Timeline: A Brief History Of School Violence
Violence in Schools
Students are dropping out, changing schools, being bullied, getting hurt by both insiders (such as students) and outsiders coming into the school. School should be considered as a safe learning place. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Many students walk into their schools fearing the day ahead of them because this place is a place where they can be teased, bullied, stolen from and sexually, physically and mentally abused; all pieces of the issue called school violence.
In 2007 twenty one percent of students said they have been bulled; eighteen percent were being the subject of rumors; eleven percent said they were pushed, shoved, tripped or spit on; six percent were threatened with harm; five percent …show more content…
were excluded from activities intentionally; four percent said someone made them do something they didn’t want to do; and four percent said their property was destroyed. (U.S. Department of Education and Justice) School violence unfortunately can happen anywhere and leaves students scared to attend school, due to the fact that they can be the target of any form of school violence throughout the day. The worst school mass killing in American history happened as early as 1927.
It is called the Bath School Disaster. On May 18, 1927, in Bathtownship, Michigan, a man named Andrew Kehoe killed thirty eight elementary school children, six adults and injured at least fifty eight other people. After that, these acts of violence kept growing closer and closer together. In a timeline, it showed in 2009 there were two attacks only eight months apart, while in 2012 there were five attacks only a few months apart. All outbreaks done by either students or an outsider (“Timeline: History of Violence in American Schools.” www.ctvnews.ca). “School violence peaked in the U.S. in 1993. That year there were forty two homicides by students, as well as thirteen “serious violent crimes”- rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault...” (Neuman, Scott. www.npr.org). These numbers are way too high and if they continue to be high students will be more and more panicked to attend …show more content…
school. School is mandatory, “in one month nearly six percent of high schoolers stayed home because they felt unsafe at or on their way to school” (Robers S, Zhang J, Truman J, Synder T. www.cdc.gov). Unfortunately, not only high schoolers deal with this. School violence can start as young as Kindergarten. A Kindergarten student may not kill someone, but they can steal, push, shove, and even bully others. The youngest students to commit violent attacks at school were fourteen year olds. These separate attacks were not just bullying, all three fourteen year olds shot insiders (fellow students and even a schools resource police officer). Many, including myself, think that school violence will never happen at their school. People do not realize that it can happen and it happens much more often than many know. One day, my sophomore year of high school, my eyes were unfortunately torn open by the effect of school violence. A cheerleader at my school had committed suicide due to the fact of bullying. Multiple of the varsity cheerleaders had bullied her and teased her day after day, telling her she was fat and that she would never be good enough. Continuously hearing this about herself lead her to go into a depressive state and no one knew. She kept a huge smile on her face and acted like nothing was wrong. Then, during my third period, word spread, that she committed suicide and had been found hanging in her room by her parents. It is still a shock to me that this happened. She always looked so happy, but no one knew what she was going through. No one was able to help save her. School violence happens in every school, not everybody sees or talks about it; some are even too scared to say anything.
Acts of violence at schools need to come to a halt as soon as possible. Zero Tolerance policy in schools is a policy to assure consistent and firm consequences for dangerous behaviors (Skiba, R. www.nasponline.org). Seventy five percent of schools report having Zero Tolerance policies for serious offenses such as, violence and possession of firearms, alcohol, and drugs. Many believe that even though this policy requires schools to suspend or expel the offenders, that it makes students and school communities less safe. Sending them away from the school, could be putting them in a place where there is a “lack of parental supervision or even a better opportunity to socialize with other deviant peers” (Skiba, R. www.nasponline.org). In addition it could also give them an opportunity to plan out a violent act against the school. When students are expelled or suspended, they should be under supervision of a police officer until parental supervision is available. This way the student will not have a chance to do anything harmful to themselves or others.
Many students walk into their schools fearing the day ahead of them because this place is a place where they can be teased, bullied, stolen from and sexually, physically and mentally abused; all pieces of the issue called school violence. Students need a place where they feel safe and ready to learn. School is a place where students plan for their futures. Sadly, some will not have futures if these violent acts do not stop. Violence in schools is a big issue that is unfortunately on the rise. The large numbers in these statistics need to decrease as soon as possible. No school thinks that it will happen to them, Virginia Tech did not expect it, Columbine did not expect it, and no one thinks or expects these things to happen. People need to be aware of this issue and the Department of Education and Justice need to come up with more ways to prevent it from happening as well as protect our students if it does happen.
Works Cited
"Are Schools Safe?" Education.com.
N.p., 14 Jan. 2008. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
Neuman, Scott. "Violence In Schools: How Big A Problem Is It?" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
Robers, S., J. Zhang, J. Truman, and T. Synder. "Understanding School Violence." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
"School Crime." Nces.ed.gov. U.S. Department of Education, 2012. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
Skiba, R. "Zero Tolerance and Alternative Strategies: A Fact Sheet for Educators and Policymakers." NASP Fact Sheet. National Association of School Psychologist, 2001. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
"Timeline: A History of Violence in American Schools." CTVNews. CTVNews.ca, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
"Violence and Safety." Research Center:. 2013 Editiorial Projects in Education, 4 Aug. 2004. Web. 29 Sept.
