The threat of physical violence is a shadow darkening the halls and grounds of public schools across the nation. During the last 10 to 15 years, this shadow has grown at an alarming rate. Teachers are threatened, mugged or raped; students are assaulted, exposed to drugs, terrorized by extortion or directly robbed. (p. 2730)
Regarding the levels of violence, Clark reports that a national study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education revealed that 42 percent of surveyed teachers had witnessed at least one serious fight in the previous month. Moreover, 20 percent of responding teachers claimed that they personally had been threatened at school.
With respect to the middle school, Scott (1994) reports that there is an extremely high degree of risk for violence among American youth in this age group. In addition, the risk factor is disproportionally higher for African-American youth and young people from other minority groups. Contributing factors to high violence levels are said to include attitudinal, social, and behavioral variables such as the use of alcohol and other drugs, and violence related behaviors such as vandalism.
The pertinency of school violence for the middle school has been observed for years. For example, Evans and Evans (1985), in their discussion of school violence, noted several factors, one of which concerns school violence as it relates to the middle school.
Regarding subsidiary facts, Evans and Evans note that there are several factors that are related to violence including home and community factors, school factors, and personal factors. The authors further note that some violent school behaviors can be traced to gang involvement or membership in a violent subcultural group, in which case violence against a teacher may be greatly rewarded by that group.
In addition, it is reported that there is more violence in schools if rules are perceived as being arbitrary, unfair, and inconsi...