School Violence and Safety Promotion :: School Violence Shootings Safety Essays

Increase in school violence Over the past several years, incidents of school violence have intensified. Disasters like the shootings at Columbine High School are not unheard of, and precautions for school safety are on the minds of numerous communities. Johnson and Johnson claim that â€Å"Teaching is different from what it used to be. Fifty years ago, the main disciplinary problems were running in the halls, talking out of turn, and chewing gum. Today’s transgressions include physical and verbal violence, incivility, and in some schools, drug abuse, robbery, assault, and murder† (1995). When examining school violence, researchers have begun to investigate how society has redefined violence as normal and acceptable, claiming that this is the root of the problem. In addition, I have considered other factors that lead to violence in schools. As violence increases, pressure for safe and orderly schools does the same. I feel that the first step to ensuring school safety is to work with the stud ents themselves to establish a safe school. The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the occurrences of violence in schools across the United States and to articulate strategies to promote school safety. Two forms of school violence When assessing violence, it is important to know that it occurs in two major forms. First, violence can penetrate the climate of schools, allowing negative events to escalate into increasingly damaging patterns. The second form of school violence entails random mayhem, where the school is simply the setting (Hill & Hill, 19). An example of the latter form is the sniper shooting that occurred at Walt Whitman High School on October 8, 2002. Both forms of school violence among young people in society are increasing, forcing educators to search desperately for causes. Causes of school violence One cause of this increase in school violence is the fact that society is slowly beginning to redefine violence as normal and acceptable. What is probably most alarming is that violence is becoming so commonplace in many communities and schools that it is considered the norm rather than the exception. Johnson and Johnson believe that the media is most responsible for children falsely believing that violence is acceptable: Mass media influence how people view violence and deviant behavior. Some television shows obliterate or obscure the boundaries that society has created between good and evil, public and private, shame and pride (Abt & Seeholtz 1994)†¦Killing is sometimes portrayed as understandable and righteous when it advances a certain point of view on a controversial issue.