Discussiedossier

School violence

In the society we live in today, school is part of our daily routine. Every child in the Netherlands is obliged to attend school until the age of 16. So one would suppose that this would be a safe environment for this children to be. Unfortunately this is not the case, on the news there are constant news flashes of shootings, stabbings and even fistfights with a fatal ending. One should be able to foresee these incidents but unfortunately not the case. In our daily lives the school is no great danger, but if one thinks that in these schools the whole next generation is put together in one place. Meaning every person who will get depressed, commit a crime or even a murder, so in fact it is a dangerous place to be, not the first logical place to send a child.

Analysis Questions

1) What’s the problem?
- We chose this problem because it has to do with us. It is a so called ‘hot topic’ so it is fresh in everyone’s mind. Also we see it in our daily lives, the affects and changes that occur because of this problem.
- It is a problem that does not only affect students but also adults, because in the end these children will be brought up in fear and then turn to adulthood and become shy and not use their talents to their fullest abilities.
- It is often discussed in the press as one will see in the news paper articles.
- There was a large study called ‘Class of 2000’ This is where students were frequently analysed and asked questions on how their life was at school. This study was done in America by CBS and they found out that 96% of the students who had undergone the tests felt safe at school but 22% knew students who regularly carried guns at school. But when saying they felt safe did not mean that they didn’t fear a school violence incident like Columbine, 53% said that a serious school shooting could happen at their own school.
- 57% of school public elementary and secondary school principals stated that one or more incidents of crime or violence was reported to the police.
- 10% of all public schools had one or more serious violent crimes( murder, rape, sexual battery, suicide, physical attack or fight with a weapon, or robbery)
- Most incidents happen at middle or high school, this is because students become stronger and can therefore inflict more damage to someone or something else. To back this up, most school violent crimes take place without a firearm, so physical fights.
- These fights stated as far as time goes because there have always been fights just not as violent as they are but of course, as technology evolves so does the way a crime or act of violence undergoes.

2) What groups and organisations are involved in this incident?
- Gangs, clubs, race, sexual preferences, etc. Every possible group is involved in violence. People are put in cages from the moment they are born, in a rich environment or a poor environment. A healthy or unhygienic home, etc. The list goes on. It comes to the conclusion that everyone can be involved in an act of violence if the acts that have gone before it were so extreme that violence is seen as the only way out. Several organisations try to stop school violence or at least try to minimise the damage.

3) Which interests motivate these groups or organisations?
- These groups are all motivated to either commit violence or stop it. The motivations to commit it are known; insanity, revenge, greed, pleasure, sexual satisfaction, etc. The motivations to stop it are not to hard to come up with either. If one sees another in pain or suffering they want to help, to help ease the pain or take some of the stress away from them so they to can lead a better life. Sometimes it is because they themselves have undergone the same form of pain or suffering.
- There is very little financial profit to gain from this conflict because it is mostly about emotional damage or physical damage. So no-one would gain or lose a cent.

4) Which concrete propositions have been made by both sides?
- There are many different solutions to this situation. Some believe violence should be stopped with violence so more teachers carrying weapons themselves or more police at school. The others believe that if one would make school a more free environment that it would not be necessary because if even the children are carrying weapons they could shoot a maniac if they saw one but they would have to have the responsibility that goes with it.

5) What are the values of each of the groups or organisations?
- Values are what crime is mostly about, the most common form of crime are hate crimes. These are crimes committed because of hate, anger, racism, etc. There are other forms of crime, such as lust where there is joy in killing and because of this it becomes psychic. Religion can be of huge influence, think back to medieval times, when the catholic England was overthrown by a protestant one. It has wiped the earth for so long that by now, hardly any war can be seen as a religious one.
- Also group behaviour is a major issue. As everyone knows there is always a certain group at a gathering of people, this can be a party or at school, there is always one group who seek trouble. This may come as a second nature to them but is not often appreciated by other groups or any organisation.

6) What policy does the government run?
- Violence and murder is of course not allowed in any country. As stated in Article 11 of the Dutch constitution, no one is allowed to touch another if they do not want to be touched.
- The statements made by politicians are not very helpful. They always say that it was awful and that we must learn from their mistake to make the school a friendly and non violent community. This is mostly for popularity but some mean it, a good example is when a mayor of a small town does a speech because he is much closer to he community then say a president of a country. They will speak from the heart and try to comfort the people that are hurt by the incident.
- There is debate that people fall back on when gun violence appears in a school. The gun policy, in America every citizen has the right to protect themselves and to help them do that they are allowed to bear arms. So people against this say that this school violence was would not have been an issue if there was no right to bear arms. Others say that if everyone bore arms they could have defended themselves and that is the larges issue that is brought up from school violence.

