Katie+A+&+Sydnee+R


 * ​Violence In Schools**

** http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=Wv80AjgjhmA&feature=related What is violence in schools? **
School violence is acts of assault, verbal abuse, physical harm, vandalism, or theft, acts that create an environment where students and teachers feel fear and intimidation. The emotional harm and stifled learning environment produced by violence are as serious as the violence itself. **The Scary Facts...** > ** In Our Backyard... ** > In Michigan School there has been 5,316 incidents of physical violence or assault, and 3,188 reports of sexual assault. On School property there was 5,382 larcenies, 32 suicide attempts, 670 weapons found, 240 bomb threats, 1,286 acts of vandalism and a total of $302,000 worth of property damage. 501 cases of illegal drug use or drug overdose on school property. 2,270 cases of minors in possession of alcohol or tobacco at school. > > > > =According to Middle School kids in a __Private Catholic School__: =
 * Over 100,000 students bring weapons to school each day, and 40 are killed or wounded each year.
 * Twenty-two percent of students are afraid to use a school bathroom, as they are sites of assaults.
 * More than 6,000 teachers are threatened annually, and well over 200 are injured on school grounds.

We surveyed the middle school kids of St. Patrick of Brighton and recived some suspiring answers. According to 135 middle school students, 22% believe that bullying does NOT exist in their school. Out of these 14% of them are girls

__** Who are bullies? **__: "'bullies' are people who are disrespectful or rude to others, call them names, physically hurt them, put others in uncomfortable situations, and turn people against you" "People who are mean, spread rumors, and gossip. They hurt other peoples feelings and they are making a bad choice themselves" "people with rough lives but because they are being bullied too" "the people who think they are cool and they can do whatever they want" "there is this one girl who used to bully me all the time. She would slap me and yell at me" "people who think that they are too cool. They just act like they are the boss" "someone who hurts you physically or emotionally" "people that are full of themselves are feel a sense of power from putting others down" "the people who only care about themselves, who are the jealous of you so try to make it so you are not much of a threat. But really they might be living a hard life at home"

**Is there an Answer to this Madness?** "I don't really know, bullying is a hard thing to stop" "there really is no solution" "maybe a video or a class about the results of bullying" "If we catch a bully, you will be expelled for a few days and have a parent/teacher conference" 'if you say bad things, you get a detention. 3 times=suspension" "I would try to stress the message of how making fun of someone or bullying them can have serious consequences"  "I would make a restraining order for the kids who fight and dislike each other; everyone would be happy"

Ask an Expert

According a Louie McKaig a Wixom police officer:

How do we stop the violence?


 * - The best way that I would approach preventing violence in schools depends on the grade level of the students where the potential problem exists. In high school, I think that it is imperative that students have a high level of positive self-esteem. This includes standing up for yourself and treating others with the respect that you want from others. "Telling on" other students does not solve the problem at this level, and often just makes the problem(s) worse. Reacting with anger that causes one to create or think of a physical or violent response also does not usually end well. A great example of this is the Columbine incident in Colorado. This was a reaction to being bullied by others. Telling others personally how their way of treating you is causing you to feel is the best way of solving peer problems at the high school level before it leads to a violent reaction. ** ** -

If the Police are called to a violent scene at a school, the safety of the people in the school (students, teachers, and others) are at the forefront. When the responding Officers are satisfied that the scene is secure and all of the innocents are out of the school, responding Officers attempt to identify the threat and end it. During this time, if the scene is bad enough, a SWAT team will be called and they will respond to assist in the incident. It also depends if the situation has ended prior to our arrival //(static),// or if the situation is still going on (//active).// During the aforementioned "Columbine incident", responding Officers waited outside the school for the SWAT team to arrive while the gunmen where actively shooting and killing other teachers and students, and eventually themselves. They did this because that is what they were trained to do, and this was their Department policy of response. Law enforcement has learned from this, and this will never happen again. Responding Officers are trained to act according to the current situation, and attempt to secure or end the threat "//as"// the SWAT team is on the way to the scene. This is intended to save time, property, and most importantly, lives. ** **-The legal measures against the students involved (if it happens to be a student that is the aggressor) is exactly the same as anybody else on the street. We take an Oath, are trained, and paid; to protect life, property and deal professionally with any situation that we encounter. All threats that we come into contact with, are dealt with in accordance to what every Police Officer should live by while on the street...be careful, protect yourself, protect your partners, protect the community, and safely go home when the shift is completed.** **-I believe a violent outburst usually does not happen quickly or impulsively. It usually is a person's series of reactions in an attempt to __gain control__ over a problem or a series of problems that have not been solved. This often is because the person feels they are not being listened to, payed attention to, or taken seriously over a matter or several matters in their life. I believe this person often feels the only way to gain this control is to make people pay attention to them.**