Hard On High School Students example essay topic

Liza Seccion Two students killed and thirteen others left wounded, six schoolmates shot by fellow classmate, 13 people dead and 23 wounded in a High School, Four girls and a teacher are shot to death and 10 people wounded during a false alarm in school... Those were the headlines of all newspapers at one time or another. High School shootings have been occurring throughout the United States. Why is it that a student would come into their school and open fire?

Why is it that no one notices the signs before the incident? How is it possible that they were able to bring the firearm into the school? Those are some questions people need answers to, especially those concerned with what will happen next. Is there enough being done to end gun violence in schools?

Yes there are metal detectors in some schools but is that enough? Shouldn't they make metal detectors mandatory in every school, more security guards should be hired and Identifications should be shown by everyone who enters the building. There should be precautions taken but of course there isn't enough funding's to buy metal detectors and hire more security guards or even to buy the machines to make identification cards. Its hard to believe that there isn't enough money out there to increase school safety but there is enough money that the government is able to cut down taxes. Tax payers pay for campaigns but why doesn't our taxes go off to help make schools safer for our children?

Students should not be afraid to attend school. School should be a safe environment where teenagers could be teenagers and not feel intimidated. CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey, is a school based survey designed to produce a sample of risk behaviors of students ages 9-12. In the CDC Media Relations web page the 1997 statistics show that 8.3% of high school students carry a weapon (e. g., gun, knife, or club) to school and 7.4% of high school students were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property throughout the year. In the report also included was that nationwide, 4% of students had missed 1 or more days of school during 30 days preceding the survey because they had felt unsafe at school or when traveling to or from school. Theses statistics show that students are afraid of going to school, they don't feel safe and something should be done to change that.

There should be no reason that students need to bring weapons to school in order to feel safe. According to a recent report issued by the Department of Education, over 6,000 students were expelled in 1996-1997 for bringing guns to their public schools. It is illegal for anyone under 21 to buy a gun and anyone under 18 to buy a rifle or shotgun. The reason teens buy guns is because many people have them and they fear that one day they will get into a dilemma and get shot so they believe that they will be safer carrying guns... In 1996, 5 percent of all 12th graders reported that they had been injured on purpose with a weapon such as a knife, gun, or club during the prior 12 months while they were at school, and 12 percent reported that they had been injured on purpose without a weapon. This number has not significantly changed during the past 20 years.

Between 1993 and 1997, there was an overall decline in the percentage of students in grades 9 to 12 who reported carrying a weapon to school at least 1 day in the prior 30 days. About 3 percent of high school seniors reported carrying a gun to school at least 1 day during the previous 4 weeks. In the 1992-93 and 1993-94 school years combined, 63 students ages 5-19 were murdered at school. The number of multiple -victim homicide events at school has increased, from two in the 1992-93 school year to six in 1997-98.

A survey conveyed by Sarah Tipp it from Reuters on April 2nd, 2000 was called 'Many Students Used Violence Last Year'. A majority of U.S. teens say they used violence in the past year, and one in five high school-age boys took a weapon to school, according to a new survey conducted by the California-based Institute of Ethics. I took a survey on what students at the High School of Economics and Finance thought about gun violence in schools. This is the percentage for each question asked. What do you think should be done about guns to end school violence? Nothing 36.1% Stricter gun control laws 44.9%Ban guns altogether 19.0% Total votes: 34 What do you think is the main reason teens turn violent?

It's in their genes 2.3% They " ve been neglected 23.0%They " ve been bullied 31.2% They had poor role models 26.4%Total votes: 34 Who shares the fault for these incidents? The schools 4.8% The parents 16.6%Friends who knew but did not report it 2.6% All of the above 59.2%No one but the shooter (s) 16.9% Total votes: 34 If a teenager kills with a gun from home, should the parents also be charged? Yes 54.4% No 45.6% Total votes: 34 Do you feel there is enough security in the High School of Economics and finance? Yes 6.8% No 93.2%Students expect to feel a sense of security and comfort.

However, in the survey taken many students do not feel there is enough security in the school and it doesn't make them feel too secure. Hearing all the shootings which occurred gives them a sense of fear. It is not unusual to hear about these shootings on television or on the radio. This issue has greatly impacted the lives of students, parents and faculty. If you turn on you television and look at the destruction caused from a flood or an earthquake, you may think, 'oh, another one.

' Although it may shock you to see the outcome of the incident, it is going to happen. Is that the way we have to look at school shootings? It seems almost predictable that this will happen over and over again. A question that has been asked by almost every person in the U.S. is why does this happen? The truth is, no one really knows. Schools have begun reacting to this violence by sending home kids who wear black trench coats or other 'threatening' clothes and arresting others who joke around about bombs.

School administrations are using a 'no tolerance' policy that is coming down hard on high school students. The Government is passing bills on gun control. Many people agree that parents should spend more time with their kids and listen to what they have to say. Strengthening up security and stricter laws are being enforced throughout schools. Many people are not glad with these new rules and regulations, they think it is the answer to stopping violence in schools and another step to making our kids feel safe.

