Guns and School Violence - Essay Example

Guns and school violence Guns and school violence has become a contentious issue in the modern day world. However, in the USA, the incidences of students being shot at educational institutions have increased at an alarming rate. In fact, it has emerged that the profile of a student shooter cannot be associated with some category of students, since it has emerged that any student is capable of becoming a student shooter at some point, based on the statistics of student shooting incidences that have been recorded (Kleck, 1447). The profiling of such student shooters have indicated that any profile of a student shooter would fit too many students, since it has emerged that while some are children of divorcees, others are loners while still others are children of an ideal American family (Cavanaugh, et al, 317). However, the fundamental aspect of the Guns and school violence is the fact that; as opposed to the act of shooting the students being a snap action, the acts of shooting other students have been found to be premeditated and planned, since the student shooters were found to acquire the weapons well in advance, and even follow a considerable public path of violence (Redding and Sarah, 297). While some of the student shooters were found to plan their acts quietly, others were found to make their plans well known over a period of time, through consistent threats that eventually turn into the actualization of the violent act of shooting. The major concern is the motivating factors that drive the gun violence to increase at such a significant rate in schools. While it is worrying to think that guns can find way into schools and be used for violence perpetration, the truth is that the case is affirmative, and the incidences are even higher than could be anticipated. In fact, such occurrences have made many students and parents fear schools, preferring to undertake their learning at homes or in different private settings. According to the indicators of school crime and safety 2011 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 6% of high school students in the USA stayed home for the feeling of being insecure either at school or on their way to school (Cavanaugh, et al, 322). This fact serves to indicate how the gun and school violence have affected the education sector in the USA, and it is threatening to paralyze public learning, especially in areas where crimes and gang violence are rampant. The report also indicated that around 7% of students in school between 9th and 12th grade admitted to have been threatened with a weapon within the school property in the course of their school life, while 6% of such students admitted to having brought weapons to school, for the sake of protection and self defense (Cavanaugh, et al, 321). This trend points to the possibility of turning educational institutions into violence clubs and military training camps, if the necessary and urgent measures are not taken to address the issue. Therefore, the education system is in total jeopardy by gun and school violence incidences, and unless sufficient measures are undertaken to avert this occurrence, the situation might turn to be uncontrollable and irreversible (O’Grady, Patrick and Justin, 77). Several factors have been attributed to the rise of gun and school violence in modern day. The first of such factors is significant violent traumatizing that individuals have undergone during their childhood (Slovak, Karen and Linda, 78). Such acts may involve acts of child abuse and other violent acts that are perpetrated by adults or other teens on the young children. Such acts make the children to lose touch with the reality, always posing to meditate on the trauma and the suffering they have gone through. While such children live on violence meditation and reflection, they tend to make the children grow fond of violence, and develop the urge for revenge, which may occur in the form of perpetrating the violent acts on the same individuals who caused them to suffer earlier on, or avenging themselves by perpetrating the violent acts towards others, either those who seems more vulnerable or highly resistant (Regina and Birkland, 1198). Through the meditation on trauma, pain and suffering that individuals have experienced before, they tend to develop the dissociative character, where they stop getting in touch with the reality, a fact that allows the child to turn into a violent adult, whose action are not any close to the normalcy. Therefore, to tame the gun and school violence, the first step is to address the abuses and the traumas that children are going through during their early life, which turns out to be the recipe for violence, when the child later grows up (Cavanaugh, et al, 339). A fundamental observation regarding the gun and school violence is that; it has mostly affected the male gender, as compared to the female (Kleck, 1455). In fact, in certain instances, gun and school violence has become so gender specific, that it has become synonymous with schoolboy violence. This question begs an answer as to what exactly promotes gun and school violence. This is because, while all children are prone to abuse and mistreatment at their early life, girls are even the most affected and vulnerable. However, when it turns to revenge and expressing the traumas that have been experienced through violence, the male gender becomes the most