School Violence Essay -- Bullying in Schools

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 â€Å"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 â€Å"serious, disruptive student behavior,† (Kopka, 36). The NASS conducts seminars, workshops, and school security assessments to help schools prevent and deal with violence in our schools. These security assessments are useful to schools as they provide school administrators with an accurate assessment of their preparedness to deal with a security issue. Then in 1983, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention began working in violence prevention by coordinating activities and programs for Public Health Service. They first seek to define the problem through surveillance and assessment methods. Then they develop and test intervention methods for their effectiveness in dealing with the problem. In the mid-1980s, violence was first defined as a public health issue. â€Å"As violent acts become increasingly prevalent in our nation’s schools, violence among youth is now recognized as a major public health issue that must be addressed by administrators, educators, family and community members, lawmakers and health care professionals,† (Kopka, 1). This declaration sparked the... ...ontinues intervention through the 12th grade,† (Kopka, 18). Many schools implement programs to assist in violence prevention and counseling such as: peer-mentoring, conflict resolution, early intervention, dating-violence intervention, gang and drug prevention and peer leadership and mediator programs. School violence is becoming more and more of a serious issue in our nation’s schools. It interferes with a healthy learning environment and only has negative effects on both it’s victims and perpetrators. And although no school is immune from violence, schools can better prepare themselves to deal with incidents by educating themselves (both students and staff) and offering prevention programs as well as assistance for victims. School violence is an issue that effects the whole school and community and the first step to dealing with it is recognizing it.