Solving the Problem of Violence in Schools

A young man in a black trench coat walks into his school. He walks calmly into his classroom and begins firing a loaded shotgun. He shoots at all the students who were ever mean to him. He remembers all the laughing and the way he was teased by his classmates. Finally he reaches the teacher, the grand wizard of his painful school days, who pleads while on his knees not to be shot. But the young man pulls the trigger, and laughs as his teacher’s blood flies all over the chalkboard (Carroll). Although this was just a movie scene in The Basketball Diaries, it became a reality for all too many students and wishful thinking for even more. We will look at the problems associated with school violence and explore steps to make schools safer for everyone.
Since the beginning of civilization people have recorded incidences of violence between stronger and weaker groups. Some people have always thought of themselves as being superior to others. From King Henry to the Salem Witch Trials there h...