Is there a solution to school violence?

Yes

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by Joshua Zambrano

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The solution to ending school violence is so simplistically transparent, I am amazed that no one has yet thought of it. Don't go to school. Down with schools! If only there were no schools, there would be no school violence! Brilliant! Now, logically, there must be a solution to this problem, and this really shouldn't be a matter of debate, unless perhaps between those horribly pessimistic or lazy, and everyone else.

So first of all, what is the problem? School violence. Why is there a problem? Kids are being violent... but why? Now, obviously, we could just throw the little buggers in jail every time they get out of line, lay down the law, clamp down on their freedoms, and break out the police, but... that doesn't really confront the underlying issues as to WHY all this is happening, now does it?

Thus, such regulation may prove a temporary fix, but is not ultimately a real solution. To find that solution, we must first understand the root, core issues which are causing the problem. This will take time and honest communication to figure out, but there are of course quite a few likely possibilities to consider.

-The Media. Now, why would those pesky young'uns be gettin' so all out of control and such? It couldn't happen to be, because, oh, maybe they're being pervaded with sex and violence non-stop, now would it? Studies about the un-regulated bias pervading the media has become a post-election concern as a result of several recently released studies. Kids can't surf the internet these days for homework without accidentally coming across pornographic content. They sure can't watch T.V. without massive exposure to sexual and violent 'artistic' expression. And video games? Let's not even get into the 'fan service' that's come to pervade that industry over the last decade or so. Gee, maybe Greenspan's sudden revelations are correct. Maybe deregulation ISN'T the way to go.

-School Environments. Teachers, vastly underpaid, like their other public servant counterparts - police and firefighters, are often prone to using their accumulated sick days to miss huge chunks of the school year, during which subs typically do much poorer jobs. Students have homework thrown at them at a level that would make a regular Joe working a 9 to 5 cringe. Trying to fit this in with jobs and extra-curricular activities is placing undue amounts of stress on kids. Teachers themselves are stressed, and under pressure to make their students meet national testing standards. And sympathy for those little future criminals? Forget about it.

-Physical Education. Gee, now here's a bright idea. Our nation is growing obese and kids have way too much pent-up energy and stress. Ooh, ooh, I know! Let's... take away their P.E. periods! Eliminate summer breaks! Brilliant! The perfect period to eliminate for Drivers Education or CPR programs. More and more schools are forgoing P.E. altogether to make room for the other classes and programs they want to cram in - after all, it's not as if students aren't overworked already. And summer vacation? It's being systematically eliminated as school years gradually start earlier and end later with each passing year.

-Reward Systems. Sounds great, right? Just manipulate kids into doing what you want with gold stars or other incentives. Rather than figuring out what is actually causing the learning problems, just dangle a carrot to get them to do what you want. Harmless, right? Err, no, actually it's as harmful as punishments would be, according to famed author and psychologist, Alfie Kohn. Incentive plans and manipulative motivational tools actually undermine the naturally intrinsic motivation which sparks true creative learning, and is so valuable to education. Drawing on a wealth of studies, Kohn systematically makes this point clear, revealing that while such incentive plans as are commonly used in schools and workplaces may temporarily work, they are ultimately destructive, both from a motivational standpoint, and even an efficiency standpoint - as those they are used upon become less interested in the task than before ever being rewarded or 'reinforced' so that they require more and more of the 'goody' to do what they are being subconsciously trained to view as unwelcome drudgery requiring a reward.

-Broken Homes. Divorce. So common now. 'Irreconcilable differences' has made a mess of what was once a perfectly good, family-based country, and is arguably far more dangerous to the institution of marriage and families than what rights homosexuals seek. Amazing that Bible-thumpers choose to focus on the latter rather than the former. One wonders what all of this does to the children. Studies certainly don't show it as having positive effects.

In summation, there are a wide range of possible causes for the jump in school violence. Quite possibly it is a mix of factors which will need to be confronted individually. And, at other times, it may simply be over-sensitivity marking something as problematic, when it is not. For example, my high school, West Aurora, became a focus of national attention when some seniors started a food fight on the last day of school (and no, I wasn't attending then, it was after I graduated - so stop looking at me like that).

Just kids being kids, right? If my studies are correct, decades ago this would've been laughed off and overlooked. In today's hyper-critical society, filled with over-righteous and over-zealous defenders of the public morality, masquerading as continuations of the very different feminist or environmentalist movements of yesteryear, such actions are inexcusable. As though the truly great crusades of racial discrimination and clear animal abuse in food plants have been resolved, the movements have devolved into overly picky and desperate assaults on anything that can be scapegoated. And I wouldn't be a tad surprised if that incident is among those evidenced as proof of today's 'school violence'.

Sources:

- Punished by Rewards by Alphie Kohn.

- Media Credibility by Douglas MacKinnon of the New York Times

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