School Violence, Is There a Problem?

Essay written by:

There is definitely a problem with school violence today. The last three years have shown

us that violence in our schools society is more common today then ever before. Whether

the violence has to do with guns, knives, or just a simple fight, school violence is getting

a little out of hand. There have been several school shootings in the last few years, and

the number of school shootings seems to be growing rapidly these days. When the last

figures were taken by the government educators had found more then 2,000 weapons

stashed by students in lockers, backpacks and pockets in the 1996-97 school year. These

school shooting and the findings of all these weapons makes parents wonder if their

children really are safe at school anymore. When parents begin to worry about their

children at school, everyone should realize there is far to much violence at school. School

violence is a big issue, and the problem seems to be getting worse every year.

National statistics show schools are the safest place in children s lives, but are we all so

sure that this is true anymore? School violence has been growing rapidly for the past

three years. Every time there is an occurrence of violence more kids are afraid to go to

school. Every child has the right to an education in a safe and secure environment, and

violence in our nation s schools seems to come as a threat to this right. This is one sign

that school violence is out of hand, and something has to be done. School violence is

probably one of the biggest problems in the nation, this is said due to all the school

shootings that have taken place in the past three years. School violence is an issue that

everyone may recognize but not everyone is doing something to help prevent it.

In the past three years several school shootings have taken place, starting the 2nd of

February 1996, in Moses Lake, Washington. Barry Loukaitis opened fire in his algebra

class, killing 2 students and a teacher. There was another shooting in the same month,

February 19, 1996. This shooting took place in Bethel, Alaska, killing the principal and a

student. There were three more shooting in 1997, including the shooting in Pearl

Mississippi on October 1, where two students were killed and seven were wounded, by a

16 year old boy. In 1998 there were five school shooting, the Jonesboro shooting would

be one of these five occurrences. Four students and one teacher were killed in the

Jonesboro shooting, and there were ten others wounded. As for 1999 there have been

three shootings, but the year isn t over who says there wont be more. 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. Its sad to say that these aren t even all the shootings that occurred,

there were seven other shootings that took place. Twelve shootings in three years, this

would tell anyone that there is a major problem with violence in schools today.

The problem with school violence is that no one watches for it, and 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. 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. Name calling is violence, not exactly killing someone or hurting

them physically but it does hurt them mentally and that can do more harm then anyone

could ever think. There is a problem with violence in school, some people may think

there isn t but anyone who thinks that must have been locked in a room or the past few

years, cause the shootings alone, would tell any person that violence in schools has been

growing rapidly in the last three years.