This paper will discuss the adverse effects of school violence and will also examine some of the causes of the recent rise of violent incidents in American schools. The discussion will include an analysis of the problems created by the use of handguns at school, the role the family can play in fostering or preventing school violence, and the correlation between school violence and other social problems. The paper will also outline some of the new programs which officials, teachers and parents suggest schools should implement to prevent and counter the horrible problems created by school violence. Finally, this paper will show that school violence should be addressed by parents as well as schools and communities.
Violence in America now kills one million people each year, and young people have become the number one victims of violence. At a recent forum on youth violence U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley pointed out an alarming increase in school violence in America. Violence in the school environment is detrimental to learning, and it affects the scholastic achievement of America's youth; it also affects the students, parents and teachers who witness the violence ("Violence", 1993, p. 96E).
Others also agree that school violence impedes school reform and academic achievement. One 1994 nationwide poll which was commissioned by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and conducted by Lou Harris and Associates revealed that not only does school violence directly impact education reform efforts, but also guns and retaliation continue to plague American students. That poll also discovered that, in fact, a full one-third of junior high and high school students and one-half of those students' parents believed that security at schools was either fair or poor (Matthew, 1995, p. 32). Additionally, a National League of Cities Survey of 700 American communities showed that school violence has been an increasing problem o...