affected. It is at this point that the issue of accessibility and upbringing come into focus. First, while being brought up, boys are brought up with the mentality that they hold their destiny at their own hands, and thus it is incumbent upon them to protect their interests (Slovak, Karen and Linda, 95). This mentality becomes even more pronounced when such children come from the dysfunctional families, or when such children have been abused earlier in their lives, and thus have developed mistrust and resentment against others. Further, boys are well known to be adventurous, and thus have the high accessibility to their parents’ weapons, or are able to connect easily to the suppliers of illegal arms and the black market operators (Lawrence and Thomas, 1194). This puts them in a better position to access guns, which allows them to perpetrate such violent acts, whenever the need to do it arises. Watching violent visual materials, and playing violent video games also makes children to develop the violent mentality, which makes such children have the desire to experience and exercise what they have been seeing in such games and films. Therefore, simply put, the mode of upbringing children influences the violent reaction of children to a certain extent. This explains the observation that it is difficult to profile the character of the gun and school violence perpetrators, since the perpetrators could be the loners and the children of dysfunctional families who have experienced abuses, or children of ideal families who have been brought up with access to weapons, violent films and video games (Slovak, Karen and Linda, 82). At this point, a question arises as to what are the best methods that can be used to curb the gun and school violence. The application of stiffer penalties for possession of weapons within the school property or within the vicinity of the school property is one such preventive measure that can be adopted (Cavanaugh, et al, 342). Despite the fact that such a move does not completely address the core problem of the motivations and the causes of such violent reactions for some students, it helps in a great way to deter the rise of incidences, which could see the proliferation of the gun and school violence incidences, should such measures fail to be undertaken. Additionally, the application of such rules does not only help to deter the gun and school violence, but also the penetration of minor weapons into the schools, which could fuel the physical violence, and eventually promote the need for gun use. The application of strict detective measures such as the use of metal and weapon detector, as well as searching, is yet another strategy that can be applied to reduce the incidences of gun and school violence (Kleck, 1459). This is because, when such measures are operationalized regularly, coupled with the stiff penalties for the possession of weapons, the students will fear to be caught, and thus will be deterred from bringing weapons to school. However, counseling services are the most essential and effective ways of curbing the gun and school violence. This is because; counseling addresses the core motivations and causes of the student engagement in the violent acts, thus helping to fully combat the problem (O’Grady, Patrick and Justin, 55). Adopting counseling services will go a long way in addressing the issue, since counseling does not only help to avert the incidences of gun and school violence, but also help the children undergoing trauma to recover and approach life differently. Counseling also helps the students to discover the value of life, especially for those who have lost touch with the reality of life, through the suffering they have experienced before (Kleck, 1460). Through such counseling, they are enabled to value life and to perceive it differently, while doing away with the need for revenge, since it does not only harm the victim, but also the perpetrator and the community at large. Therefore, the adoption of counseling programs for children, which identifies those with deep seated problems, and helps them to deal with the issues before they develop to full blown problem, is of utmost necessity. Works cited Kleck, Gary. "Mass Shootings in Schools: The Worst Possible Case for Gun Control." American Behavioral Scientist 52.10 (2009): 1447-1464. Print. Regina, Lawrence and Birkland, Thomas. "Guns, Hollywood, and School Safety: Defining The School-Shooting Problem Across Public Arenas." Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited) 85.5 (2004): 1193-1207. Print. Cavanaugh, Michael et al. "How Many More Guns?: Estimating The Effect Of Allowing Licensed Concealed Handguns On A College Campus." Journal Of Interpersonal Violence 27.2 (2012): 316-343. Print. O’Grady, William, Patrick F. Parnaby, and Justin Schikschneit. "Guns, Gangs, and The Underclass: A Constructionist Analysis Of Gun Violence In A Toronto High School1." Canadian Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice 52.1 (2010): 55-77. Print. Redding, Richard, and Sarah M. Shalf. "The Legal Context of School Violence: The Effectiveness Of Federal, State, And Local Law Enforcement Efforts To Reduce Gun Violence In Schools." Law & Policy 23.3 (2001): 297. Print. Slovak, Karen, Karen Carlson, and Linda Helm. "The Influence of Family Violence On Youth Attitudes." Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal 24.1 (2007): 77-99. Print. Read More