Saturday, May 30, 2009

Overall Safety for Everyone in American Schools

We have a different type of assignment with school safety and violence compared to the various other readings with two opposing views on issues from two authors. This assignment is to read nine various articles including a large PDF file that is over 160 pages. To make this assignment easier for everyone, I will review each article in an outline form in the same order given to us through Dr. Scott and the Angel System.

There are nine articles that relate to school violence, cyberbullying, teacher and student safety, and various statistics on the subject. When we think of school violence, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Columbine? Well, school violence started in 1764 when four Lenape American Indian warriors entered a schoolhouse in Franklin County, (near-present day Greencastle) Pennsylvania and shot and scalped 10 children of white settlers and their teacher.
The history of school violence is overwhelming and to review the lengthy list of incidents, please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school-related_attacks

I realize that Wikipedia is not the most reliable source of information, but the outline is rather extensive and thorough and would be difficult to edit these historical facts.

The following is an outline for your convenience of each of the nine articles assigned:

A. "Lessons Shifted From Tragedy at Columbine," by Debra Viadero

1. This is the tenth anniversary (April 20, 1999) of the Columbine High School massacre at the Jefferson County, Colorado.
2. There is no single profile of a school shooter.
3. Peter Langman, a psychologist who studied 10 school gunmen, including the Columbine youths, in his book, "Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters."
4. "You can't assume that a school shooter is going to look like a kid in a trench coat, who has no friends, and skulking down the halls silently." Peter Langman
5. There are several other psychotic tendencies that should be reviewed, for example in the case of Kipland P. Kinkel, a 15 year-old who shot 27 people at his Springfield, Oregon high school in 1998. Kipland heard voices and believed China was going to invade the United States. Kinkel's parents lied to police about his access to guns, and the police did not follow up with due process in the investigation because his parents were teachers.
6. Three other gunmen profiled unrelated to Columbine were emotionally and physically abused, had substance abusing parents.
7. School gunmen "do not primarily act in retaliation for constant bullying that they have endured at their schools."
8. Harris and Kiebold tormentors were one year older and no longer attending Columbine when the attacks took place in April 1999. Langman states, " but it's hard to understand their attack as revenge from harassment." "It was really a terrorist attack and they wanted to go down in history for causing the most deaths in U.S. history."
9. Rural schools are real public institution that touches the whole community according to Katherine S. Newman, a professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University compared to urban schools that do not see rampage shooting, because schools in urban areas are "not as important."
10. Students are the first line of defense in avoiding school violence. In 2005, a 16-year-old who murdered eight at his high school and two others at his grandfather's home. 39 students had some prior knowledge of the plans.
11. After the peak years of the rampage-style attacks between 1997 to 1999, students began to take any threats seriously and reported them to adults.

B. "New Statistics Published on Campus Crime," by Debra Viadero

1. In the 2006-07 school year there were 27 homicides on K-12 school campuses, which was an increase from the 19 in-school murders in the previous year. This stat is less than 2 percent of the total number of youth homicides for that year.
2. This article also talks about theft among young people in school and away from school.

C. "Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2008 "/ PDF File

1. In 2006, students between 12-18 --> 1.7 million victims of nonfatal crimes at school, including 909,500 thefts and 767,000 violent crimes.
2. Eight per-cent of secondary school teachers reported being threatened with injury by a student than elementary school teachers at six per-cent.
3. This PDF has several different stats on many different levels of school violence.

D. "School Crime Drops 17 Percent in D.C." The Washington Examiner

1. "Crime and violent incidents are down in D.C. Public Schools, but officials with the teachers union say they don't believe the statistics."
2. Teachers within the D.C. area reported to their union president by indicating that discipline was worse and not improving in 2008.

E. "Districts Take Action to Stem Violence Aimed at Teachers," by Vaishali Honawar

1. This article talks about "persistently dangerous" schools with students leaving along with state and federal funding. Once again, which numbers do you believe? Some think that school administrators are under reporting school violence to avoid the label and the lack of funding.
2. Telephone hotlines set-up for teachers to report instances of attacks against them in Philadelphia.
3. Train teachers to be proactive in identifying students that could be potential threats.
4. In New York City, school crime is down, serious incidents are down, and assaults on school personnel are down because the district is looking at the climate and the culture of each school and trying to create a climate that is supportive.
5. Peer to peer solutions to problems within the school. Training the students.
6. No support from Administration when a teacher is assaulted. It is the teacher's fault!

