School Shootings Essay Example For Students

School Shootings Essay Running head: SCHOOL SHOOTINGS: AMERICAS TRAGEDYSchool Shootings: A Tragedy in AmericaSchool Shootings: A Tragedy in America The school shootings at Westside Middle School were orchestrated by two juveniles. On Monday, March 30, 1998 two boys ambushed students and teachers outside Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Andrew Golden a youth of 11 years and Mitchell Johnson who was 13 years old were responsible for this hideous tragedy. Apparently, Mitchell Johnson hid in the woods while Andrew set off the fire alarm causing the students and teachers to run out of the building. Armed with three stolen rifles and four handguns, the documentary explained that the two youth flushed kids and teachers out of the school by means of a false fire alarm then opened up on them. When they stopped shooting, four students and a teacher lay dead and 10 students were wounded. It seems to go hand in hand that while people are being convinced that school murders are occurring more frequently, various types of school violence also seem to be rising. This is once again a myth. The United States Departments of Education and Justice distributed a survey to students both in 1989 and 1995. It was reported that the students only felt a . 1% increase in the total level of victimization (Kappeler, 188). As a matter of fact, only one in ten public schools report any sort of violence at all (Kappeler, 189). The reasons behind the rare violent outbursts of children remain some sort of a mystery. As we saw in Kip Kenkels story, it is easy for kids today to get wrapped up in violent popular culture. Today, extremely violent movie scenes and music lyrics about murder and violence plague children. People like to try and rationalize the kids motives and in doing so, they also like to believe that there are ways to help prevent these heinous crimes. Christi Parsons recommends that children become more involved in positive extra-curricular activities (Struckhoff, 50). Many argue that the best and simplest way to prevent acts of violence is to have a strong parent/child relationship. Discipline begins in the home. As for violence with firearms, the most obvious preventative measure would be to have stricter control over firearm and handgun access (Struckhoff, 54). There is no reason that children should have any access to handguns. Unfortunately, there are those few exceptions, like Kips story, when the childs parents actually provide the guns. There are also programs that can be provided by the schools to inform children about violence and safety. Many of these types of programs are listed on the OJJDP website, such as: violence prevention programs with parent or community involvement, counseling, activities involving individual attention for students, and student involvement in resolving student conduct problems (Internet Site #5).School violence is not nearly as large an issue as the media has made it out to be. Parents should feel confident that their children will return home to them at the end of the day unharmed. child care and observation Essay Unfortunately, there will always be those few exceptions; those few Kip Kenkels that will continue to haunt the minds of the innocent. The images of Columbine are forever etched into our minds, but hopefully people will soon learn that children are actually I more danger at home and during free time rather than in school.