Society and School Violence

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Psychology 325 March 25, 2013 Society and School Violence Violence within American schools has increased during the past years. The violence consists of gang activity; theft; bullying; assaults and use of weapons. Most of this violence is committed against fellow students. We as a society did not become aware and concerned with the severity of school violence until February 1996, the date of our first school shooting, which unfortunately marked a beginning for several other shootings to occur. The motives behind these forms of violence are said to stem from vendettas to acts of violence as a means of gaining respect and recognition from peers. Nevertheless, the true reason behind the violent outbursts of this caliber by young people, which is being debated, remains a mystery. Our text informs us that there is no accurate profile of a school shooter. The personalities and characteristics vary….along with the social backgrounds, ages and home lives. Academic performance may consist of excellence, average, and failing, without signs of mental defect or depression, even though many of the perpetrators threatened to commit suicide, made suicidal gestures or actually attempted suicide prior to carrying out their attacks. (Bartol,ch 7). With this insight, we have a shooter, who is actually a victim of ridicule trying to retaliate against their antagonist, but in the end, brings harm to themselves and other innocent people. The use of security personnel, surveillance cameras and metal detectors will only prohibit weapons from entering schools. Without a solid explanation for the cause of these events, other than a lack of recognition and respect from peers, we will never reach the possible root of the problem, causing a delay in the implementation of prevention practices. Therefore, in order to attempt to prevent future occurrences of violence schools

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