F. "Web Watch" "More News on Gun-Toting Texas Teachers"

1. North Texas hamlet of Harrold school board approved a policy to let teachers carry concealed weapons in the classroom/school to protect themselves.
2. This is a short article, but the comments to the post are very interesting in defending and condemning the decision.
3. If the teachers are carry guns then it will help in the police response time to a potential shooting, thereby saving lives.
4. Once the police arrives, how will they know who are the "bad guys" with all those guns in the hands of both teachers and students?
5. There is a comment from a petite teacher that looks seventeen and she would worry if she had a gun, they (aggressive student(s)) would overpower her, take her gun and shoot her.
6. If a student does have a gun and is walking the halls, he might think twice if he knew that a well trained teacher(s) had a gun and would be able to defend himself/herself (teacher) and their students, thereby saving lives.

G. "Cleveland Schools Faulted on Climate," by Christina A. Samuels

1. In response to the school shooting in Cleveland in August, a research group from Washington noted that there were harsh and inconsistent punishments in schools, poor adult role modeling, and weak family-school connection.
2. 48% of the almost 52,000 student district responded that they worry about crime and violence in school, and almost 43% reported that students are threatened or bullied at their high school.

H. "Digital Education" Tech Topic and Trends in K-12

1. Effective January 1, California will allow school districts to punish students for cyberbullying.
2. This stems from the case of 13 year old Megan Meier who commited suicide after a twisted case involving another teen's mother and MySpace.
3. A Pew Internet study in 2007 showed about 13% of students had suffered based on a rumor being spread about them online and 13% said they have been threatened via a text message, email, and/or instant message.

I. "Facebook, Take 2: Cyberbullying" by Nancy Flynn

1. The article starts with a mother talking about her first experience with Facebook with her small group of sixth grade girls.
2. First experience with cyberbullying dealing with Facebook.
3. Peer pressure: girls allowing to ("had to") invite other girls as "friends" onto their Facebook knowing very well the girl they invited will cause a fight. It is a status symbol to claim the high number of friends you have on Facebook.
4. Nine states have cyberbullying laws to protect children from being harassed and some states have taken action against cyberbullying beyond the school grounds.
5. In 2007, The American Civil Liberties Union has opposed some cyberbullying laws, claiming that school officials are violating the students' First Amendment rights.
6. The rules and regulations concerning cyberbullying within a school district is "contractual" and not a constitutional issue.

J. The Question

Since Columbine 1999, there has been 43 deaths related to high school violence in America. This violence is not unique to America, it is happening all across the globe. The number of deaths reported above does not include the number of deaths reported in primary schools or on the college level.

School violence has been with us since 1764 to present. Many children have been killed or injured. Teachers are being assaulted and brutally injured as well. There are statistics, experts reporting their findings, experts doubting the statistics and no matter what their conclusions are, children are still being killed in their school. Now we have Facebook, texting, and the internet as additional tools to bully and threaten other students. It is sad to say, but American school violence will never stop, but hopefully we can reduce the events to very small percentages

Do you think culture and climate of a school has a direct affect on school violence? How do you gage and/or change a culture and climate within a school that is "persistently dangerous?"

34 comments:

  1. I think that our entire culture has an influence on school violence. I do believe that some schools are more prone to violence than others. Districts that have a high number of gang members in their mix are certainly more prone to violence than a little school out in the country. However when I speak of this type of violence I just mean fights, bullying, theft and so on. I think that unfortunately the type of violence witnessed with Columbine can happen anywhere. The article entitled, “Lessons Shifted From Tragedy at Columbine,” by Debra Viadero, brings up points that reiterate this view. It’s kind of like Wednesday Adams statement when asked about her Halloween costume, “I am a homicidal maniac, they look just like everyone else.” Viadero mentions that students are the best line of defense we have against violence and that fortunately kids are reporting what they know.
    As far as changing the climate in a “persistently dangerous” school, I feel that adding extra psychologists and guidance counselors would be a good place to begin. I would create meetings that catered to the problems the kids faced. Offer different support groups that would give students an opportunity to talk about their lives, have a counselor sit in and together they could brainstorm peaceful alternatives to violent acts…..

