Violence In Schools During The 18th Century

I will be talking about violence in schools. For as long as the 17th Century, schoolchildren in Europe, mainly children from aristocratic and noble family. They would wear swords and carry guns to school frequently. In early 18th Century, there were violent students in the University of Paris that got to the point where the King of France had to dispatch troops. During the 18th Century in England, high-esteemed schools such as Rugby and Eton, which are private schools known to be prestigious had many student rebellions where they would burn their books and desks, to the point army troops had to disband them. Late in the 18th Century, the most common and frequent kind of disorderly conduct was barring out the master, which is a common practice
where students would demand either a holiday or other treats, and if the headmaster refused, they would prevent him from stepping into the school, damage school property, barricade windows and doors, and rob neighbours of their supplies in order to prolong the on-going siege. In the United States in 20th Century, they were more lenient, mainly in Tennessee, as the headmaster would just give the students their treats and go home after wishing them a Merry Christmas.
But in the 1830s, violence ensued when the headmaster refused and tried to force himself through the resistance, but he was stabbed and dropped in a well. Fortunately he lived, but the school burned down. Back in the day, headmasters and the school were targets of violence, but in the 20th Century, violence escalated among students. It went from sticks and fists, to bricks, bats, and chains, to knives, and then guns throughout the 20th Century. Schools were considered a hangout for gangs that resulted in gang violence and crimes, and vandalism and fights among male students that brought on assaults, armed robberies, even rape, and
murder.
School violence can occur on either school property, whether you’re going to school or from school or events that are funded by the school or during that event. It can also affect adults. Various behaviours such as bullying or hitting or pushing can do more harm emotionally than physically. Between 2012-2013 during the school year, there have been 31 homicides that resulted in deaths among youths ages 5-18 years old that took place on school property. Statistics show that 9% of the teachers have reported being threatened by a student, and 5% reported being attacked physically by a student from their school. In 2015 from grades 9-12, 5.6% of youths have reported that they have not attended school in 1 or more than one days 30 days prior to the survey because they did not feel safe on either school property, or to or from school. And 20.2% have reported being victims of bullying on school property, and 15.5% reported being victims of bullying by electronic 12 months prior to the survey. It’s not just death, many youths suffer non-fatal injuries as a result of school violence, whether it’s from bruises, broken bones, even head trauma, gunshot wounds, and especially permanent disability. It’s even possible that you can’t see it, because school violence can affect you mentally, it can lead to depression, alcohol and drug use, anxiety, even suicide, and many other mentality problems, even fear.
I personally have been bullied in elementary school, I was 9 years old at the time.
There was this boy a year younger than me who was a delinquent that would bully other students. He would slap me on the face randomly on a daily basis, not to the point that it would leave a mark, he would also pull my hair, throw balls at me, throw school materials at me ranging from pencils, eraser, even those block things that we use to solve math problems. Those leave marks. And he would do them behind the teacher’s back. I wanted to tell the teachers, but I was a very shy kid at the time and I was afraid of being called a tattletale, so my pride kept me quiet. He did that to me for 2 years, then one day he got into a recent fight with some students, he was still mad and said some things to me and slapped me pretty hard. I had a red mark on my cheek, fortunately my friends saw what he did and told the teacher for me. The boy got suspended and after that and I never saw him again, to my relief.
School violence is a serious issue, it’s not just fights, there’s also guns involved, and victims can become the perpetrators as a result of bullying, such as the Colorado’s Columbine High School shooting that took the lives of 12 students and 1 teacher that occurred on this day, April 20, 19 years ago. The perpetrators were also victims of constant school bullying, and their teachers never solved the problem, some even witnessed it, and it resulted in lives being
taken.
In conclusion, school violence needs to be addressed and taken seriously, it affects not only youths, but also teachers, and can affect your future. It has left many with scars, both physically and mentally. We need support systems to help those being victimised. We need stricter rules to prevent tragedies from escalating even further. Now you guys see me always smiling everyday, back then its hard to smile with all that pain, but now I’m going to be a little cheesy here and say that I’m happy I met you guys.