Reported Occurrence and Perceptions of Violence in Middle and High Schools (original) (raw)

Perceptions of school violence by elementary and middle school personnel

1998

The number of youths arrested on homicide charges between 1988 and 1992 increased by 101% in Ohio alone (Baker, 1995). While the increasing tide of juvenile violence in the streets is alarming, it is particularly problematic because of insidious encroachment into the public school (Glasser, 1992; Sautter, 1995). According to a National School Board Association survey of 700 schools, school violence is worse now than it was 5 years ago (Baker, 1995). Research has indicated in the 4 years following September 1986, 71 persons had been killed by guns in schools, 201 were severely wounded, and 242 were held hostage at gun-point. It is estimated that more than 100,000 youths are taking guns to school each day (Center to Prevent Handgun Violence [Center], 1990; Stephans, 1994). A 1991 study indicated that one of every 18 students attending high school carried a gun (Schaff 1995). These acts occurred in 35 states and the District of Columbia (Center, 1990). Research indicates that violent crimes among youth are increasing while other age groups have stabilized (Governor's Task Force, 1993; Portner, 1995; Sautter, 1995). Fox and Pierce (1994) reported that over 90% of the time, males between the ages of 14 and 17 have been both the offender and victim in violent crime. Research on school violence indicates that school hallways and classrooms are risk areas for violence while the trigger event for the violence varies from gang activity to romantic disputes or theft (Center, 1990). Many education professionals feel that school violence is not caused by the school but reflects behaviors displayed outside school (Stephans, 1994). Societal changes, the breakdown of family relationships, violent role models in the media, and media-modeled violent behavior have been cited as contributing to school violence (Bender & Bruno, 1990; Met Life, 1994; Stephans, 1994). Resource constraints placed on U.S. schools make it difficult for the schools to adequately address this issue, leaving many to deal with violence in a piecemeal fashion. While many programs to target the causes of school violence are being piloted in middle schools, junior high schools, and senior high schools, there are few programs targeting the elementary school level (Johnson & Johnson, 1995a; Stephans, 1994). Programs ranging from police partnerships to the removal of lockers are being tried, but the results have been inconsistent (Johnson & Johnson, 1995a, 1995b).

The Enemy within A National Study on School Violence and Prevention

Urban Education, 1998

This study investigated teacher, district, and site administrators' perceptions of school violence and violence prevention programs in 15 school districts of various sizes in 12 states located across the United States. The study focused on: (a) school personnel fears about violence, (b) frequency of school personnel as victims of violent actions over the past 2 years, (c) areas in the school environment that pose the greatest risk of violence for students or school personnel (d) profiles of typical victims and perpetrators of violence, (e) strategies implemented by schools to deal with violence, (f) perceptions regarding which strategies were considered to be the most and least effective in dealing with violence, and (g) the cost to school districts for violence prevention. The study concluded by providing a suggested plan of action to remediate and reduce violence in schools.

School violence: Prevalence, fears, and prevention

PsycEXTRA Dataset

School shootings such as the one at Columbine High School in 1999 have left deep scars in our nation. The apparently random nature of these highly publicized shootings has raised public fears to epidemic proportions. According to 2001 polls, more than 50 percent of parents with children in grades K-12 1 and 75 percent of secondary school students 2 now think that a school shooting could occur in their community. Schools are taking a variety of measures to improve school safety. These include the use of metal detectors, the presence of security guards on campus, rules and regulations regarding student conduct and dress, profiling of potentially violent students, anti-bullying instructional programs, and counseling and mediation. Which of these approaches work? Which will reduce the incidence of violence in our schools and alleviate the fears of parents and children? How can school and district administrators choose among the myriad possibilities, and how can they know where to allocate precious resources? RAND examined the literature regarding these programs and found that only a handful have been evaluated, and even fewer have been deemed effective or even promising. The goal of this paper is to describe the options that are currently available for schools. An analysis of the 20020328 066 key components of various approaches in terms of their potential positive and negative effects can assist in the selection of policies, programs, and procedures while we wait for evaluations to be conducted.

School-related Violence Among High School Students in the United States, 1993-1995

Journal of School Health, 1999

States who carried a weapon, were threatened or injured with a weapon, or were involved in physical fighting on school propeqfrom 1993-1995. Geographic region, grade in school, race/ethnicity, and gender were the independent variables. Data regarding school-related violence among adolescents were collected in 1993 and 1995 using the Youth Risk Behavior Survey developed and implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results indicated gender, race, and grade in school were predictors of school-related violence for students in grades 9-12 from 1993 to 1995. Males were involved in violent acts more often than females. Minority students, especially Hispanics and Blacks, and students in lower grades at school participate in and are victims of violence more often than other students. (J Sch Health.

American Public Schools' Struggle with Daily Violence: Prevalence, Concerns and Prevention

International journal of humanities and social sciences, 2016

School life is one of the most dynamic aspects of life. In today's society, school life is undergoing many changes and is therefore being labeled as a hectic annex of the societal development and changes. Such changes are often identified as the new social morbidities manifested through violence in all its forms. School violence is the 'culminating' outcome of the amalgam of the ills of society and their influence on the school system. Violence in schools is a challenging issue to educators and educationists which also negatively affects the educational value transmitted to and acquired by the students.

Violence at school: Recent evidence from four national surveys

Psychology in the Schools, 1998

Anonymous surveys of youth in school provide the most accurate source of data about violent incidents that occur in schools. Four surveys (the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the Monitoring the Future Survey, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, and the National Crime Victimization Survey School Crime Supplement) using nationally representative samples that include questions about violence are administered among school-aged youth; all four were given in 1995. The data from those four databases are reviewed in this article to assess risk factors for weapon carrying (one of the most potentially dangerous behaviors facing schools today) and the level of the school violence problem. In this review, fighting, threats, theft, weapon carrying, and fearfulness at school are examined by grade by gender and found to be at high levels despite a probable underestimation bias in three of the four surveys. The percentage of youths in grades 9-12 who were involved in a single fight in a given year declined in recent years while the prevalence of more frequent fighting has not. The most important risk factors identified for carrying weapons at school dealt with the student's involvement with violence in the broader community context both as perpetrator and victim. Selling drugs, having high disposable income, feeling distant from people in their school, and feeling that people in their neighborhood don't look out for each other were moderately important. Efforts to prevent this trajectory toward violence and crime should begin early before patterns are established and before school failure is likely.

Introduction to the Special Issue “School Violence and Safety”

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2016

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stressed that school violence is a top public health concern due to long-lasting detrimental effects on students' physical health and emotional well-being. Schools are agents of socialization that directly influence student development, educational progress, and life-course trajectories (

Status update of research related to national education goal seven: School violence content area

1995

More than one third of Americans think that reducing school violence is the top challenge facing public schools. The challenge posed by National Education Goal 7 is that, by the year 2000, schools will be fiefs of violence. Despite increased concern about school violence and pursuit of this lofty national goal, this paper presents the argument that it is time to reflect on what is actually known about school violence. Empirical studies about school violence are reviewed, particularly as they relate to weapons possession, perception of personal security, victimization patterns, and perceptions of campus conditions associated with environments conducive to learning. These studies are drawn from multidisciplinary literature sources and the results of the California School Climate and Safety Survey. It is shown that schools are not infested with violence and that teachers and students generally feel safe in their home schools. It is argued that school safety plans should be informed by local information and not driven primarily by national studies or media reports. (Contains 34 references and 5 tables) (Author/JE)