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  2. If schools are an integral part of society, is it any surprise that our children have to deal with such issues as violence, bullying and theft in the classroom? We live in a sometimes violent society. This year alone I have had one student threaten to kill me four different times, the last time I did not even report it. A different student threatened to slash my tires and burn my car. I have broken up more fights than I can remember and had students hand cuffed in my room. Several of my students have served time in the juvenile detention center and are on probation. Many of them come from violent homes and fighting is the way in which they maintain their status amongst their peers. Is our school different than any other urban low-income district? I would tend to think not. I believe that the violence we see in schools is a direct reflection of the society in which we currently live.
    Under NCLB parents can remove their children from schools deemed dangerous. In the various readings the instances of violence seems to be decreasing, but Honowar states, in Districts take aim to stem violence against teachers, ““Are the numbers going down, or is reporting going down? There’s a huge difference between the two,” said Kenneth S. Trump, the president of National School Safety and Security Services, a consulting group based in Cleveland. There has been “a history and culture in education of downplaying, denying, and deflecting when it comes to publicly acknowledging any school crime,” he said. I know in our district teachers are discouraged from reporting violence or threats, and there have been instances when the police should have been called, but it was not even a consideration.
    In Lessons Sifted From Tragedy at Columbine, Viadero stated, “Because student reports of threats seem to be such an effective deterrent, experts contend that programs aimed at creating an environment in which students feel comfortable enough to confide their fears and concerns to adults may be the best means of preventing future shooting rampages in schools. Although she is only reporting her findings about Columbine I think it is safe to say that we could extend this thought to school safety as a whole. If the issue of school safety is addressed head on and we create an environment where kids feel comfortable reporting threats and other crimes to counselors, teachers, and administration this is a beginning point to change a culture and climate that is persistently dangerous.

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  3. As an aside, we have a counselor that comes to our room from Bellfaire each week, and does different activities with my kids that help them deal with feelings of anger and aggression. If she could come every day I think that it would be an extremely effective strategy.

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  4. I do believe that the culture and climate of a school has a direct affect on school violence. If fighting and violence in a "normal" thing in a school, the students will come to see it as an everyday occurance, and it being okay, or normal. I agree with Ali when she stated that districts with a high number of gang members (I'm guessing inner-city schools) are more prone to violence than smaller, more rural schools. The second question asked how do you gage and change a culture and climate within a school that is "persistently dangerous"? In the first article "Lessons Sifted From Tragedy at Columbine" by Debra Viadero, Mr. Langman, a clinical director of Kids Peace in Pa. stated that most of these homicidal students are "raging products of childhood trauma", and most "don't act in retaliation of constant bullying at school". So if that is the case, than any school in any area is succeptible to school violence, because childhood trauma happens all over the country. I think that if schools added more support groups and counselors it would definitely help the schools, but they have to be open and inviting - just having them there will not draw students in and talk. I also think that providing some assemblies of people that have been affected by school violence (ex. maybe a family whose child was killed or injured in a school-related incident) would shed some light on these occurances and show people how serious they can be. It might just make some students think twice.

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  5. A report in the article "Cleveland Schools Faulted on Climate" in the Ed Week Archives stated that "another report requested in the wake of the shootings (referring to the 14-year old at Success Tech Academy) focused specifically on security improvements." I do believe that adding extra police offers to schools and security guards, and even metal detectors could be effective in preventing weapons from entering the schools and violent outrages to break out, but as mentioned in "Lessons Sifted From Tragedy at Columbine by Debra Viadero, Mr. Langman said that "if you expect to die in an attack, it doesn't matter if you set off an alarm at a metal detector." So in hindsight, they may help, but not completely deter these events from happening.

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  6. I think that the tragedy of school shootings obviously is violent and a problem, but affects directly relatively few students. I also think that students are bullied, and intimidated on a daily basis. Fighting is middle schools is fairly common. I think this stems from the neighborhoods and family life. Schools are not isolated, but rather reflect society. What types of stories dominate the news each night?