7) What do political parties think of this issue?
- http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/04/school-violence-funding/
- On this link there was a large discussion hosted on weather Bush could have been blamed for any of the shootings. After reading the over 100 responds we came up with a conclusion. Money does not help shootings but it gives a secure feeling. If the mothers and the fathers know there is an organisation such as “juvenile-crime prevention” they will feel safe and maybe say that it could not have been prevented. The fact is it can’t, A psychopath who wants to go on a suicide killing spree can not be stopped not by metal detectors because he could easily shoot the guards, not by more police because he could still do loads of damage even outside the school. So no, money does not help. The only thing that would help is when the people who commit these crimes learn that they are wrong and acting against an entire society.

8) A quick summary of the most important facts.
- School violence can not be stopped, it is a crime committed for several reasons that cannot be solved for everyone. By saying this, we are saying that crime cannot be stopped. They are committed for a reason, a reason that for them is good enough to disrupt a community, break the law, kill innocent people, hurt mothers fathers and other family members, to cause a national uproar and even to end their own lives when what they aimed to do is done. These individuals cannot be stopped by having an organisation against alcohol, or youth crime or anything else.
- Crimes are also committed for other reasons such as hate crimes, these are crimes committed for issues such as race, gender, sexual preference, religion or a whole group for moral standards or ways of thought. These crimes are also virtually impossible to foresee. They will all happen eventually and what we can do is contain them, making sure that the conflict affects only those in the group, those who made a choice to participate in this act of violence and not innocent outsiders.
- These crimes affect everyone in a community and sometimes outside of one. It can bring down moral or even send a country into mourning, it is not an enclosed act and is noticed on an international level.
- Political parties often use it to gain popularity, this strengthens the Dutch saying; “Een mans dood is een ander z’n brood.”

9) What do we believe is the right solution?
- We believe the solution is in scare politics. That they must not worry about preventing it, but making sure that those who are even thinking of doing such a think know what the consequences are. So hang posters that say; ‘You will be punished’ or ‘We know who you are’. Instead of ‘Bullying is bad’, come down on school violence. Give a child life set someone as an example for the actions they have committed and make sure that others know what will happen to them if they do the same.
- The only problem is that if someone knows that, for example he will get a life sentence if he commits this crime but the only way out of his problem is committing it, then he would almost certainly end his life afterwards and not worry about the consequences at all and by doing so be able to do more damage because he has nothing to lose and nothing to fear.
- In the end it cannot be prevented all we that is left for us to do is hope it will not happen to us.

10) How according to us will this incident evolve according to us evolve in the future.
- We believe it will continue to evolve and maybe worsen in the future. Seeing as we are finding more efficient ways to kill another being or erupt chaos. The world will in the end kill itself, someone will make a bad statement like when a Muslim boy kills a catholic boy and it would turn out wrong, etc. As we stated before we believe it cannot stop and the only way for violence to go is forward. So be prepared for more violence is all we can say.

News paper articles.

Article 1

As everyone knows there are several problems concerning violence in schools in the USA. After incidents such as the famous Columbine, American’s are well aware of the consequences of these shootings. In the Dutch regional paper on the 17th of April 2007 there was a horrible front page. A shocking picture of bleeding children being pulled out of the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg. “Bloedbad op campus in VS: zeker 33 doden” was the caption above the picture, meaning ‘bloodbath at a campus in the US: at least 33 dead’ There had been a shooting, a Chinese man had entered demanding to know where his girlfriend was, everyone who didn’t know was shot. As it turned out the shooter was, Cho Seung-hui, he had dropped a package at the American TV-station NBC after having killed two people. After this he returned to the campus and shot another 30 students and teachers and in the end committed suicide. He was able to gain access to the campus rather easily because he was an old student, because of this he was able to orientate his way through the campus and cause all the chaos. This incident has once again raised awareness on the safety at schools, and the weapons trade. Just as previous discussions the outcomes will make no real change and one will always be able to purchase a gun in American stores by just showing some ID.

Article 2

The next article is a detailed report made by Rober Kennedy who explains that he believes that the violence and aggression inside some students comes from virtual reality. That the way of life of the younger generation has become unacceptable, we should not tolerate it. He believes that today’s youth is constantly influenced by computer games, TV, pop stars and their own friends. He puts the responsibility of the behaviour, that the students have at school, not with the students themselves but with the parents. They are the ones that accept this behaviour. So he puts it straight and simple, the question is not ‘why are they acting this way’ but ‘how did we let this happen, and what are we going to do about it?’

