School Violence Essay, Research Paper
In today society, to hear about an act of violence in a school setting is tragic, but common. Whether the violence has to do with guns, knives, or just a simple fight, school violence is getting a little out of hand In the last year there have been over 10 school shooting in the United States, including the most tragic, Columbine High School. These acts of violence are done by students who feel frustrated with their current situation in school; it s usually done by the one you least suspect. Violence isn t just the shootings, it is all the stuff done at school that no one seems to hear about, fights, name calling, and excluding people you think don t belong. These little things can lead up to something big, something no one is expecting, for example a shooting. Most are unpopular and are considered an outsider in their school. These act of violence are a way for these kids to escape their feelings of rejection for a moment. One kid can destroy a whole school, with a gun, but something must have made this person feel hatred toward school, and people. The little things no one thinks will do harm are things that make a person feel hatred towards something or someone. Though mass school shootings in upper class suburban schools are the most talked about sort of school violence, there is still much violence in urban schools. Though most of these students have different motives, the students still feel frustrated with their situation. Whether it is in an upper class suburban school, or an urban school, students will have pressures and be frustrated by their peers and could result in violence.
The biggest of these shootings was the Columbine shooting, which took place April 20th 1999, where 14 students were killed along with one teacher, that doesn t include the other twenty-three that were wounded. The students that committed this crime were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. They were labeled in school as outsiders and were picked on by the popular jocks. They called them names and acted violently toward the boys. A member of the Trench Coat Mafia , a group of kids in the school, said that the boys described their lives as pure hell. They wanted revenge on the people that made there life at school like that. The frustration that the boys felt by the rejection in school they felt that the only way to escape that was to kill the people that was causing this. Though Eric was considered the mastermind behind the mass murder, many people question Dylan s involvement. Many people say that he was a follower. He did this only because he didn t want to back down to Eric. Yes, he also wanted revenge against the people that teased him in school, but many believe that he did it to follow Eric. Kids like Eric and Dylan exist in schools across the nation, many don t know where to turn with their problems and settle with violence. Many say that abuse in high school is normal and can not be accounted for these acts. Major magazines like Time Magazi
HYPERLINK “http://www.disastercenter.com/killers.html”
www.disastercenter.com/killers.html
). In the case of Dylan and Eric, it is evident that the taunting that they received in school is what drew them to kill. They never fit in and they wanted the people that made them suffer in school, suffer themselves. Though they did enjoy playing violent video games such as DOOM , so do many other normal kids. These boys showed signs that they wanted to fit in with the other kids at school but were not accepted, so they settled on violence. As Dr. King said, people with contained anger and frustration will resort to violence.
These school shootings have had many consequences. Not only on the people that were shot but on the students that survived theses shootings and kids across the nation fearing for there lives. Though these kids were the ones that were frustrated by other students in their school. Other kids are left with the fear that another student may have an outburst like the boys in columbine. These students get angry and fear those outcast students and act violently on them out of fear that they may act violently on them. (
HYPERLINK “http://www.eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/monographs/overview.html”
www.eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/monographs/overview.html
). Not only is school violence in that of mass school shootings, but also violence toward kids that have something another student wants. This sort of violence mainly occurs in inner-city schools. A kid could be frustrated with his/her situation of not having things that they want and they act violently towards another student to take what they have. Much of inner-city violence in schools is due to gangs, which doesn t really conclude to frustration leading to it, but the students effected by these act of violence committed by gang becomes frustrated and doesn t want to be picked on anymore, so they bring a weapon to school or physically attack the kids that picked on them in the first. These frustrations and acts of violence all end up in a cycle. It goes around and around and it becomes harder and harder to end the violence.
As Dr. King says in his letter from Birmingham City Jail, the segregation of Negroes and police brutality towards blacks, the people felt that they had to result to violence. Dr. King brought an idea of non-violence to the black community. He said that though they were frustrated with the brutality that the police and the white community was giving them, they must not let it get to them. He said that the way to fight was not to fight at all. He was giving the example that they needed to be the bigger person and not give up their self respect and be passive. If the kids that act violently in schools understood this, school violence would still be something very taboo in America.