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  7. Yes, I think culture and climate have a direct affect on school violence, students, teachers and administrators. In an article titled "Examining School Climate:Defining Factots and Educational influences" by Megan L.Marshall, she breaks down school climate into seven dimension. These dimension are measured based on student's perceptions in the folllowing areas: achievement motivation, fairness, order and discipline, parent involvement, sharing of resources, student interpersonal relationships and student-teacher relationships (Haynes, Emmons & Comer, 1993). There is another survey conducted referred to as the Charles F. Fettering Ltd (CFK) school climate profile. This profile is composed of eight subscales respect, trust, high morale, opportunity for input, continous academic and social growth, cohesiveness, school renewal and caring (Johnson et al., 1996; Johnson & Johnson, 1993, 1997). There are other scales created assessing issues such as security maintenance, administration , guidance, student activities and teacher -principal interaction(Hanna, 1998). Because school climate surveys tend focus on relationships, peoples attitude and integrity issues, School climate in my opinion, is what makes a school fun, safe and enjoyable or not. In addressing school climate, researchers noted "harsh and inconsistent punishments in schools, poor adult role modeling and weak family-school connection"(Samuel p.1) as the biggest challenges. When looking at these areas it makes sense that not only does school culture and climate have a direct affect on school violence but it also has a direct affect on the individuals in the schools and in the surrounding community.

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  8. I think one thing that would really help is if schools weren't so big. Smaller schools and smaller class sizes would really help schools create warm, inviting, safe and nurturing environments. If teachers didn't have so many students and principals didn't have so many referrals, they would have time to really get to know the students and use more preventative measures. I know Katherine S. Newman wrote in her book The Social Roots of School Shootings that the five factors are "psychosocial issues", feelings of isolation, wanting to "solve problems and elevate status from loser to antihero," can easily get guns and weapons, but I think the most important factor is when she talks about parents, teachers and others failing to identify troubled teenagers.

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  9. I always thought this was interesting...I'm sure many of you have seen this before.

    Researchers Alexander Volokh and Lisa Snell of Reason Foundation use this comparison:

    Public School Teachers Rate The Top Disciplinary Problems

    1940: Talking out of turn, chewing gum, making noise, running in the hall, cutting in line, dress code violations, littering

    1990: Drug abuse, alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery, assault

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  10. This pretty much sums up what I was trying to say previously about teachers forming relationships with students and identifying troubled teenagers. We can't identify them if we don't listen and get to know them. Let them have a voice and don't judge them so they feel comfortable enough to open up.

    This is from a Washington Post article called Teaching Teachers How to Connect with Urban Students. Thomas is a new teacher who thought he would easily connect because he's African American and grew up in an urban district and finds that he doesn't because he didn't starve or have many of the severe issues that his students have...

    "A key lesson for Thomas came from a student who kept talking out in class, yelling as Thomas tried to lecture. Thomas tried ignoring him. He tried giving him leadership responsibilities. Then Thomas started to listen.

    He discovered that the young student had just lost his father. Perhaps what he needed was help in mourning. Perhaps what he needed was attention.

    Thomas moved the student's desk next to his. He made it a special place. The talking stopped. The student began getting A's in class. Thomas felt he was on to something.

    In a week of seminars, presentations and heartfelt discussions, perhaps the secret to "cultural competence" was really quite simple: to get to know the students and where they come from, and to care."

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  11. I agree with Molly school assemblies with touching first hand account stories of how violence has affected people could really be an eye opener for some students and prompt them to open up and talk to each other or to guidance counselors. I also think Jen's idea about smaller schools is a good one.

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  12. When I think of trying to gage a school culture or climate, I think of surveys. I also think of other elements of a school such as discipline, attendance and student performance as other indicators which can tell you something about the school's climate as well. In order to change a culture or climate in a school building, it will take a collective effort among staff students and the community. The reality is a building is just that .... a building. The people in and around the building will determine what the climate will be like. So if a school building is to change it's climate, then it is the job of the individuals to make the change. Schools can use a number of possible interventions. I have listed some interventions mentioned in an article by Megan L. Marshall titled "Examining School Climate: Defining Factors and Educational Influences". These include increase parent community invovlement, charater education workshops, violence prevention & conflict resolution cirricula, prevention of acts of bullying workshops, provide a safe environment for all(Harris &Lowery,2002), honoring student achievement and block scheduling(Shore,1995).