Article 3

The final incident is of a young student who was stabbed by another student for unknown reasons. There were several arrests and the school was immediately evacuated because one of the suspects had apparently slipped back inside the school. The victim is no longer in the emergency room and is making steady process. There were several other incidents of this kind in Holland in the past months. It was described as a wave of stabbings across Holland. In Amsterdam, Oss and Naaldwijk. In all three incidents the victims were students at a secondary school. This put a lot of pressure on the government to discuss whether the school system was safe in Holland or that it should be upgraded and improved to ensure the safety of the students.

The Discussion

Anyone is able to notice that the aggression of today’s youth is a so called ‘hot topic’, in other words it is discussed in great detail. So the two statements were easy to find.

Statement 1

Dutch schools are safe enough to prevent incidents such as in America.
This is a vibrant topic that is often discussed when school systems need to be improved. These days it is thought of as normal to have a police officer at school. Somebody who knows the law and is trained to use it in many different circumstances. Ten years ago this was all seen as an unnecessary precaution, it was not needed so one can start to wonder why?

According to us the fault has little to do with the school but with the society itself. Twenty years ago no-one could imagine yelling at a teacher or calling your parents names or shouting at them in an act of rage. Now we call it puberty and accept it as part of the human life and a part of growing up to being an adult. The same is at school, there is no respect for teachers. A teacher now is just someone who is mean to you if you do not do the work, someone who will make you come back an hour if you talk out of line. This image of a teacher as a helping hand from outside to aid in the struggle to adulthood has completely dissolved into thin air. There is no respect, no one cares if homework is not finished. I asked several older figures what they thought of their teachers. They replied that they were very clever and always there for you if you did what they asked. I asked what would happened if you didn’t and most replied; “You would never do it again” So we can conclude that in the past students looked up to their teachers and feared adults because they were the ones who would decide how their life would turn out.

Arguments fore:

No legal weapons sale – In America one is able to purchase a gun relatively easy, there are a lot of guns in households and so in this way everyone children and adults alike are capable of getting their hands on weapons relatively easy. While in Holland the purchasing of arms is illegal, it makes it harder for especially students to get their hands on automatic weapons.

Larger schools in America – In America schools are bigger, it is a lot harder to keep track of students and to control who enters the campus and who doesn’t. So it is hard to control a situation when it occurs, on the other side of the ocean in Holland schools are relatively smaller and in this way incidents can be resolved quickly before they escalate.

Less attention for the individual – Because of the smaller schools in Holland there is a lot more one on one time for students and teachers. Everyone knows each other and a teacher is able to notice problems sooner when one is closer to the students. So by having this advantage one is able to resolve problems not quicker but before it actually happens. So this erases the problem completely.

Arguments against:

Choice of the individual – Everyone is responsible for their own actions. If one really wanted to go out and kill or hurt a lot of people anywhere in the world, the only thing stopping you would be your conscience, that little voice in the back of your head telling you what is right and what is wrong.

Schools in both countries are well protected – In both countries there are schools with metal detectors and gates surrounding the premises. There are policemen at schools and sometimes even men from the army to preserve the peace. So the whole question is not are they as well protected as they can be, but, why is the school no longer a peaceful place where one can go to learn and meet with friends. If schools were as protected as airports where everything one wants to take inside must be checked and approved. Yet we both believe that if this happens school would start to look like a prison and that learning is no longer a privilege but an obligation.

Fights and arguments – The cause of violence, one can always do one thing and call it another. Violence is the action caused by a disagreement or an argument. So one cannot say that violence in schools is caused by the ability to have weapons in America. It is caused by rows that got out of hand and because people can get more destructive weapons in America it can get out of hand a lot quicker. It is also a development in life, we come from babies where we tell another they can no longer be your friend to stabbing or shooting someone you do not like. By using resources available to you, one is able to do more damage and in that way create a situation so out of control that there is no way back and the only way is forward.

Statement 2

Violence on the internet and television makes it normal, therefore causing it to appear in schools.

