Blog #2- How Can We Stop School Violence?
In this world today school violence is an extremely important topic. There have been many school shootings like Sandy Hook in Connecticut and the most recent one Oxford High School in Michigan. The video Bowling for Columbine (Moore, 2002) was about a school shooting that occurred on April 20th, 1999. It really talks about gun control and really how easy it can be for one to grab and just have the access to a gun in parts of the United States. It really gives us insight on what happened in Colorado. The town had heavy amounts of trauma because of this shooting. It had caused so much pain. Moore has very much solid argument in this which is how the government is promoting capitalist interests over human lives. Moore also makes a point that the NRA is extremely heartless and how they had led pro gun rallies in right after the Columbine shooting. A question was "why do kids do this?" and it is believed that this happens because of children’s anger issues, which is unacceptable. We also get to hear from students and parents of this tragic incidence. A father was speaking about his son that was shot during this horrible incidence and he stated that the gun that was used to shoot his son is not even used to kill deer. After hearing that it is extremely upsetting and more needs to be done to stop school violence. There are two students who are shown on the film named Richard and Mark who were injured during Columbine. Moore really stresses how America news had created a fear that promotes gun ownership. I think it is scary how there is such easy access to guns. I also believe that schools should have easy resources for students who may struggle with anger issues so they are able to have someone to talk to.
It is horrible to hear how students have to worry and fear going to school because of a possible school shooting. According to Pew Research Center an overall of 57% of teens are worried about the possibility of shooting occurring at their school. Nonwhite teens actually show a higher level on concern than white teens. 64% nonwhite teens and 51% of white teens (Graf, 2018). With the rise of school shootings over the years, I think that every school should have metal detectors that each student walks through every time they leave the building. I think it could be a stop to school shootings and a step closer for making our students and teachers safe. Also people who are diagnosed with a mental illness should not be allowed to carry a weapon. An argument shown was how teachers should be allowed to carry guns around (Graf, 2018) I think this idea is not a good one because there really should be no weapons in school. A teacher carrying around a gun can leave possible access for a student grabbing it and using it which leads to danger.
Garcia, M. (2021, December 8). Resources for talking with students about school violence. Michigan Education Association. https://mea.org/resources-for-talking-with-students-about-school-violence/
According to the article Preventing School Violence there are actually many different examples of school violence like bullying and cyberbullying, fighting, weapon use, gun violence, and sexual violence (Preventing School Violence, 2021). We see a lot of these horrible actions in schools everyday and more needs to be done to prevent this. There actually was a survey in 2019 called the Youth Risk Behavior Survey and it was given out to 13, 677 High School students. 1 in 5 students reported being bullied on school property, 8% of high school students had been in a physical fight on or more times, more than 7% of students had been threatened or injured, and 9% had not gone to school at least 1 day during the 30 days before the survey (Preventing School Violence, 2021). These percentages should be much lower. It is really nice to read that school violence can be prevented and there are things that schools need to work on in order for this to be stopped. I think schools need more staff keeping an eye around the halls, bathrooms, locker rooms and metal detectors are a must.
A. (2016, September 27). 3 Ways Inner City Schools Can Help Their Students Avoid Violence. Wheelchairs Against Guns. https://wheelchairsagainstguns.org/3-ways-inner-city-schools-can-help-students-avoid-violence/
Jason Glass of the Jefferson County School district has many different tips and solutions on how we can stop school violence. Glass had suggested putting trained, armed law enforcement officials in every school, increase funding and support for school mental health services, create a federally funded center to study school safety and security and change the layout of and access to school buildings to make them safer (Meltzer 2018). If every school takes into consideration these methods it can make our schools safer. It is important that students and teachers feel safe. As a future educator I want to be able to attend school feeling safe. After reading these articles and watching the movie I really want to make sure my students always feel safe in my classroom. I feel as teacher it is my job to put my students first and protect them. Whether it is physically protecting them or even mentally explaining to them how they can feel safe. Personally I do not think teachers should be responsible of having a gun in the classroom, I think this causes more fear in children. I will go over rules with my students in case of an emergency where will we hide or where we will exit the building if anything were to happen. I will also go over rules how in an emergency it is always important to stay quiet. I do think schools should have drills like fire drills or what to do if someone is in the building that is not supposed to be.
References
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-
Meltzer, E. (2018, February 21). Jeffco’s superintendent has some ideas about preventing school shootings — and none of them involve gun contr. . .. Chalkbeat Colorado. https://co.chalkbeat.org/2018/2/20/21104341/jeffco-s-superintendent-has-some-ideas-about-preventing-school-shootings-and-none-of-them-involve-gu
Moore, M. (Producer & Director) (2002). Bowling for Columbine [Film]. United States: Dog Eat
Dog Productions/ YouTube https://watchdocumentaries.com/bowling-for-columbine/ OR
https://youtu.be/wScIMiWT_dw
Preventing school violence. (2019). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/schoolviolence/fastfact.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fviolenceprevention%2Fyouthviolence%2Fschoolviolence%2Findex.html
Hi Erin, I really enjoyed reading your blog post on the issue of school violence. The information was well organized and you discussed some important points about the subject of violence within schools. I had also watched the "Bowling for Columbine" documentary and to me the main point of the video seemed to revolve around the topic of gun control. The incident in Columbine had involved two students who came to school with guns that they had obtained legally, as well as the bullets that they had bought at their local convenient store. The two students were easily able to access guns, which I believe is a major factor that contributed to the shooting. After reading your blog post, I noticed that you had also discussed the topic of gun control and how is is easy to obtain a gun. That is why equators should try to enforce the importance of preventing school violence within their district. Educators should inform students on how to properly handle situations, where they would normally resort to violence, so that the students are aware of different ways they can approach situations.
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