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School Violence Essay

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School violence has become a matter of increasing concern in recent years. With the occurrence of incidents such as Columbine, more schools are becoming aware of and concerned with a rise in teenage/school violence. Violence is a broad term to define but in it’s simplest terms, can be defined as “a verbal, visual, or physical act intended to demean, harm, or infringe upon another’s civil rights,” (Kopka, 175).

In 1977, the National Alliance for Safe Schools was founded by Peter Blauvelt. This organization was formed with the intent of providing technical assistance, training and research to school districts concerned with increasing incidents of “serious, disruptive student behavior,” (Kopka, 36). The NASS conducts seminars, …show more content…

governors met in Charlottesville, VA to discuss the nationwide effort to reform education around a core set of six goals that they had formulated with the purpose of improving the education system. These six goals were revised and passed as the Goals 2000: Educate America Act in 1994. This includes the Safe Schools Act (which allocated up to $3 million to school districts for violence prevention programs) and the Gun-Free Schools Act (which mandated the expulsion of students who brought firearms to school). This also includes the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act which funds violence prevention and education programs for students, training and technical assistance for teachers and the development of violence and drug prevention programs involving parents and coordination with the community.

According to a National Education Association report on school safety, in 1992 juveniles were responsible for about one in eight violent crimes and accounted for more than one in six persons entering the justice system charged with a violent offense. In 1993, there were an estimated 100,000 guns brought to school each day. From 1988-1991, there was a 38% jump in the rate of juvenile arrests for violent crimes. “According to 1994 statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, almost three million crimes occur on or near the 85,000 school campuses in the United States each year. This roughly translates into about 16,000 incidents per school day,” (Kopka,

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