M.E., Krans, T.S. What they discovered wasthat students who attended the anti-violence intervention gained newinformation without any backlash in attitude. The New Crisis, 1 6(3), 1 -11. (1996). He indicated that the mediawould likely be dealing with the public massacres in the schools during thepast few years if the perpetrators had been young black males, rather thanyoung white males. Violence in American High SchoolsIntroduction The more publicly visible and horrifying acts of violence in Americanhigh schools, and junior high schools, this past year have just been thetip of the iceberg. U.S. Gangs. Instead,the first action results in some sort of disciplinary action. Both perpetrators and victims who attended theintervention did gain knowledge and did not report negative attitudes orbacklash. The author noted that violence, such as vandalism, assault, andmurder are activities that require little skill, but are very assertive andattract a great deal of attention. Someenvironmentalists noted that there is an extremely high concentration oftoxic-waste sites in the area and that these might have caused problems inthe boys' thinking. However,regulation of gun shows, raising the minimum age for handgun purchase, andvarious types of background checks remain questionable issues for aRepublican-controlled Congress (Garrett, 1999). (199 ). Aftera number of violent incidents, the school adopted a zero-tolerance policyin which violations would result in automatic suspensions or expulsions.Although the policy was tested by students, parents, and some in thecommunity, fundamentally it was supported. He noted that it was apparently an element of the situation inthe Columbine High School killings, but that it is also linked to othersituations, but often ignored by the media. It seems to make a difference in the level of violencein schools, though, and to reduce reported incidents of bullying and otherforms of student-student harassment (Litke, 1996). Understanding and responding to youth gangs: Ajuvenile corrections approach. The Colorado massacre: guns, media and racialhatred. (1999). This seemsto be more favored by rural schools than urban schools, however, and hasthe disadvantage of leaving children without alternative forms of educationin many instances. 6. They are unable to release their strong energy inacceptable and appropriate ways and, consequently, turn to violence.According to Scitovsky, the solution is relatively simple, demanding thatupbringing of children and the educational system focus on helping youngpeople develop numerous peaceful leisure activities that are enjoyableenough, engaging enough, and energizing enough to be preferred over violentactivity.
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