INTRODUCTION:    The recent school violence throughout the United States have drawn public attention to school safety issues.  The increasing school shootings warrant us to closely examine what is happening in our society today. After analyzing the variety of school violence it is safe to conclude that the ingredients of violence lie within the society.  America's fragmented society is the major contributor in any type of social violence and school violence is no different.

WHAT WE ARE HEARING:    For quite a long time there have been a lot of discussion around the nation on school violence issues.  News media and various web sites provide information on what the nation is thinking about this problem, what are the initiatives had so far been taken to abate problems.  After reviewing various reports and talking to diverse and knowledgeable people we have summarized the some of the major causes of the problem.

WHY VIOLENCE OCCURS?  Today's social life is much more complex and more risky than it was even a few years ago. One of the main causes of this complexity is the unhealthy social condition in the United States.  During the last several decades this nation has undergone a rapid economic and technical development, but in most of the cases we ignored the importance of our social well-being.  This negative trend on children's behavior and mental growth is an inherent process of our decaying society. Financial condition and family background are segregating the society. A segregated environment is a factor for any type of negative impact on childrens behavior.

SCIENCE AND VIOLENCE:  Violence is the result of a developmental process.  How will we react in a particular situation is completely depends on us.  Our thinking and observations send impulses to our brain and the brain set up the tone.  After every interaction it changes its profile, which is termed as the "neuro-chemical profile".  The human brain is very flexible and adaptable, after repeated bad actions we can change ourselves into a devil.  But the good news is that we can shape those neuro-systems to achieve our goal in any environment.

BULLYING: Bullying is another type of negative behavior, which has an impact on school related violence.  Some recent studies suggest that about 30% of our kids are involved in this type of abuse.  Both the bullies and their victims tend to get isolated.  Isolation is a very strong  factor in violent behavior.

NO MORE ONE-SIZE-FITS: Most of the problems we are encountering in today's school are the cause of the neuro-chemical imbalance of today's children.   In place of one-size-fits all treatment for children we should be specific on a case by case basis. Researchers found that children are born with different temperaments, and parents and caregivers must understand those differences and devise a way to work with a child's nature instead of against it.

INTRODUCTION

The recent school violence throughout the United States have drawn public attention to school safety issues.  The increasing school shootings warrant us to closely examine what is happening in our society today. After analyzing the variety of school violence it is safe to conclude that the ingredients of violence lie within our society.  America's fragmented society is the major contributor in any type of social violence and school violence is no different.

The formulation of a safe school environment is a complex undertaking. First of all we need to know the causes of violence in schools. Without a thorough understanding it will not be possible to formulate any sensible remedy.

In order to identify the existing positions on the school safety we researched many publications and web sites. Initial research indicates that there are several demonstrated school safety models currently in use by many public school systems. Many school systems formulated their own safe school models. In addition, other public and private organizations also came forward with some safety models.  Some of these safety models have demonstrated success stories, and some are promising.  Most of these models and their results are not well publicized. As a result many communities are trying to reinvent the wheel, creating duplication of effort. It is very important to share the findings to the general public so that they can judge for themselves the authenticity and adaptability of these models in their school systems. The problems associated with school violence are different on geographic and political locations, but there is some common ground, which can be identified in all school districts. We believe that our stakeholders can consider these programs in developing and/or reforming their own plans based on their individual requirements.

WHAT WE ARE HEARING:

For quite a long time there have been a lot of discussion around the nation on school violence issues.  News media and various web sites provide information on what the nation is thinking about this problem, what are the initiatives had so far been taken to abate problems.  After reviewing various reports and talking to diverse and knowledgeable people we have summarized the following:

Causes of the Problem:

I.  Lack of quality time at our schools

• Communication gap between teachers and students
• Communication gap between students
• Lack of trust between teachers and students

• Involve effective PTA
• Involve students in  school policy making systems
• Increase trust between teachers and students
• Listen to children – respect their opinions
• Increase quality "after school" programs
• Identify causes of stress, frustrations and act accordingly
• Improve crime reporting systems

WHY VIOLENCE OCCURS?

Today's social life is much more complex and more risky than it was even a few years ago. One of the main causes of this complexity is the unhealthy social condition in the United States.  During the last several decades this nation has undergone a rapid economic and technical development, but in most of the cases we ignored the importance of our social well-being. According to one research finding (Miringoff, 1994) the overall well-being of our society decreased significantly.  This research was supported by data generated by the Institute for Social Policy of Fordham University during the years 1970 – 1992.  Due to this negative trend, kids today are much more troubled than kids were in the last decades. This negative trend on children's behavior and mental growth is an inherent process of our decaying society. Unless proper action is taken, the situation will only continue to deteriorate.