As stated earlier, today’s society is becoming more tolerant day by day. You can see it on the television, in the newspaper and also on the Internet. We’ve got acquainted with violence by watching television. Movies became more and more violent in time and we got used to a regular dose of violence. Because our generation has grown up in the presence of violence on TV, we are now used to it and it doesn’t startle us anymore. Extreme violence is “cool”. We also got the Internet example. Now younger people watch horrific movie clips on the Internet which contain a strong amount of violence and other people in pain. They watch these movies for fun and seem to enjoy the fact that other people are in pain. In the past movie producers would think twice before they inserted a violent or sexual scene because this would keep people away from the movie theatres. Nowadays a movie must contain more violence than the previous one or else the audience see it is a boring movie. This ‘growing up with violence’ and therefore experiencing it as normal can be linked to schools because here all those children are put together. One psycho action can trigger a whole series of retaliations.

Arguments fore:

Looking up to action hero’s - Our generation already encounters violence in primary school. Not everyone is capable to make rational decisions at this age, growing up with violence on TV is a great influence. If you see superman using extreme violence and you worship him, you will easily copy this behaviour at a younger age. Once you get used to this behaviour it is very hard to get rid of it again at a later age.

Peer pressure - If everybody around you uses violence to settle things and you’re in a group, it is very hard to not use violence yourself. Otherwise you might not belong to the group and nearly everybody wants to belong to a group to identify himself.

What is acceptable - If at a younger age we were taught that violence is wrong and that it is not considered to be normal, we would have a totally different view on violence and disrespect towards each other. So by watching action or violence and allowing it in one’s home they fill their child with extreme ideas of normality and in that way change their moral standards completely. Most youths do not get the whole picture of a film or fragment only the fact that someone is hurt and that it is seen as ‘cool’.

Arguments against:

Free choice - People have their own opinions about things and it is not because of the influence of television that they act out violence. It is because their personalities are composed this way and television has nothing to do with that. If someone is ‘one-hundred-percent’ he or she can easily distinguish the ‘movie-world’ from reality.

One cannot let a psycho be set as an example - You will always have psychos and people with social disabilities among a group of people. It is not fair to generalize the whole idea of everyone becoming violent because they watch some kind of action movie. It is because some people are born with a bad temper and are only stimulated by violent movies while others enjoy them.

Parents do not make it clear what is acceptable and what is not - We believe the parents are the ones to blame in this matter and not the media itself because they allow their children to watch these violent shows and movies. If the parents told their children movies are fake and violence is not something to be proud of, less violence would occur, especially at schools. People who believe violence is normal will also pass this on to their children who will pass it on to their children, etc, it’s a never-ending story.
Evaluation

We both believe that the cause is the lack of respect for the older generation. In the past respect was the least one would be expect you to have for a teacher, parent or an elderly. Nowadays this has all gone down the drain, this no-one can touch me attitude has taken hold of today’s youth. So this younger generation is no longer afraid of the correctional system. Meaning they do not fear the consciences of their actions. So one can screen for guns and other weapons but violence can be done with equipment one can find in every classroom, such as a pen or a chair, even a chair could be a deadly weapon so this whole issue on that guns are the cause is according to us completely absurd.

School is also a place of joy and education. It is not a prison created to keep kids of the streets where they are free to go as they please, school is a part of the way up to adult hood. Here one can learn right from wrong, learn that work needs to be done on time or that one will always be rewarded for hard work. So in the end we believe that if from the start of a child’s life it is taught right from wrong and learned the consequences and learned to fear them, they will most probably not break the rules in a matter that would cause massive chaos and destruction.

We also believe that one cannot stop fights and arguments, there is no stopping it because it is impossible for everyone to get along so the thought of an ideal world is absurd and unrealistic. To conclude we believe that the situation in America is exaggerated because it is a larger country and because schools are vaster violence can often quickly escalate and because of this get a lot of media attention and gives a bad image of the American schooling system. So in the end it could happen everywhere in the world but there are certain factors that need to be taken into account when looking at the outcome of a problem.

(A Dutch political campaign by a central party called D66, Democrats 1966)

Sources

Internet:

www.nu.nl
http://www.crf-usa.org/violence/intro.html
http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/teens/school.asp
http://privateschool.about.com/cs/safety/a/schoolsafety.htm http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/bullying/school_violence.html

Newspapers

Gelderlander (Dutch regional newspaper)

ARTICLE 2

Violence in Our Schools: Virtual Reality

Our schools are violent. Our society is violent.
The horror of shootings such as took place at Columbine and Red Lake raises tough questions about the root causes of violence in our society.

• Was it lack of parental supervision?
• Did the school fail to identify troubled children?
• Did the local authority not provide adequate resources to implement intervention?
• Was there a lack of security?
• Are weapons too readily available?