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  13. I completely agree with Molly about school assemblies giving first hand stories. My school recently held an assembly for 4th through 7th graders called, "TLC" (Tough Love Cleveland) It was hosted by the Grafton County Jail. Officers brought in 3 people who were in the middle of serving time in the jail for a crime they committed. The crimes ranged from drug violations to attempted murder. They each shared their story about how it was to grow up on the east side of Cleveland and what their home environment was like. They shared what influenced them to get into "trouble" and what they plan on doing now once they are done serving their time. The assembly was to give these students real life experiences and to teach them that every decision they make effects their life one way or another somewhere down the road. I believe the assembly was very powerful and left an impact in these students' eyes versus reading an article about crimes. They were actually able to listen to something and be aware of their surroundings because it was something that had happened close to home for them.

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  14. I tend to agree with Ali when she stated " I think that our entire culture has an influence on school violence". If we just take a look at the evolution of the United States, if it had not been for violence, deceite and manipulation, The united States may not exist or at least the way we know it today. Jessica shared an interesting story about students "Threatening to kill her and slash her tires". I can recall a few years ago at Oberlin schools, the shop teacher was actually physically attacked by two students. Kenneth S. Trup points out in the article "Districts take action to Stem violence Aimed at Teachers" that if schools continue to report school crimes they could eventually loose federal and state funding. This information I am sure keeps schools from reporting all crimes. Jessica even spoke about how she did not report the last incident. (I wonder if that was because she didn't feel supported?). So long as we continue to show our students how to commit violent acts through music, movies, video games, television, domestic violence, etc. I think school violence is an issue we will continue to deal with.

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  15. "As cyberbullying becomes more and more of a problem for schools, I think it's only appropriate for schools to have the authority to be able to deal with it, just as they would a physical or verbal fight." (Cracking Down on Cyberbullying) Cyberbullying I feel is becoming easier and easier for students to be targets as well as for other students to be the "cyberbully". Just as schools deal with violence assemblies, it would be beneficial if schools would promote assemblies that focus on cyberbullying. These days, more and more students have text messaging on their phone, accounts for myspace and facebook and are constantly interacting throughout the web with other students. I understand and respect personal business, but if a school authority feels that a child could be bullying another student through the web they should be entitled the power to check accounts at any time just as the internet is monitored for majority of us in the work field.

    According to the same article,(Cracking Down on Cyberbullying), "A Pew Internet study back in 2007 reported that about 13 percent of students had endured a rumor being spread about them online, and 13 percent said they'd received a threatening text message, email, or instant message." I think it is safe to say unfortunately, we all know the percentages have dramatically increased for the worse. We do not need anymore incidents like the case and tragedy loss of Megan Meier. I can't imagine how one may feel from that nor do I ever want to experience that inside or outside of the classroom. I know in the best of my power I will do my best to promote an active roll in preventing cyberbullying in my classroom as well as in my school.

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  16. I feel like culture and climate in a school, at home, and in the home towns has a direct effect on school violence. However, a psychologist whom had written in the “Lessons Sifted From Tragedy at Columbine” by Debra Viadero states that “You can’t assume that a school shooter is going to look like a kid in a trench coat, who has no friends, and is skulking down the halls silently…These are diverse kids with diverse personalities..If you get stuck thinking that there’s a certain kind of kid that we can identify, then we are going to be missing kids who are potential dangers” (Viadero &Langman).

    I’ve in past experiences gauged the amount of violence in a school district by word of mouth, unfortunately. I grew up in a very quiet, small rural town and we didn’t have much violence, but in surrounding districts like Cleveland Municipal, where “About 46% of middle school students thought their school environment needs improvement, also more that 48% of responding high school students said they worry about crime and violence in school, and almost 43% reported that students are threatened or bullied at their high school” (Cleveland Schools Faulted on Climate)

    I am not sure how to change the climate in the entire school, however, in my classroom I can make it a positive, trustworthy, “bully-free zone”. A zone where students don’t feel the pressures of the outside world, where they can come to an adult in the classroom and discuss outside issues, or where students respect each other for their differences and for their strengths as humans, and not as “Billy” or “Suzy”. Also taking into account their lives ‘outside my classroom and educating them in a way to make them not fall into ‘generational’ poverty or crime.

