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Morgan Shell
Flores
English 1201 Online
23 March 2016
Prevention of School Violence
It seems like more and more reports of school violence are in the news every day. It
seems to be a growing epidemic. This leads us to question: why is this happening and how can it
be prevented? There are many factors that could lead to a student committing an act of school
violence. A student could be being bullied by their peers, or they could have an unstable home
life. Schools have implemented different safety and prevention programs. Some use technology
as way to prevent violence, others train their employees in different ways to react to an
emergency situation. While there is not one proven method of prevention, counseling and
focusing on the psychological states of the students are the best ways to prevent school violence
from occurring.
Researchers and school officials also look at the home environment for indicators on why
students may bully each other. In order to help prevent school violence, schools must look at the
students home lives to see if it could potentially be cause them to bully others. Students may feel
stressed or fatigued from an unstable home life. Also, if a student comes from a line of poverty,
they may experience greater frustration than those who have not faced poverty. Another factor in
school violence may be if the students are watching violent television shows or playing violent
video games. Parents also must look at the ways they are raising their children.

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In "Suck it Up, Walk it off, Be a Man: A Controversial Look at Bullying in Today's

Schools", Joseph Simplicio Ph. D discusses different types of parenting styles that are used today
that could potentially lead to more bullying in school. Simplicio states that this generation reacts
differently to bullying from those in the past, because they were raised by parents who refuse to
allow them to fail. He looks at how gaming and exercise affect how well children do in school.
Also, he looks at how their upbringing might affect how they react to being bullied. Todays
parents tend to be overbearing towards the teacher and hinder the teacher from doing their own
job. Simplicio looks at how parents were once calm and understanding when discusses their
childs grades with the teacher. He believes that now parents are overbearing, and to a point,
even career threatening when their child does not get their way in the classroom.
One of the most controversial causes of school violence is if weapons are kept locked
away at the childs home. Many incidents of school violence have been acted with a weapon the
child took from home that was not locked away. In Ohio School Shooting: Are Parents to
Blame? Erica and Nicholas Christakis look at how school violence may begin in the home.
Erica Christakis has a Masters in education and Nicholas is a doctor. One claim the authors use
is, They are poorly socialized in ways that inhibit learning and kindness. They also bring
unsecured weapons to school and use them on innocent people, including, sometimes,
themselves (Christakis). They state that, because children spend a majority of their time at
home, their parents should be the ones to blame for their actions. Research has shown that across
the nation approximately 1.7 million children live in homes with loaded and unlocked firearms
(Christakis). This leads researchers, school officials, and even parents, to question if these adults
should be punished if their child commits an act of school violence. Some states have negligence
laws that hold parents responsible for their children's actions and many argue that these laws are

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sufficient for locking up parents whose firearms are used to kill others (Danitz & Nagy). These
laws do not seem to be sufficient, in most cases, the child that committed the crime receives the
brunt of the punishment.
Using technology to prevent school violence seems to be the most popular strategy that
schools are using. This would be technology such as, metal
detectors, cameras for surveillance, and even body cameras
worn by school officials. In Justine Browns article
School Safety: A Shared Responsibility, she discusses
how body cameras were worn to give officials personal
accountability when dealing with violence at school.
1 in 14 is an alarming statistic. What
can be done to prevent this? (NCES).

Schools may begin using technology to prevent school

violence, because it is a lower cost alternative than schools

hiring safety coordinators to prevent the violence. Also, researchers tend to believe that using
technology does not actually work. While technology could be a good asset to prevent school
violence, it may create an illusion of security to make people feel safer (Brown). Metal
detectors may not always catch weaponry, cameras may not capture the full image of the act of
violence, and so on. A negative effect of using increased technology is that it may turn the school
environment into that of a police state.
Increased cameras and metal detectors may make the school seem more like a prison than
a place to learn. In The Classroom is Becoming a Police State, Michael Easterbrook examines
how security measures to prevent school violence may have negative effects on the students.
Easterbrook states, Neurological and psychological research has determined that
placing students in a prisonlike atmosphere adversely affects their cognitive abilities. These

