SCHOOL VIOLENCE
PERSPECTIVE
by JANN FLURY
Columnist EducationNews.org

December 29, 1999

Cases of violence and disorderly conduct in our schools are hitting the headlines more often today than ever before. Some include serious criminal acts such as shootings, stabbings, and beatings with baseball bats etc. Such cases of violence in schools have been related to teen gang activities or are the isolated acts of deranged students. By far the more common acts of antisocial behaviour by students, rounding out the statistics of violence, include everything from vandalism, sexual harassment, race related name-calling incidents, and general defiance of authority and school rules.

There has been an alarming rise in sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers due to promiscuity, teen pregnancies are up sharply, teen suicides have increased by more than 300% in recent years, and more high school youths suffer from psychiatric disorders than ever before. Use of drugs and alcohol by our teens have become common place, and dropout rates in high schools are at an all-time high. Is this a path our precious children must follow? Has highschool become their trial by fire- their Dante's Inferno?

The above scenario is a composite of North American schools. It may not be a fair representation of your local school, however, no schools are exempt from the general malaise afflicting public education today. What is the underlying cause of all this turmoil and disorderly conduct among students? Our educators promise to make students into "well informed, skilled and confident, citizens, able to work cooperatively and productively with a wide range of people." Why, then, is there a sense of unrest and hopeless apathy among so many teenagers that drives them to promiscuity, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, and to dropping out of school, instead of playing the competitive game of life?

Obviously, some motivational mechanism has been overlooked by our "educators." Students are told to work cooperatively, which denies them the satisfaction of personal accomplishment and robs them of the natural competitive spirit. They are not taught the basics in sequential order; instead, they are fed snippets of unrelated material from a broad base of subjects, all out of sequence, so it is impossible for them to establish any kind of foundation of knowledge on which to build. Students are left without aim or direction. They don't know from whence they came or to where they are going. For many, education has become a sightseeing tour in the fog.

Today, students are told to be non-judgmental, tolerant and politically correct. They are told that they must be prepared to work cooperatively with varied groups of people. They are told to be prepared to become life-long learners and that they will have to fit into a rapidly changing technical world with which it is hard to keep pace. They are told how to have safe sex and that it's their right to explore the realms of all sexual possibilities and that homosexuality is just another normal alternative lifestyle. Now, add to these ponderous issues the fact that some of these students have trouble reading a newspaper and don't know how to multiply by sevens, and we have a tailor-made case for frustration that leads to a full-blown neurosis. Students become convinced that they are ensnared by a system from which there is no escape- trapped in the labyrinth, with no way out. Is it any wonder they act out their sense of futility through violence and excesses?

As though the actual turmoil and unrest in our schools today isn't enough, our educators are contributing to the statistics by taking an unrealistic approach toward the problem. In many instances they have adopted a policy of "zero tolerance" against intolerance, violence, and breach of rules. In many cases, they have abandoned all common sense, and students have been expelled for petty misdemeanors such as bringing a plastic knife to school to cut up a lunch-time snack. In one case, a grade three boy was suspended, charged with sexual harassment, for giving a girl school chum a peck on her cheek. In another case, a teenager was expelled for wearing yellow shoelaces: allegedly an emblem of gang membership. Any kind of remark that could be misconstrued as racist, homophobic, or sexist is sure to bring the ire of the school authorities down on the unsuspecting student and is punishable by suspension. Any physical contact other than through organized sports can be interpreted as assault and remarks other than compliments may be construed as threats. Even compliments, if directed at the opposite sex, are in danger of being classified as sexual harassment.

The moral tribulations in our schools today stem from faulty school codes of conduct, lack of discipline, and poor leadership. To tell high school students (especially those who have never learned to read, write and do math properly) that they will have to become life-long learners is like handing them a life-term prison sentence. The key to all the behavioural problems that beset our students and plague our schools today stem from neglecting to teach children the basics to begin with- discipline, the 3Rs, and the reward of hard work. Educators project education as an end in itself, rather than as a means to an end. Think back when you were in high school; whether you liked school or not, you certainly looked forward to moving on to greener pastures. Unfortunately, the destiny of our students is in the hands of "educators," who lack accountability. In the end, it is up to the parents and taxpayers, to promote and fight for reforms that will ensure the system no longer fails our children.