School Violence

 

This week I got to study the issue of school violence which unfortunately continues to be an issue we face in society.  As the image illustrates, school violence has a much broader meaning.  The subjects of such violence can be anyone, from students to staff.  School violence can occur in a multitude of ways, such as through threats or acts of physical harm.  As can be seen from the documentary Bowling for Columbine, the threat of gun violence is too high.  The school shooting at Columbine was a tragedy and it is scary that immediate change did not follow that incident.  It amazed me that months later, two of the survivors had to go to a K-Mart, which was where the bullets that inflicted them were purchased, to try and convince the store to stop supplying the ammunition.  The store had already stopped stocking the guns, so for them to continue to profit off of the bullets did not make much sense.  Then to watch at the beginning of the documentary how easy it is to purchase a weapon was scary, as the background check was administered on a piece of paper that the purchaser fills out, completely making the whole process seem illegitimate.  Continuing into the documentary, hearing that an elementary student brought a gun to school and shot a classmate is extremely horrifying, as it proves access to guns is too feasible in stores and at home.  In doing research and reading articles, I found that “A Washington Post analysis showed more than 311,000 children at 331 schools experienced gun violence since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999” (St. George, 2022).  Since we experienced Columbine we should be ending school gun violence and this is not occurring.  Every day that children are sent to school, it can not be confirmed that they are completely safe in the environment they are in unless safety measures begin to change.  In a different article published by Pew Center Research, “when it comes to what can be done to prevent this kind of violence, far more teens view proposals focused on mental illness, assault-style weapon bans and the use of metal detectors in schools as potentially effective than say the same about allowing teachers and school officials to carry guns in schools” (Graf, 2018).  I think considering the idea and even implementing metal detectors is one safety precaution that can be administered in some schools as a trial run, to ease communities' minds about having safe schools.  It is one measure that can prevent guns from entering campus.  I recently read, “district officials should meet to discuss how to support students’ mental health needs in the wake of the incident (Calhoun, 2022)” and it brought me back to last week's topic of understanding gender identity and how we as a society do not do enough to check on individuals’ mental health following life-changing events.  The same should apply to those who are in an incident or affected by school violence.  These events and acts of hate are traumatic and can really affect the way people move forward afterward.  Mental health counseling at school should be more readily available for those who may need it.  

From my own personal experience, threats have been made in my school district multiple times.  While they have always been threats that seem to stem from social media, it is really shocking to me how little cybersecurity students have.  Social media is a huge means of communication and cyberbullying which can lead to hate being taken out in ways such as school shootings.  Schools should make more of an effort to monitor the web and impose consequences on those who are violating the safety of others.  School violence will not change unless we start making changes to make the school environment safer for children.  No child or staff member should ever go to school fearing for their life.  

As a future educator, I can make sure that my classroom is a safe space. When students hear a threat they can come to me and I can get the necessary people involved to make sure everyone stays safe. I can also teach students about gun safety and how violence is never the answer. Even at our lowest points, inflicting pain on others will not help the situation and I think teaching that can really help make my students feel comfortable and safe in my class.

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References:

XtravaganT. (2022). School Violence Concept Word Tag [Image]. Retrieved from https://myloview.com/poster-school-violence-concept-word-tag-cloud-design-no-21328F9

Moore, M. (Producer & Director) (2002). Bowling for Columbine [Film]. United States: Dog Eat Dog Productions/ YouTube https://watchdocumentaries.com/bowling-for-columbine/

St. George, D. (2022, June 28). School Shootings Rose to Highest Number in 20 Years, federal data says. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/06/28/school-shootings-crime-report/

Graf, N. (2018, April). A majority of U.S. teens fear a shooting could happen at their school, and most parents share their concern. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/18/a-majority-of-u-s-teens-fear-a-shooting-could-happen-at-their-school-and-most-parents-share-their-concern/

Calhoun, J. (2022). Parents left fearful, outraged after shooting near Philadelphia high school leaves one teen dead. Retrieved 2 October 2022, from https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2022/9/28/23377544/philadelphia-shooting-teenagers-parents-outrage-fear-classes-one-dead-football-team