2013.
Students are dropping out, changing schools, being bullied, getting hurt by both insiders (such as students) and outsiders coming into the school. School should be considered as a safe learning place. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Many students walk into their schools fearing the day ahead of them because this place is a place where they can be teased, bullied, stolen from and sexually, physically and mentally abused; all pieces of the issue called school violence.
In 2007 twenty one percent of students said they have been bulled; eighteen percent were being the subject of rumors; eleven percent said they were pushed, shoved, tripped or spit on; six percent were threatened with harm; five percent …show more content…
were excluded from activities intentionally; four percent said someone made them do something they didn’t want to do; and four percent said their property was destroyed. (U.S. Department of Education and Justice) School violence unfortunately can happen anywhere and leaves students scared to attend school, due to the fact that they can be the target of any form of school violence throughout the day. The worst school mass killing in American history happened as early as 1927.
It is called the Bath School Disaster. On May 18, 1927, in Bathtownship, Michigan, a man named Andrew Kehoe killed thirty eight elementary school children, six adults and injured at least fifty eight other people. After that, these acts of violence kept growing closer and closer together. In a timeline, it showed in 2009 there were two attacks only eight months apart, while in 2012 there were five attacks only a few months apart. All outbreaks done by either students or an outsider (“Timeline: History of Violence in American Schools.” www.ctvnews.ca). “School violence peaked in the U.S. in 1993. That year there were forty two homicides by students, as well as thirteen “serious violent crimes”- rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault...” (Neuman, Scott. www.npr.org). These numbers are way too high and if they continue to be high students will be more and more panicked to attend …show more content…
school. School is mandatory, “in one month nearly six percent of high schoolers stayed home because they felt unsafe at or on their way to school” (Robers S, Zhang J, Truman J, Synder T. www.cdc.gov). Unfortunately, not only high schoolers deal with this. School violence can start as young as Kindergarten. A Kindergarten student may not kill someone, but they can steal, push, shove, and even bully others. The youngest students to commit violent attacks at school were fourteen year olds. These separate attacks were not just bullying, all three fourteen year olds shot insiders (fellow students and even a schools resource police officer). Many, including myself, think that school violence will never happen at their school. People do not realize that it can happen and it happens much more often than many know. One day, my sophomore year of high school, my eyes were unfortunately torn open by the effect of school violence. A cheerleader at my school had committed suicide due to the fact of bullying. Multiple of the varsity cheerleaders had bullied her and teased her day after day, telling her she was fat and that she would never be good enough. Continuously hearing this about herself lead her to go into a depressive state and no one knew. She kept a huge smile on her face and acted like nothing was wrong. Then, during my third period, word spread, that she committed suicide and had been found hanging in her room by her parents. It is still a shock to me that this happened. She always looked so happy, but no one knew what she was going through. No one was able to help save her. School violence happens in every school, not everybody sees or talks about it; some are even too scared to say anything.
Acts of violence at schools need to come to a halt as soon as possible. Zero Tolerance policy in schools is a policy to assure consistent and firm consequences for dangerous behaviors (Skiba, R. www.nasponline.org). Seventy five percent of schools report having Zero Tolerance policies for serious offenses such as, violence and possession of firearms, alcohol, and drugs. Many believe that even though this policy requires schools to suspend or expel the offenders, that it makes students and school communities less safe. Sending them away from the school, could be putting them in a place where there is a “lack of parental supervision or even a better opportunity to socialize with other deviant peers” (Skiba, R. www.nasponline.org). In addition it could also give them an opportunity to plan out a violent act against the school. When students are expelled or suspended, they should be under supervision of a police officer until parental supervision is available. This way the student will not have a chance to do anything harmful to themselves or others.
Many students walk into their schools fearing the day ahead of them because this place is a place where they can be teased, bullied, stolen from and sexually, physically and mentally abused; all pieces of the issue called school violence. Students need a place where they feel safe and ready to learn. School is a place where students plan for their futures. Sadly, some will not have futures if these violent acts do not stop. Violence in schools is a big issue that is unfortunately on the rise. The large numbers in these statistics need to decrease as soon as possible. No school thinks that it will happen to them, Virginia Tech did not expect it, Columbine did not expect it, and no one thinks or expects these things to happen. People need to be aware of this issue and the Department of Education and Justice need to come up with more ways to prevent it from happening as well as protect our students if it does happen.
Works Cited
"Are Schools Safe?" Education.com.
N.p., 14 Jan. 2008. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
Neuman, Scott. "Violence In Schools: How Big A Problem Is It?" NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
Robers, S., J. Zhang, J. Truman, and T. Synder. "Understanding School Violence." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Sept. 2013. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
"School Crime." Nces.ed.gov. U.S. Department of Education, 2012. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
Skiba, R. "Zero Tolerance and Alternative Strategies: A Fact Sheet for Educators and Policymakers." NASP Fact Sheet. National Association of School Psychologist, 2001. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
"Timeline: A History of Violence in American Schools." CTVNews. CTVNews.ca, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
"Violence and Safety." Research Center:. 2013 Editiorial Projects in Education, 4 Aug. 2004. Web. 29 Sept.
2013.