School Violence

Stop blaming the guns! Stop blaming the video games! Stop blaming television and the movie industry! The parents, the school officials, and the media are all missing the point!

You want to know WHY there is school violence? Let me ask you this: what is the most common denominator in these situations? In a large majority of these cases, one or the other was mercilessly picked on or scapegoated by some of the other students (bullies). I'm not talking about light-hearted kidding around that we all get at one time or another; I'm talking about non-stop mean-spirited hurtful picking on or tormenting the victim. What is a bully? If you threaten, injure, coerce, humiliate, and/or harass another person with the intention of hurting that person, you're a bully.

There have always been bullies. People who pick on other people ... the reasons are numerous: insecurity, neurotic need for control, peer pressure, or just for the sheer meanness of it! I believe that we as a society need to come down harder on the bullies. Bullies have a tendency to provoke negative actions out of others. A lot of people feel that if you ignore the bully, he'll eventually get bored and leave you alone. I have news for those people: most bullies will keep at you and get worse until they get a reaction out of you, and then they still continue their verbal and/or physical torture. This is from personal experience. Until you take action to stop the bully's actions, he'll continue to pick on you and other people. The school principal and the bully's parents need to be made aware of the situation and take action. Then they need to monitor and correct that bully's behavior. If that doesn't work, it's time to contact law enforcement and the courts. TOLERANCE EQUALS ACCEPTANCE. NEVER TOLERATE BEING BULLIED.

A student bringing a gun or knife to school is definitely a sign that a situation needs to be looked into PRONTO! Either that student is desperate to defend himself or he has a vendetta against someone (is being bullied or is bullying someone else). For whatever reason the student uses to justify bringing a gun or other weapon to school, the underlying provocation needs to be addressed.

Teachers used to be able to discipline unruly or mischevious students. Parents used to make their children behave. Not in today's society. Yes, there are teachers and parents who care and are involved in the children's lives to inspire them to be better people. However, a greater number of teachers and parents are quick to duck their heads in the sand at the first sign of trouble and don't act until things really get out of hand, then claim that they had no idea that anything was wrong. That's a copout, folks! There are signs, and with some observation, they can be easily spotted. Until the students are made to behave, they will continue to be progressively disrespectful and disruptive.

The parents that care about their children are alarmed at how their children are being treated by some of the disruptive students. These parents fear for the safety of their kids in school today. Many of these parents have resorted to taking their children out of the offending school and placing them in either private school or utilized home schooling. They've read the news stories of students being stabbed or shot, and they're acting on this information.

The zero tolerance rules for weapons and drugs was a good idea, but it needs to be modified so that common sense can be used to determine the severity of any action taken if a violation of the rules occurs. For example, I don't believe a student should be suspended or treated as a criminal for giving another student over-the-counter pain medication for a headache, especially if that recipient has taken that medication before. However, with the zero tolerance policy for drugs, those very students have been treated as if they brought crack cocaine to school. Common sense needs to be applied here.
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The bottom line is ... until parents and teachers hold the students more accountable for their actions and are allowed to take stronger disciplinary measures, the problem of school violence will continue to get worse.