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  17. I agree with David, and the post about cyberbullying, I don't think that one has reached its zenith yet. I also think that reading the differences that jen posted between the 1940's and the 1990's is sad but right on.

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  18. What jjones says is key about starting in her classroom. While we want to change the world we have to start out small. Maybe we educate the kids in our room, then they take it home, the parents discuss it with their friends and on and on.... I realize it is a huge problem that needs attention but I am a firm believer in planting seeds,watching them grow and eventually spread...

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  19. In my opinion, the culture and climate of a school definitely has a direct affect on school violence. The more violence that students see around them, the more that they are going to think that that is the only way to behave and survive in school. I was shocked when I read the article entitled "More News on Gun-Toting Texas Teachers" which says how an ordinace was passed to allow licensed teachers to carry guns at school. What kind of a message is this sending to the students, that teachers need to carry guns in order to stay safe? What kind of a learing environment does this provide for students where they are more concerned with whether or not their teacher has a gun hidden under their clothes rather than focusing on academics.

    I was also surprised when I read "Lessons sifted from tragedy at Columbine" that siad that "most gunmen do not primarily act in retaliation for constant bullying that they have endured at schools." I think that bullying is a huge issue in the school system and was suprised to see that it really plays no factor in the reasoning behind school shootings.

    I think that we also need to look beyond the school systems and at family life and the media for why people think violence is okay. Now I am definietly not one of those people who think the media is to blame for everything, but I do think that parents need to take some responsiblity for what their children are seeing on tv, especially at a young age. Parents, with young children need to regulate what they watch, because I have seen many kids emulate something that they saw on tv which was completely inappropriate. Therefore, if we start at home and start teaching children at a young age acceptable ways to behave, I think that this will help them as they grow older.

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  20. I don't know if there is a correct answer on how to change a school climate that is deemed "persistently dangerous". I also agree with jjones that we must first start in the classroom. It's easier to start by reaching a few people and then moving on to bigger groups of people. In "Cleveland schools faulted on climate" the author states "Among the challenges noted by researchers were harsh and inconsistent punishments in schools, poor adult role modeling, and a weak family-school connection." I think that there needs to be a consistent way of punishing students in order for there to be any effect on any of the students. But I think there is more to it than just finding a proper way to discipline students because many will probably not care about the punishment. I do like Molly's idea about the assemblies because I think it would be a very affective way to reach students. Listening to an emotional story may resonate with them and have more of an effect on them than other modes.

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  21. I liked Tiffany's post about cyber bullying. Unfortunately is has begun to affect the students in our schools, and even more unfortunately won't be going away anytime soon. With all of the new technology out there, and all of the new things to come - it just gives kids more and more ways that they could potentially bully someone.

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  22. I do believe that as we are exposed to things more and more, the shock value wears off. Things become normal when they are lived over time. We must keep in mind that students may live in a much different environment than we do. I agree with whomever spoke about creating a safe and comfortable environment in the classroom, and getting to know students. I also agree that a school wide tone must be set. I don't think that many would agree with me,but I believe that repeat offenders of violence should be refered to the police.

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  23. After reading, "Districts Take Action to Stem Violence Aimed at Teachers", it makes you wonder how come prevention is not always there. Why do schools take action to make preventions in the future after an incident has already occurred.The article stated, "In Cleveland for instance, after two teachers and two students were shot by a student at Success Tech Academy in October, the 53,000 student district began putting in metal detectors in every school and hiring more security officers, social workers, nurses and psychologists." (Vol. 7, issue 37) Not discriminating, but knowing Cleveland is an intercity school district, why weren't the metal detectors placed in schools as a precaution earlier? We have seen the different incidents reporting all over the news throughout the U.S. with fatal shootings at schools such as Columbine and Virginia Tech. If safety precautions were taken in place as an overall awareness for schools, I don't think we would be dealing with as many incidents and tragedies as we have over the past few years in Education.

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  24. I was appalled by the gun toting Texas teachers as well. I agree with Megan that teachers carrying guns is insane. If a school has gotten to the point that the teachers feel they need to be armed it is time to bring in security guards, metal detectors, police dogs and the like. Wow was I talking about a place for young minds to be enlightened or a state prison??