Today's parents/guardians are very stressed, everybody is running like a machine for a better future and a stable economic condition. As a result, competition, animosity, anger, and frustration have replaced the harmonious relationship between families. In today's America the society is so fragmented that it is hard to find any remedy for this condition.  One neighbor does not communicate with another neighbor. The same type of behavior is also observed in family patterns.  Some kids are not secure in their family life.  Parents/guardians are not spending enough time with children because of stress and demands in their social/professional life.  The number of single parent families is increasing day by day. The lack of adult supervision and lack of parents' quality time with children, have a profound negative impact on children's attitudes. In this type of social structure children are much more vulnerable than any other group of citizens, since children learn by emulating the behavior of others.

The financial condition of families also has an impact on childrens' behavior.  A significant portion of children from the low to middle class families are suffering from inferiority complexes. Some of them do not communicate with kids from the affluent families, as a result, social segregation widens.  The same fact is applicable for kids suffering from superiority complex.  Children with this state of mental conditions are susceptible to any negative influence of the society. A survey dedicated to the Columbine High School shooting indicates that most of the children are suggesting introducing uniforms in the public school systems to eliminate the presence of the symbol of social status in the school environment.

SCIENCE AND VIOLENCE

Some people use the term "inborn killer".  Is it right that a child is born as a killer?  If we believe in science and God, "we are born equal". We have seen that this world has presented many geniuses.   It is true that "inborn geniuses" are a fraction of the world population.  If we closely analyze the life of all famous people we might find that most of the famous people of our world became famous due to their perseverance for excellence. The rest of the population has very similar capabilities, except for inherent diseases. Based on someones behavioral pattern we isolate him/her from our contact, from our society.  We think that he/she is a criminal or too bad to change.  If we rely on science we will find that the human brain is flexible and always changes throughout life.  It is not very hard to change someone's behavior, because it is deeply ingrained. But if we work with them and follow and use modern tools available to us we can make change happen. To understand the relationship between the brain science and violence we need to hold a discussion on research findings in that area. 

Debra Niehoff is an expert with more than 20 years of research experience on violence.  Niehoff noted, "violence, like all complex human behaviors, is the result of a developmental process, a lifelong interaction between the brain and the environment."  How will we react in a particular situation is completely depends on us.  Our thinking and observations send impulses to our brain and the brain set up the tone.  After every interaction it changes its profile, which is termed as the "neuro-chemical profile".  The human brain is very flexible and adaptable, after repeated bad actions we can change ourselves into a devil.  But the good news is that we can shape those neuro-systems to achieve our goal in any environment.

The development of our brain occurs within the period from the childhood to adulthood.  Brain develops everyday and copes with the changes as a kid sees at his/her surroundings. The part of the brain, which devotes on rational and reasoning, the "prefrontal cortex" takes about 20 years to develop.  This finding indicates that the change in our neuro-chemical profile is easier for adults and difficult for toddlers.  As a result we must take extra precaution during the developmental process. We should devote our time and attention to recognizing the individuality of kids and their behavior.

BULLYING:

Bullying is another type of negative behavior, which has an impact on school related violence.  There are many complaints from children about bullying.  We know about this but are not paying proper attention, believing that it is somehow natural.  It is important to realize that both the bullies and their victims are spending a good number of hours in a school environment everyday. Both bullies and victim of bullies suffer from mental torture. Some recent studies suggest that about 30% of our kids are involved in this type of abuse.  Both the bullies and their victims tend to get isolated.  Isolation is a very strong  factor in violent behavior. The same phenomenon is also true in the case of the Columbine shooting which raise a question regarding the responsibility of the school authorities.  School administrations should take this issue into account from a different perspective while formulating and implementing their violence prevention and conflict resolution programs.

NO MORE ONE-SIZE-FITS:

Most of the problems we are encountering in today's school are the cause of the neuro-chemical imbalance.   In place of one-size-fits treatment for all children we should be specific on a case by case basis.  Researchers found that children are born with different temperaments, and parents and caregivers must understand those differences and devise a way to work with a child's nature instead of against it.  We can find are two distinct types of physiological differences among the children, which are also responsible for violent behavior.  One is over-reacting pattern and the other is under-reacting pattern.   According to Niehoff,  " for the kids that are overreacting, the challenge is to get them to slow down, to be able to begin to engage those conscious thinking processes. But for the kids who underreact, the challenge is to keep them connected and to reinforce their learning of social behaviors, since they have an innate problem with 'getting it'."