I am sure that any or all of these are possibilities.

But I want to add another: virtual reality. To understand what I mean, you have to observe teenagers closely.

Their world is a virtual world. It's a world of extreme fantasy, as it always has been.
Their music points the way to understanding their feelings.
Their clothing and sense of style reinforce their sense of who they are and what they stand for.

Their world is strongly influenced by movies, television and the Internet.

Virtual Worlds Filled with Violence.
Their world is a violent world, filled with weird, wonderfully exciting and very different creatures. Male morphs into female; human into android. 1999 advances to 2099, one minute only to flip back to 1899 the next. Anything and everything is expendable, disposable. The theme is always the same: triumph of the strong over the weak, and death for inferior beings. But when you think about it, it is really not much different from the Greek myths.

Popular Music Glorifies Violence
Popular music, particularly rap, expresses anger and frustration. The anger and frustration are directed at the usual targets: society, the pointlessness of life, lack of hope for the future. The current manifestations of popular music idolize violence towards other human beings and total disrespect for society's structures and laws.

Fashion Exalts Violence
Clothing has always been an expression of the teenage persona. It ranges the gamut: from military fatigues to extreme grunge to ghetto. Hairstyles and makeup combine to create the desired effect which is to shock and awe. In a word it's all about attitude! Especially negative attitude.

The Internet Enhances Violence
The Internet encourages what films and television have offered for decades. The Internet merely renders the violence and thirst for blood which has been a hallmark of human entertainment throughout the ages instant and immediate. It is always available. No tickets to buy! No need to wait in a Roman amphitheater in the hot sun for the spectacle to begin! Just connect to the Internet and enter the virtual world!

The Internet offers teens a place to hang out. It offers numerous opportunities to try out various persona. In this world even sex is virtual! The natural cynicism of teens is strengthened by all manner of subversive Web sites. Left unsupervised there is little that the naturally curious teen can't find out about, be drawn into, and made to feel a part of. After all, all most teens really want is someone like themselves to talk to, to have a relationship with. Tragically it leaves them exposed to evil in many forms.

Now combine this virtual reality with the current taste for high tech violence and you have a nasty, sick, perverted combination. The violence reinforces the message "Kill or be killed!"

Look at the huge popular success of enterprises like WCW or WWF. These programs encourage disrespect for authority. They scream the gospel of "Anything goes!" They steadily and insidiously break down the mores which have been the norm of 20th century society. Rules are not important. They are meant to be broken.

The Internet Glorifies Violence
The Internet is the final step in the glorification of violence which will ultimately destroy society as we know it. It panders to mankind's insatiable desire for and fascination with violence. It offers it instantly and everywhere.

The real question for all of us parents, educators and students is: what are we going to do about it? We must act now to curb violence.

By, Robert Kennedy

Source:
Http://privateschool.about.com/cs/safety/a/schoolsafety.htm

ARTICLE 3

Gewonde bij steekpartij op Rotterdamse school

Uitgegeven: 20 maart 2007 15:30
Laatst gewijzigd: 20 maart 2007 21:50

AMSTERDAM - Bij een steekpartij bij een vestiging van scholengemeenschap Zadkine in de Benthemstraat in Rotterdam is dinsdagmiddag een jongeman gewond geraakt. Hij zou met een mes zijn gestoken in zijn been. Dat heeft de politie gezegd.

Direct na het incident arresteerde de politie enkele personen, onder wie een jongen met een vuurwapen op zak. Hij werd aangehouden op het nabijgelegen Hofplein. Er werden in totaal elf mensen, allen minderjarig, aangehouden. Onder hen zijn ook mensen die als getuigen van de vechtpartij zijn meegenomen, aldus de politie.

Steekpartij Rotterdam

De politie ontruimde ook de school. Een arrestatieteam ging naar binnen op zoek naar iemand die het pand was binnengevlucht. Het is nog onduidelijk of deze actie tot een arrestatie heeft geleid. Enkele honderden leerlingen verlieten de school tijdens de ontruimingsactie.

De website van NOS Headlines had dinsdagmiddag beelden van de vechtpartij op het schoolplein.

Vuurwapen
Een van de arrestanten is een jongen die een vuurwapen op zak bleek te hebben. Hij werd aangehouden op het nabijgelegen Hofplein. Het slachtoffer ligt in het ziekenhuis maar is voor zover bekend buiten levensgevaar.

Source:
Http://www.nu.nl/news/1014769/13/Gewonde_bij_steekpartij_op_Rotterdamse_school.html