The last couple of years many incidents of violence have shaken the core of most
schools. The threat of violence is no longer just a threat, but schools are now
seeing students acting on these threats with a very real chance of doing great
harm to themselves and others. These concerns have led many schools to begin
the process of designing an intervention/prevention program that would help to
prevent many of these acts of violence to be neutralized and provide students
with a positive way of dealing with any problems that they may encounter. Preventing
school violence is a challenge with youths that are considered at risk and in
middle school and high schools across the country. Providing positive solutions in the design of
a comprehensive intervention/preventing program is a viable option.
According
to the Indiana Education Policy Center, national data has suggested that middle
and high schools, are at risk for more serious violence, and students in urban
schools where there is a low socioeconomic ratio of minority students to be
victims of a violent crime and an “an effective technology of school safety
begins with knowledge and understanding” (http://www.indiana.edu/~safeschl/psv.pdf).
The
importance of providing such a program is to reduce acts of student disruptions
in the beginning stages to further reduce any escalating violence in student
behavior. Early intervention would also provide to student mentoring when
needed as well as counseling. According to Zirpoli (2008) an educator’s purpose
in initiating interventions in an adolescent’s life is to improve their lives and
decrease potential risky behaviors and promote their social skills (p.148). Many
of these risky behaviors and negative disruptions commonly begin with student bullying,
anger management issues, negative social skills and communication problems.
In
addition, students in middle school and high school experience the greatest
amount of peer pressure and social problems which tend to lead to behavior management problems and acts of violence (p.146). For example, according to
the Centers for Disease Control, risk factors such as a history of violence or
aggression, low IQ, learning disabilities involvement with drugs, alcohol and
tobacco prevention put students at a higher greater risk for committing or
being a victim of violence (http://www.ehow.com_7957358_violence-middle-schools.html).
An intervention/prevention program that focuses on decreasing these kinds of
problems are beneficial to student and school. In the hopes of creating a safe
and responsive school climate the design of a comprehensive intervention/prevention
program would focus on and include four effective intervention programs, such
as bullying prevention aimed at preventing and reducing it’s occurrences and
helping students and parents understand it’s awareness and attitudes, anger
and management skills, mentoring and counseling programs and conflict
resolution skills all are important if schools are to begin the process of
helping students at risk for violence. This
program would also include supportive components such as peer mediation,
cooperative learning, and school wide behavior management (http://www.indiana.edu/~safeschl/psv.pdf).
According
to Furlong, Felix, Sharkey, and Larson (2005) the design of an intervention
program requires purposeful planning and organization to build a solid
foundation by which these intervention programs can be successful and provide
strategies at the building, classroom level, and considers individual student
needs (p.11). Keeping this in mind to
ensure maximum student learning and provide a positive outcome for students in
high risk situations for violence, this program would be careful to avoid using
the intervention strategies as a form of punishment or labeling or stereotyping
student. Instead, the intent of the design of the program is to provide early
intervention for students that are at a high risk for committing violence,
disruptive or violent behavior. In addition, teachers and support staff would
be trained in how a child’s emotional and physical development plays a major
part in overall emotional triggers and interactions among their peers. So it
would be important that teachers avoid any type of overreactions to any single
incident or behavior (http://www.indiana.edu/~safeschl/psv.pdf).
Furthermore,
the intervention programs would give careful consideration to making sure
teachers and support staff was adequately trained in how to implement these
programs and strategies into the daily activities of the students. Because each
student is an individual careful attention will also be giving to how to make
the program fit student’s individual needs and not take for granted that each
student is the same.
In
the hopes of changing the school climate by making these changes in student’s
attitudes and interactions among their peers is the first step in helping
students and teachers have other options by which they can help deter violent
acts of disruptions before they become fully escalated. Our schools can make
positive progress in the design of intervention/prevention violence programs.
In the planning schools must keep in mind that the plan begins with planning
and preparation and includes all schools staff coming together with the sole
purpose of providing support and to students that are at risk for
violence.
As
a first resort in the face of violence, and the threat of deadly violence that
threatens the fabric of our schools, schools have viable choices in making
sure to put their resources into programs that will keep our students safe and help
our student make sound decisions.
Especially since students in middle school are at a greater risk for
experiencing increased peer pressure, behavioral problems and be involved in
negative social situations such as bullying it is worth putting in the extra
effort by schools to be involved in making those needed changes and preventing
school violence.
References
Carpenter, Michael, E. (2011).
Violence at middle schools.
Retrieved March 28,
2011, from
Furlong, M., Felix, E. Sharkey, J.,
& Larson, J. (2005). Preventing
school violence: a plan for
safe and engaging schools. Retrieved March 28, 2011, from
Indiana Education
Policy Center.
(1999). Preventing school violence: a
practical guide to
comprehensive planning. Retrieved March 28, 2011, from
http://www.indiana.edu/~safeschl/psv.pdf. Bloomington,
IN: Author.
Zirpoli, T.J. (2008). Behavior
management: Applications for teachers (5th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Education
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