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security measures may even make them more violent and to become more defiant. He later goes
on to state that placing troubled students in an atmosphere that resembles a police state may
actually fuel their fascination with guns, increase their resistance to authority, and spur their
violent tendencies (Easterbrook). Easterbrook supports this statement by quotes from
psychologists on students resistance to authority, because of the prisonlike environment.
Schools are trying to prevent school violence is training their employees on how to act in
emergency situations. In order to prevent school violence, it is important for teachers to be just as
prepared as the principal, vice principal, and superintendent. Justine Brown discusses various
safety features and training that schools have tried out in her article School Safety: A Shared
Responsibility. Most focus on school shootings, but there are many other types of school
violence and emergency situations. The other types of situations are why it is important to focus
on a wide variety of school safety issues, not just active shooter types of situations (Brown).
Brown gives many examples of ways that schools can prepare for emergencies; it is up to the
individual schools to test these out to see if they will work for them or not. Examples Brown
gives are building relationships with kids; improved counseling and mental health support;
regular planning and cross-training with first responders; diversified lockdown, evacuation, fire
and other drills; and proactive communications strategy with parents and the community. It is
important for schools to analyze which safety features they lack, and to try to improve upon
them.
Focusing on the psychological side of why students are committing crimes is also a way
schools and parents try to prevent violence. Betsy Angert wrote School Violence is on the Rise
to address how schools try to prevent violence and bullying. Angert believes that instead of using
technology to prevent school violence, schools must look at the psychological side of it. She

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says, I believe that the life of the perpetrator is most telling (Angert). This article looks at the
psychological side of school violence basing it on past bullying, how students home lives are,
and their personal struggles. In the article, Angert often states how stress may drive students to
commit acts of school violence. Students may feel increased stress due to society, school, or even
their home life. Schools must look at the quality of the students home lives in regards to acts of
school violence, because they spend a majority of their time at home and with their families. If
problems with a students psychological state are addressed early, it could prevent school
violence.
If the act of violence has already been committed, schools must address the offender in a
more counseling manner, instead of punishing them immediately by suspending or expelling
them. Obviously, suspension or expulsion may be necessary, but the act of violence must also be
addressed. This would involve listening, exploring underlying issues, and deciding on a
disciplinary response that was connected to the nature of the offense (Dupper). This could
prevent future acts of violence from occurring, because the initial psychological issues are being
addressed. Schools could use a more therapeutic approach (Easterbrook) when counseling
their students. This could be offering support groups and programs for troubled students.
There is not one perfect way to completely prevent school violence from occurring. In
her article on school violence, Brown states addressing school safety is not easy. But that
important thing, say experts, is that schools do something. Solely using technology to prevent
school violence will not be effective. It may even create a sense of the school being like a police
state. Training employees on how to react in emergencies situations can lead to a better
outcome. The most efficient way to prevent school violence is to counsel the students and to

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address any problems early. Also, counseling students after an act of school violence can prevent
it from occurring again. Combining each form of prevention will lead to a greater outcome.

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Works Cited
Angert, Betsy L. "School Violence Is on the Rise." America's Youth. Ed. Jamuna Carroll. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "School Shooting Safeguards.
Arm Educators?" Be-Think. 2006. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
Brown, Justine. "School Safety: A Shared Responsibility." School Safety: A Shared
Responsibility.
N.p., 30 Oct. 2015. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
Christakis, Erika, and Nicholas A. Christakis. Ohio School Shooting: Are Parents to Blame?
Time

Magazine.

N.p.,

28

Feb.

2012.

Web.

03

Mar.

2016.

<http://ideas.time.com/2012/02/28/ohio-school-shooting-why-parents-are-to-blame/
Danitz, Tiffany, and John Nagy. States Reconsider Parental Responsibility In School Violence
Cases.

Minnesota

Public

Radio.

N.p.,

n.d.

Web.

03

Mar.

2016.

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200004/20_pugmiret_columbine/responsi
bility.shtml
Dupper, David R. "Zero-Tolerance Policies in Schools Hurt At-Risk Youth." Juvenile Crime. Ed.
Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from
"Does the Punishment Fit the Crime? The Impact of Zero Tolerance Discipline on AtRisk Youth." Children & Schools 32 (Apr. 2010): 67-69. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 4 Mar. 2016.

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Easterbrook, Michael. "The Classroom Is Becoming a Police State." School Violence. Ed. Kate
Burns. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Contemporary Issues Companion. Rpt. from
"Taking Aim at Violence." Psychology Today 32.4 (1999): 52-56. Opposing Viewpoints
in Context. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
National Center for Education Statistics. Photograph. NCES, Indicators of School Crime and
Safety: 2012. Web. 4 Apr. 2016.
Simplicio, Joseph. "Suck it up, walk it off, be a man: a controversial look at bullying in today's
schools." Education 133.3 (2013): 345+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Mar.
2016.