Is this the truth? I believe that these new laws and regulations just add to the problem. When I turn on the television I see kids getting suspended for having a nail clipper, or as the school calls it, a 'deadly weapon' because it has a tiny knife hidden in it. School administrations have taken this to a whole new level where many students are more afraid of getting kicked out of school than getting shot. They should be putting up metal detectors and increasing the amount of security guards in schools instead of finding any little thing to suspend a student for. It's not like teenagers are born with insight to kill, society has changed dramatically.

What has changed is the easy access to guns and how easy it seems that shooting a person will make everything better. Crime in schools is threatening the well being of students, as well as the staff and surrounding communities. It also affects the learning of students. This is a table showing the percentage of how students feel about going to school. It was taken from a Colorado website Violence is found more in public schools than in Catholic schools. Most Catholic schools have less tolerance and has a better teaching environment.

It is said that uniforms help to keep more peace in the school. The students don't get made fun of for not wearing name brand clothing. Making fun of, or laughing at other students help to lower their self-esteem. Why do students open fire? There is the question again, which is heard everywhere. To understand why this happens they take test on the shooter and they interview them.

Some say it is the parents' fault, some say it is the media, and others blame the schools. In most cases, the teenager has talked about their problems and why they were tempted to use guns. A large part of it is because of bullying and feeling isolated, angered, depressed, and frustrated. Yet, the question still remains. What can be done to make schools safer for the children and staff? One thing we need to do is learn how to listen to our friends, family and peers and observe their behavior.

According to Dr. Ronald D. Stephens, Executive Director of the National School Safety Center, there are some common characteristics among the youth who have caused school- associated violent deaths. Some of the characteristics that Dr. Stephens provides on his checklist are: history of tantrums and uncontrollable outbursts, habitually makes violent threats when angry, has a background of serious disciplinary problems at school and in the community, is on the fringe of his / her peer group with few or no close friends, is preoccupied with weapons, displays cruelty to animals, and the list goes on. I believe that the student problems are usually found in these four areas of their life: 1) personality, 2) family, 3) school behavior, and 4) usage of drugs and alcohol. People need to open their eyes and take precautions, they need to look for those factors especially if they see changes in the kid.

What is it going to take to open our eyes that something needs to be done? There are many things that we, as a community, can do to ensure safety in schools. At the 1998 White House Conference on School Safety, President Clinton announced a series of new initiatives in dealing with school violence. In one of the initiatives, President Clinton proposed a $12 million School Emergency Response to Violence to help schools and local communities respond to school- related violent deaths. The president also announced a new $65 million initiative to hire up to 2,000 community police and resource officers to assist the estimated 10 percent of schools with serious crime problems.

He also spoke about plans to reform the Safe and Drug -Free Schools Program. There has been a significant increase to keeping our schools safe but more needs to be done. Shootings has occurred ever since that intervention which shows that they have not done enough. People have to work toward getting and maintaining school safety. No matter how well prepared or how safe anyone thinks a plan is, it will never be 100% fool proof. Someone will always find a way around any plan.

Everyone wants one simple solution, but there is not one. Even though the use of guns by students is growing, the number of violent incidents is dropping. Metal detectors, ID cards, and security cameras and devices are being used in some schools. This is to show people that some type of security measure is being taken. Schools should be safe enough that no security devices are needed.

Even though metal detectors are very useful, they are only a small portion of the solution. Schools must also look at other methods. The schools should not adopt a zero tolerance strategy. When the staff and students arrive at school, they should feel safe and secure. People should be able to walk in a school and not have to worry if someone is going to ridicule, attack or shoot them. But they should be able to feel as if they have rights.

If there is a zero tolerance policy it would only aggravate people to act in a violent matter because they feel as if they are being treated unequal. New York City has taken precautions in keeping their schools safe. We can all say that shootings in New York cannot be compared to those in the suburbs. The suburbs is known to have the safest schools but many school shootings have been occurring there. Peg Tyre from CNN wrote an article called "How New York got safer schools" she discussed on how New York, like many other school districts around the nation, has looked for ways to make its schools safer. There have been signs that it has made progress in these past recent years.

After a shooting in a Brooklyn high school New York has taken it upon their concern to make city schools safer. They placed metal detectors in schools and police were brought in to patrol 130 of the toughest schools. They also trained teachers and students got conflict resolution. They made it mandatory that anyone who brings a gun, knife or other weapon to school must be expelled. But you have to be 17 or older before you can be expelled. That does not solve anything because many students are not 17 until their senior year in High School.

These precautions taken has lowered the amount of guns brought into schools. Two years ago, 129 guns were confiscated from students. Last year, the number of confiscated guns was down to 90 and assaults on teachers are down 24 per cent. How safe is it? No one will ever know. There is no definite measures that can be taken that will guaranteed no more school shootings.

There has been a decrease in school shootings and the government has done all they can to make schools safer. They are looking for better solutions to end all this violence in schools but when will we get them? How long would it take for us to receive the security we need? There is not enough being done to end it.

Do we need to wait until the next shootings occur to get the proper resources needed? Suppose the next shooting happens at the High School of Economics and Finance what will we do next? Suppose its at a loved ones school, how will you feel? Don't wait any longer to be heard we need to stand up and demand that there be metal detectors in every school.