81 Percent Of Students In Rural Schools example essay topic

More Security for our Schools A 16-year-old, dark, shadowy image appears in the doorway of the classroom. "Jack, you " re late for class again", the teacher says as he approaches the dark shadowy image. "Have a seat". The 16-year-old boy's mouth remains straight and his eyes appear hollow as he pears into the room. "Hey dork, are you retarded or something? Why ain't you moving?" one of the football players in the back yells to the figure in the door.

"Steve, do you want detention?" the teacher replies strikingly to the young football player. "Now please take your seat Jack, we " ll discuss your tardiness after class". Jack takes one more step into the classroom and reaches into his baggy hooded sweatshirt. Like a zombie, he pulls out a shiny, silver pistol and begins firing, first at the football jock that caused him so much torment in school, and then at the teacher who was constantly on his case during class.

The scrambling students finally tackle Jack to the ground, but not before the teacher and the football player are murdered. This scenario is one possibility that could happen in a school without the right security in place. In fact, this scenario may seem somewhat familiar in the killings at Columbine High and in several other schools. These incidents prove that schools are not safe enough and certain measures must be taken to ensure the safety of students and teachers. School conflict can be found in every nook 'n cranny in every school.

It exists in classrooms, lunchrooms, and teachers' lounges, in the principal's office, in the hallways, and on the playgrounds. It exists in university settings, in every faculty meeting, in seminars and labs, and in dorms. Any person can also provoke school conflict. A bully, soubrette, jock, or teacher can set off any one individual to cause conflict. This conflict can range from verbal abuse to punching and even killing people. The Conflict Resolution in the Schools publication states that "First, conflict is not inherently positive or negative; rather, it is a natural part of life.

Second, conflict affects us all - at all ages, in all settings, within a single culture or community and across all cultures and communities. Third, learning how to look at conflict and how to understand and analyze it can help us shape more effective and productive responses to it" (Girard, Susan J. Koch, 1). Safety for school children must be increased due to alarming information on school abductions. Fighting and killing are not the only possible dangers in schools. Children who are in elementary school have the highest risk of being abducted (FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 8). Elementary children have been recorded being kidnapped on playgrounds, field trips, and even from inside schools.

Most of the time these poor children are sexually abused and then murdered. The same can happen in high schools except for one difference. In high school abductions, the victims are usually female and the abductor is sometimes acquainted with the victim. A significant number of students have reported conflict in the form of physical abuse.

One study done on physical abuse in schools reports several startling incidents. In grades 3-8, 68 percent of the students in rural schools have reported witnessing someone being beaten. In urban schools, 75 percent of the students reported witnessing a beating of a fellow student. Unfortunately these figures get worse as the students get older. In grades 9-12, 81 percent of students in rural schools reported witnessing a beating and 87 percent of students in urban schools reported beatings.

Rural students reported that five point six percent have been beaten themselves. Also nine point eight percent of urban student report that they have been beaten. A study was also done to see where students are physically abused the most. It was found that students are physically abused more in schools than at home and in their neighborhoods (web 1-6). The studies done in rural and urban schools is enough to prove that something more must be done to stop physical abuse in all grade levels, but to gather more evidence to affirm the need to improve school safety, I personally interviewed Murray County Central High School principle Mark Bergman. The interview was conducted at his house in Slayton, Minnesota.

When I asked him what the most prevalent form of abuse was in his school, he replied that verbal abuse was most common. He also said that physical abuse is rarely dealt with, however, physical abuse has been punished before. Mr. Bergman also admitted that there is more abuse committed in his school then he is aware of. I then asked him what security measures the school puts in place to make sure someone doesn't bring a weapon or to make sure a kidnapper isn't free to walk the halls.

He replied by stating, "All the doors to the schools are locked besides the front door, and if you come through that door, you " ll have to pass by the office. We also do random locker checks every once in awhile. Teachers also keep an eye out in the halls". In my personal opinion, the Murray County Central High School does not have sufficient security measures in place to stop a student from bringing a gun or knife.

In fact, based on percentages mentioned earlier in this paper done by Kent State University and University Hospitals of Cleveland along with the interview with principle Mark Bergman, I doubt that most schools have sufficient safe guards placed to secure the safety of all it's students. Several urban schools have implemented higher security, but what is stopping someone who is seriously out to harm students. If you think about it, who could stop a kid in a school such as Murray County Central from bringing a gun and storing it in his locker until the moment the person wants to shoot someone. Clearly student killers weren't stopped in cases such as Bethel, Alaska and Conyers, Georgia when students opened fire.

The most significant case happened at Columbine High School where twelve students and a teacher were killed along with twenty-three other wounded students (web). Hopefully these schools learned that stricter security will be necessary in the future. Many schools have experimented with new, tighter security measures. Urban schools are now posting police officers at school doorways and are also using metal detectors to filter out any lethal weapons that may try to cross.

Some are also using dogs to sniff out weapons as-well-as drugs. Even cameras are being placed in hallways to catch possible threats. Unfortunately, these measures cost schools thousands of dollars. Also the issue of privacy has to be taken into thought. How far can a school go to ensure the safety of its students?

This question as been brought before several school boards and many agree that the safety of its educators and students are paramount compared with the costs in urban schools (web 1). One downfall that rural schools have is their lack of funds. They simply could never bolster the amount of money needed to equip their education facilities with the latest in school security. I believe that a standard must be set for all schools.

In order to have a secure school, I think every school should have at least one police officer on duty as-well-as metal detectors placed in all entryways. Also, I think schools should hold a school wide discussion on physical and verbal abuse at least once a year. A random locker check must also be implemented at least twice a semester along with hallway cameras. If a school is not able to afford this standard, the state must fund the school until they are able to install every security feature. Some of these standards may seem hard to meet, but if you were a parent sending your kid to school, wouldn't you enjoy hearing that a deviant student was apprehended before he could beseech terror on his fellow classmates in a scenario such as this: Jack knows that today he will be satisfied. All the tormenting and frustration will be over.

His feet move slow as he approaches the school door. He curls his baggy hooded sweatshirt sleeve up around his wrist to make it easier for his hand to grip the door handle. The door opens quietly as Jack's attention turns to the police officer standing within the entryway. His wet palm slips off the door handle as he takes one more step into the school. Instantly, an inharmonious sound leaves Jack in a mental panic. "Stop there for a sec son.

Got anything metal on ya?" the police officer says to Jack. "No", Jack replies quickly and quietly. "I'll have to search you real quick, ok". Jack doesn't move as the officer pats down his short, skinny, acne covered frame. Suddenly the policeman's hand stops over the pouch of his baggy hooded sweatshirt. He reaches into it and pulls out a shiny, silver pistol.

Jack's hands are pulled immediately behind his back and tightened together by a restricting metal band. The policeman tells the students to keep moving as Jack is lead to the squad car.