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  25. A GREAT book that I have to help with violence/bullying is The Bully Free Classroom by Allan L. Beane, PH.D. It has everything you need for the beginning of the year to create a community-like, safe classroom environment. For grades K-8.

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  26. I agree with everyone that teachers carrying guns is crazy. Like we're at war or something. or as Ali says, state prison. There has GOT to be a better way to be safe than that.

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  27. We implemented the "Bully Free Program" at our school this year. I believe it is based on the book Jen mentioned. Some of the things were helpful I thought like keeping a journal of events witnessed on the playground, in this way we were able to see if there were any patterns developing, specific kids targeted, or targeters! I also liked the "confidental boxes" where kids could place comments/concerns in private to make teachers aware.

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  28. I also agree with the issue of cyberbullying and how it is becoming more and more of a problem. As Katie Ash states in her article (and someone else quoted this) about how schools need to have the "authority to deal with it, just as they would a physical or verbal fight." Cyberbullying can be just as detrimental to a student as any other type of bullying and there needs to be a way to protect students from it. The idea of "confidential boxes" is a great idea because that way it gives students anonymity. I feel that many students are afraid to speak up about bullying for fear of retailiation from other students and the fear that other students could target them for this. Using the boxes is a great way for students to talk about how they are feeling and to get it to the attention of educators.

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  29. I agree with what seems to be the majority here that culture and climate of a school does seem to have an effect on school violence. Ali and David both took it further to say that “our entire culture has an influence on school violence” and I agree. Students are continually exposed to violence in “music, movies, video games, television, domestic violence, etc.” as David said in his post. I agree that school violence will continue to be a problem as long as students as exposed to these things. I think Jessica J. gets it right with her comment about starting with her climate in her classroom. Making a positive and comfortable environment in your individual classroom will help, even though it is only a small piece of the puzzle. I do agree with Megan that “if we start at home and start teaching children at a young age acceptable ways to behave it will help them as they grow”. Unfortunately, as teachers, as much as we would like to we cannot change our students’ home life; so back to creating that positive and “bully-free” zone in the individual classroom.

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  30. Dealing with schools that are “persistently” dangerous is a complicated and difficult issue. I think many steps would be involved before those schools would be dealt with properly. I agree with the article Jen posted from the Washington Post article called Teaching Teachers How to Connect with Urban Students, especially the end of the article where it states, “get to know the students and where they come from, and to care”. I also agree with Jen’s idea of smaller schools to decrease violence. Smaller schools would create a more “safe and nurturing environment”, and make students more comfortable to report problems as they arise. Also, it would allow teachers and administrators to get to know the students better if the population was smaller.

    Molly and Tiffany’s idea and example of having some type of school assembly with real-life examples of school violence, whether it is the victims or the criminals in these school crimes is a good idea. I would think that this would put it into perspective for students, that school violence is a real crime. Whether the student is the bully that decides to stop or the victim that decides to begin reporting, it would be a positive outcome.

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  31. It is important to note as well that school violence is not only dangerous to the students and teachers in the schools; it is also detrimental to failing schools. In Vaishali Honawar’s article Districts Take Action to Stem Violence Aimed at Teachers, the author states that “assaults have made it hard for the district to find and retain teachers because teachers who are attacked usually end up getting blamed by the administration for the assaults”. Whether they are being blamed by their administrations or not, districts with high amounts of violence are oftentimes avoided by some teachers or they are a starting point until they find something in a better district.

    I also like the idea of “confidential boxes”, and I think students would be more likely to report problems without the possibility of retaliation or looking like a “tattle-tale” to their peers.

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  32. You know, there is no way I will carry a gun to school as a teacher, I am not a police officer, our training barely consists of what we need it too, and now they think about 'pistol toting 101'. It's ludicris, I agree with everyone here, it's nuts out there the things people come up with.

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  33. I did that TLC assembly as well, it works, and we also did this 'scared straight' deal in the 7th grade, where they took all of the 7th graders to the Lorain County Correctional Facility, and I think it worked to a point, but some kids are so engrained you can't change it by that one assembly or one field trip or one talk, you can never determine the future or what a child thinks, it's just scary to think about the future and all the things that will happen in a classroom/school.

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