Combating School Violence

The article I´ve just read is about violence in schools in the US. It starts saying that school violence involves all of us. The community, the administrators, the teachers, the parents, and the students must deal with this problem and must work to solve it. One step that might be taken by schools is to increase their security levels, institute violence prevention programs and zero tolerance policies. It is important that parents pay attention to their children´s behaviours, too. Many times there are signs in our children, which we have to take into account, and report them to guidance counselors. Some examples are: sudden lack of interest, obsessions with violent games, depression and mood swings, and lack of anger management skills. Teachers can also help. They can watch for the above warning signs, they can talk to parents, counselors and administration; they need to be consistent in enforcing classroom and school policies and be  good role models for the students. Students can do something about violence, too. They can report any knowledge of weapons, tell their teachers about suspicious behaviours of other students and walk away from confrontations. All of us need to remain aware of the possibility of violence and we must work together to create a safe environment for everybody in our schools.

Tania