School violence is defined as violent acts that are committed by youth on school property (Center for Disease Control, 2015). These violent acts can include bullying, fighting, weapon use, electronic aggression, and gang violence (CDC, 2015). This type of violence can occur during school hours, on the way to or from school or school sponsored events, or during school sponsored events (CDC, 2015). In this type of violence youth can be the perpetrator, witness, or victim, and there are times in which adults can be affected as well (CDC, 2015).
In 2011, 12% of youth in grades 9-12 reported that they were in a physical fight on school property; 5.9% of students missed school for one or more days because they didn’t feel safe being at school or traveling to and from school; 5.4% reported that they carried a weapon on school property; 7.4% reported that they had either been threatened or injured by a weapon on school property; 20.1% reported that they had been bullied on school property (CDC, 2012). This is not a problem that is only happening in urban schools; this kind of violence occurs in all schools (Juvonen, 2001). However, it seems to be most prevalent in larger schools (Juvonen, 2001). Roughly half of students in public middle and high schools stated that they were a part of at least one incident in which there was a physical attack, theft, larceny or vandalism involved; students ages 8-15 rated bullying as their biggest issue even in respect to discrimination, racism or violence (Juvonen, 2001). The actual statistics on violent behavior are much higher than those that are reported due to biases in reporting (Juvonen, 2015). It is however a forgone conclusion due to these numbers that violence is a very large problem in our schools (Juvonen, 2001).
The reasons for this type of violence are not simple (American Psychological Association, 2015). Some children don’t know how to express their feelings of anger or frustration and they use violent acts as a way of expressing these feelings to others (APA, 2015). Some use it as a form of manipulation to get things from others that they desire (APA, 2015). Some use it as a form of retaliation against others that have hurt them in some way (APA, 2015). And, others use violence simply because they have learned to behave in a violent manner from their parents, peers, video games, television and movies (APA, 2015; CDC, 2015).
This type of violence is not easily understood, because there is no real clear cut answer as to why young people become violent (CDC, 2015). However, there are risk and protective factors that help to give an idea as to why some students behave violently and some do not (CDC, 2015). There are several risk factors that increase the likelihood that a young person will commit a violent act, these include individual risk factors, family risk factors, peer and social risk factors, and community risk factors. Individual risk factors include, a history of violent victimization, attention deficits, history of early aggressive behavior, drug, alcohol or tobacco use, low IQ, poor behavior, social cognitive or information processing ability deficits, high emotional distress, treatment of emotional issues, antisocial attitudes, and exposure to violence within their family; family risk factors include, authoritarian parenting style, harsh, lax or inconsistent discipline, low parental involvement, low emotional attachment to parents, lack of parental education, low income household, parental substance abuse, parental criminality, poor family functioning, and poor supervision; peer and social risk factors include, association with delinquent peers, gang involvement, peer rejection, no involvement in activities, poor academic performance, and low commitment to school; community risk factors include, diminished economic opportunities, high concentrations of poor residents, high level of transiency, high level of family disruption, low levels of community participation, and socially disorganized neighborhoods (CDC, 2015). Just as there are different risk factors associated with school violence there are also protective factors (CDC, 2015). Individual protective factors include intolerant attitude toward deviance, high IQ, high academic achievement, positive social orientation, highly developed social skills, and religiosity; family protective factors include, family connectedness, ability to discuss problems with parents, perceived parental high school performance expectations, frequently shared activities with parents, consistent presence of a parent during at least one of the following: when awakening, when arriving home from school, at evening mealtime, and when going to bed, involvement in social activities, and family use of constructive coping strategies for problems; peer and social protective factors include, possession of affective relationships with those at school, commitment to school, close relationships with non-deviant peers, membership in peer groups that do not allow antisocial behavior, involvement in prosocial activities, and school climates that have intensive supervision, clear behavior rules, consistent negative reinforcement of aggression, and engagement of parents and teachers (CDC, 2015).
There are several prevention techniques that have been implemented in trying to stop school violence (CDC, 2012). One intervention is a universal school-based prevention program that is available to students in which they learn about various topics and establish important skills to help to deter violent behaviors; these include such skills as emotional self-awareness and control, positive social skills, problem solving techniques, conflict resolution, and teamwork (CDC, 2012). Another intervention is one that targets parents and families (CDC, 2012). In these programs parents and families learn to lower the risk for future violence by using effective communication skills in order to solve problems in a nonviolent way (CDC, 2012). There are also community programs in which are directed towards at-risk youth to show them how to mediate conflict and change how they think and behave in terms of violence (CDC, 2012). Schools can also implement changes in order to reduce the incidence of violence; some of these school programs include, physical surveillance, which includes weapons deterrence and the presence of security guards on campus, policies for punishing violent offenders, instruction based programs that address what can precipitate violence, profiling possible violent offenders, counseling at-risk students, and conflict mediation and resolution (Juvonen, 2001).
Any amount of school violence is unacceptable and is a problem that affects everyone in every community. These acts of violence disturb the learning process and can have an adverse effect on the students and the community as a whole. Knowing the risk factors and protective factors that precipitate these acts helps to deter the behaviors before they start.
Centers for Disease Control. (2015). Understanding school violence. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/school_violence_fact_sheet-a.pdf
Centers for Disease Control. (2012). Youth violence. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/yv-datasheet-a.pdf
Centers for Disease Control (2015). School violence: risk and protective factors. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/riskprotectivefactors.html#Protective
American Psychological Association. (2015). Warning signs of violence. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/warning-signs.aspx
Juvonen, J. (2001). School violence: prevalence, fears and prevention. Retrieved from: http://www.rand.org/pubs/issue_papers//IP219/index2.html
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Great post! The amount of violence in schools is shocking and needs to be attended to almost immediately. You touched on all of the other factors that contribute to school violence which was a smart thing to do because it shows the amount of diversity developing a trait such as violence has. Developing a trait can take years or can develop in a very short time depending on both genetic factors and environmental ones. I also liked your section about the interventions. Some years ago I was watching the news and there were multiple women and men who set up some type of safe houses in urban areas for kids to hang out in. These safe houses had pool tables, different game systems, snacks, and just an over all safe place away from violence and gang influence. Having safe houses such as these could also be a great intervention for school violence. Thanks for the great post!