School Violence

By Maria Pulella

What is School Violence?

Acts of violence that occur within a school

community

On school property
Going to and from school
School-sponsored events
On the school bus

School Violence entails:

School Shootings
Weapons being brought into a school
setting.
Intruders
Bullying
Theft in school

Causes of School Violence

Bullying & Social rejection by peers (Lack of

respect)
Discrimination (Lack of respect)
Aggressive behavior
Domestic violence and Child abuse
Upbringing
Environments & Community Violence & Gangs
Stress/ Stressful life events
Media and Videogames
Mental Illness
4

Effects of School Violence

(In general)
Effects of:
Toddlers
School Aged
Children
Adolescents

*Serious injury
*Death
*Grief- the loss of a friend,

family member, or beloved

teacher due to school violence

*Trust- who can I trust? Scared

to trust others

Effects of School Violence

(Toddlers)
Irritability
Immature Behavior
Sleep disturbances
Fear
Regression in toilet training
Regression in language

Effects of School Violence

(School Aged)
Anxiety
Suicide
Depression
Aggressive Behavior
Sleep Disturbances
Difficulty concentrating & paying attention.
Post traumatic Stress Disorder
They are jumpy and scared

Effects of School Violence

(Adolescents)
Depression
Suicide
Anxiety
Drug abuse
Alcohol abuse
Low self-esteem
Violent Behavior

*The victim often becomes the abuser

8

Examples of School
Violence:
Columbine High School
Virginia Tech
Sandy Hook
Armin Jahr Elementary School shooting
Amish School Shootings

Columbine High School and

Virginia Tech University
Columbine High School:
April 20, 1999
2 gunmen: Eric Harris and
Dylan Klebold
Killed: 13
Wounded: 20
Both gunmen committed
suicide after the attack
Both were victims of bullying
and peer rejection

Virginia Tech University:

Deadliest in American
History
April 16,2007
Seung Hui Cho Gunman
Killed: 30
Suicide
Questioned mental health
Rejection by peers and
family

How do these two cases tie into

early childhood?
10

Sandy Hook
Deadliest Elementary school shooting in
American history
Adam Lanza Gunman
Killed mother first
Intruded the school
Killed 26 people 20 students and 6
adults then committed suicide
Students were all either 6 or 7 years old
Causes have never been confirmed a
lot of different theories.

11

Armin Jahr Elementary School

Shooting

Feb 22, 2012

8 year old Amina Kocer-Bowman was shot
accidentally
A male student brought a gun to school. It went
off when he put down his bag
He got the gun from his moms house
He brought it to school for protection since he
was planning to run away from home
Amina had a bullet lodged in her spine. After
many surgeries and physical therapy she is now
okay.
They were scared she could be paralyzed due to
the location of the bullet
$1.2 Million law suit

12

Amish School Shooting

October 2, 2006
PA
Charlie Roberts gunman
Held ten girls hostage. Shot them all
Killed two girls
Revenge on God for the death of his own
daughter

13

Impact on Education
Fear
Attendance
Academic Achievement

14

Impact on education: Fear

Fear for
Fear for
school
Fear for
setting
Fear for

Students to go to school
parents to send their children to
teachers to work in a school
staff to work in a school setting

15

Impact on education:
Attendance

If children fear going to school, they will

try in any way possible to not go to school
They will fake sick
If they are older, they will pretend to go to
school but actually not go and spend eight
hours somewhere else.

This is common in not only adolescents but

elementary students

Especially with working parents

16

Impact on education:
Academic Achievement
Absent Constantly:

They miss the material

Affects their grades

In school, but fearful:

A child who is in class but

fearful is only present
physically, not mentally.
Not going to pay attention
and retain information
Mind is preoccupied

17

Link to homeschooling

Due to fear of sending their children to school,

parents often choose to homeschool their
children.
Parents also pull their children out of the public
school setting if they are victims of abuse or have
witnessed acts of violence in school.
Parents want to keep their children safe, and they
believe schools are too dangerous.
They believe their children should not be fearful
while getting an education.
31% of parents who home school their children
say it is due to school violence.
18

Advocacy/Prevention

Increased supervision
Teachers model respect
Creating a safe environment for students
Zero-tolerance policy
Metal Detectors
Intruder Drills
Security Cameras and Guards
Limiting access into the school

Only one door to get in, others locked.

Visitors passes

19

Connection to the NYS Prekindergarten

Foundation for the Common Core:
Domain 2: Physical Development and Health

Children need to be healthy to do well in school

Both physically and mentally.
Many children are influenced by random acts of violence
Children can not be expected to learn if their minds are
preoccupied
There is no curriculum that can keep a child focused on
academics when they face random acts of violence

Domain 3: Social and Emotional Development

Forming positive relationships with others
Help to prevent bullying
Children who can build relationships do better in school.
Social-emotional difficulties and at-risk children
20

References
Amish School Shooting. (n.d). Retrieved from http://lancasterpa.com/amish/amish-school-shooting/
Beckett, L. (2014, June 10). What we actually know about the link between mental illness,mass shootings, and gun violence. Pacific
Standard. Retrieved from http://www.psmag.com/health-and-behavior/actually-know-connections-mental-illness-mass-shootingsgun-violence-83103
Burke, A. (n.d). Why homeschooling is on the rise. Retrieved from
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/gettingstarted/a/homeschoolrise.htm
Duplechain, R., & Morris, R. (2014). School Violence: reported school shootings and making schools safer. Education 135(2), 145-150.
Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id =GALE%7CA398073155&v=2.1&u= nysl_li_molloy&it =r&p=AONE&sw =w&asid
=1605f40a6523cec6d20cca74645ae63b
Essex, N. (2011). Bullying and Social Liability-Implications for School Personnel, Clearing House, 84(5), 192-196. doi:
10.1080/00098655.2011.564678. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=eue&AN=64320470&site=ehost-live
Lunenburg, F.C. (2011). Preventing School Violence. FOCUS On Colleges, Universities & Schools, 6(1), 1-7. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=69712966&site=ehost-live
Nickerson, A. n., Cornell, D. G., Smith, J. D., & Furlong, M. J. (2013). School antibullying efforts: Advice for educating policymakers. Journal
Of School Violence, 12(3), 268-282. doi:10.1080/15388220/2013.787366. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=eue&AN=88429094&site=ehost-live
Osofsky, J. (1999). The impact of violence on children. The Future of children: Domestic violence and children, 9(3), 33-44. Retrieved from
http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/09_03_2.pdf
Parks, P. (2009). School violence (pp. 9-16,). San Diego, CA: ReferencePoint Press.
School violence prevention: Various strategies and their effectiveness. (2014). Curriculum Review, 54(4), 4-5. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1632517383?accountid=28076
.

Troubled kids. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.fightcrime.org/issues/troubled-kids/

Turner, L. (2012, February 27). Girl shot at Bremerton elementary still in critical condition. The Seattle Times. Retrieved from

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2012/02/3rd-grader-shot-at-bremerton-school-still-in-critical-condition/

21