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Recommendations on How to Tackle School Violence

It is unfortunate that violence incidence in our schools has become an alarming issue as we enter into a new century. The twenty first century has come along with a situation that gives us considerable worries and anxieties – school violence cases. We now find ourselves in a situation where the lives, the well being and peace of our children and their teachers are in danger of the attacks of youngsters who unleash terror in the schools. In the past the cases of the violence in schools are rarely seen taking place, however, in recent times, the cases are on the continuous increase so much so that about twenty three percent of the students in public schools of the United States of America complained of being the victims of one violent attack or the other (National Center for Education Statistics, 2002). Researchers have found that urban areas are more prone to poverty. The higher level of poverty translates to more crimes and different forms of deviance, including violent criminal acts.

 

The is the characteristics of such urban settlements to have large number of unemployed as well as people with irregular jobs. This situation in turn produces criminals, for it always goes along with the saying that “an idle mind is the workshop of devil”. In those areas, criminal behaviors are seen almost as normal, more pathetically; others see them as Heroic acts to be emulated. The children of these areas tend to follow suit. The children tends to pick behaviors such as aggressiveness, bullying others, frustration in every thing they do, drug abuse, learn to handle and acquire weapons such as knives and guns etc.

A child in this condition is no more than a criminal on the making. Such a child is ever ready to turn violent at the slightest provocation, and can unleash terror to anybody.

 

The recommended strategies involve employing all the stake holders of school violence control or prevention, viz, the school authority, the teachers, the staff, the students, members of the immediate community and more importantly the security personnel of the school. The community service agencies such as fire service, medical and law enforcement agencies could help in the plan by giving out information as well as part citing in the implementation proper. Inspection of the entire school buildings with a view to identifying areas that could be used as hide out or escape routes and so on should be done. The next step is to prepare a safe place, a place well secured such that in the event of violence out break, it will serve as “escapers’ zone”. Practice how to get to the escapers’ zone with the entire school community. A localized system of communication should be developed, as an alternative should the conventional system of communication fail.

 

It is reiterated here that following the recommended steps outlined above and making detailed plans will certainly help to either prevent violence out breaks or combat it. It is the responsibility of the school to spear head the plan development. Best wishes as you take the required the steps to prevent violence occurrence in our schools.