Violence in schools today

Recently I was watching the news and one of the topics that kept reemerging was the rate of increased violence in school today.

According to Wikipedia, violence is defined as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development, or deprivation.”

Fighting, bullying, beating, engaging the use of a weapon, sexual assault, etc. are different forms of violence. Surprisingly, youth violence happens during school hours, on the way to and from school and within the communities. Violence impacts thousands of young people each day, and in turn, their families, schools, and communities.

According to CDC’s nationwide Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS):

• Thousands of people experience youth violence every day. While the magnitude and types of youth violence vary across communities and demographic groups, youth violence negatively impacts youth in all communities—urban, suburban, rural, and tribal.
• Youth violence is common. Nearly 1 in 5 high school students reported being bullied on school property in the last year, and about 1 in 7 were electronically bullied (texting, Instagram, Facebook, or other social media).
• Youth violence kills and injures. Homicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24. Each day, about 14 young people are victims of homicide and about 1,300 are treated in emergency departments for nonfatal assault-related injuries.
• Youth violence is costly. Youth homicides and nonfatal physical assault-related injuries result in more than $21 billion annually in combined medical and lost productivity costs alone, not including costs associated with the criminal justice system, psychological and social consequences for victims, perpetrators and their families, or costs incurred by communities.

POSSIBLE CAUSES OF VIOLENCE

• Lack of Parental Care and Support
• Previous experience of violence
• Poor performance in school
• Influence from peers
• Addiction to drugs, alcohols and tobacco

PREVENTION

Should we fold our arms and do nothing about this ill plaguing our children in school today? Of course, the answer is so what then can we do to reduce or eradicate the rate of violence.

1. Parental Role: Parents should develop a healthy and cordial relationship with their children. A child who lacks care, encouragement, attention, support, trust and respect from parents is a discouraged child. A child who is constantly being abused or neglected at home or who lacks a sense of belonging has the tendency to exhibit any of the earlier mentioned forms of violence. Parents should spend on a daily basis quality time with their kids, also have a family meeting where values and issues are discussed and solutions provided (see the previous article on parenting styles). It is very imperative that parents know who their children are hanging out with and if possible get to talk to them to have a clue of their moral background and values to determine the influence they may have on their children. They are to model to their kids the kind of adults they want their child.

2. School’s Responsibility: the school should constantly educate the students on:

• The danger of violence
• How to develop a positive relationship, mental health, problem-solving skill, conflict management
• Dealing with Depression

In addition, security cameras must be installed in all the hidden area within the facility and constantly monitoring the camera, for violence awareness, rapid intervention and to prevent future occurrences; encouraging students to speak out and to address immediately any reports of violence from students or teachers by finding the root cause and a lasting solutions

3. Community: I will advise the community/schools to constantly organize mentoring programs for youths. The aim of this program is to establish a one-one healthy relationship between a responsible and experienced adult and youth. The adult’s responsibility is to provide guidance, advice, encourage and model good behavior to the youth.

In addition, the community also engages the youth in activities that will help build their social, psychological and moral skills.

Compiled by Deborah Egbuonu.

Resources:

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/yv-factsheet508.pdf