User:Zacherystaylor/preventing school violence

I have created this user subpage since most of what I have added to the official page has been targeted for deletion and attempts to dilute the page have been made so that the content is less meaningful. I am hoping to avoid conflict resolution but unless there is some attempt to provide more improvement on violence prevention I am not hopeful at this time. I find it hard to believe that there would be so much objection to what I am doing. There is a list of over 100 school shootings and 200 lesser school attacks and very little about violence prevention. The School shooting page is among the worst in my opinion it has something about prevention but it involves arming teachers and shooting the students at the last minute. I can't believe I'm the only one who considers this absurd. My attempts to change this have been deleted and I am going to try again soon. The assumption that we should allow this and delete discussion about attempts to prevent violence earlier, based on research from qualified professionals is absurd. I'm going to ask for a few opinions first since most of the people that have commented seem to be oppose to addressing the issue. If you have improvements for this page or the official page it will be welcome. My main concern isn't getting my version posted but getting the best version possible posted. However if you just want to delete I'll just reverse it without comment.

One thing that hasn't been deleted was the section about Teacher accountability. This is because I haven't added it yet, it is sourced and a legitimate concern but I intended to consider it further before adding it. The reason for this is because I don't want to give the impression that this is primarily the fault of the teachers. I don't believe this however there are some problem teachers and this has to be considered when trying to solve the problem. The sources for these concerns about teachers and administrators are teachers themselves who don't want to look the other way. Further more part of the problem is that teachers don't get enough respect in our society. If someone shoots down a student just before he goes on a shooting spree that person might be considered a hero but if a teacher does a good job and prevents it from ever coming to that it goes unnoticed by most people and there is nothing dramatic about it. Teachers are one of the most important part of the solution not the problemif they do their job right which I suspect most do. Real solutions aren't dramatic.

If you agree with this and would like to help improve the way violence is addressed feel free to say so either on Talk:Preventing school violence or Talk:School violence. If there is one or more people willing to help improve the way this is being addressed I will return to it and put more effort into it. If I am the only one that wants to add material from academic sources that have done research into the subject and the other contributors object it is unlikely to be very productive. In order for wikipedia to be part of an effort to inform the public about this subject there needs to be more cooperation and less argument especially that doesn't even involve discussing the subject. A lot of the debate about this managed to omit any checking of sources or much discussion about the subject. The problem with Wikipedia isn't limited to Preventing school violence. As I have spent more time on Wikipedia I have noticed an increased amount of controversy over subjects where there is a lot of political dispute. This includes Global Warming which has led to an enormous amount of arguing and very little improvement. I suspect the way health care is handled is also a problem. I have created a web site about some of the problems with Wikipedia censorship mainly focusing on violence prevention. Part of the problem is some members of Wikipedia use ridicule or subtle intimidation tactics when the word is even mentioned. For example I was told that if I mention the word people will think I'm a kook because others have tried to introduce articles about perpetual motion which has nothing to do with preventing school violence. This is a manipulation tactic that is designed to confuse the issue and it isn't productive. Preventing censorship isn't easy and pretending it doesn't exist will only make it worse. I have addressed this further off Wikipedia due to the unreasonable response I have received on this subject. To read more see Wikipedia censorship. Wikipedia asks for the help of the public but if it contradicts the political interests of some dominant Wikipedians they won’t accept it. In order to avoid being another politically correct version of the truth it needs to be reformed. They may be able to influence the naive but only as long as they remain uneducated. Among the more educated members of the public Wikipedia’s reputation is already very bad. This debate is more about how the truth will be presented to the naive.

WikiProject Wikipedians against censorship

Mediation Cabal

Preventing School Violence

Articles for deletion/Preventing school violence

User:Zacherystaylor/List of school shootings in the United States

Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Council/Proposals/Nonviolence

Mediation Cabal/Cases/2010-01-04/Preventing school violence

Setting a better example for the Mass Media
By mentioning an article on the most effective way of preventing violence and providing a link to it the public can become much more educated on the subject and they may learn how to solve problems more effectively.

The Mass Media is doing a terrible job informing the public about how to prevent violence in school or anywhere else. Wikimedia invited the public to help build up an encyclopedia and alternative media outlet essentially allowing them to set a better example for the Mass Media, or at least that is the way it should work.

There is a standard way of handling the subject, both in the Mass Media and on Wikipedia, that doesn’t involve looking for the real causes. At least what is presented to the majority of the public doesn’t look for the real causes there are as I have said credible library books that do. The standard procedure involves punishing the perpetrators after the fact, debating guns, memorials, and political plugs where politicians express condolences and do little or nothing to educate the public. I see no problem with continuing to do these things but they should also provide more about prevention, which if anything should get more attention not less. Since there are good books on the subject and the rules of Wikipedia do allow it if the contributors choose to interpret them properly Wikipedia can do a much better job than the Mass Media and be an important part of the solution. This can be done by referring to the academic work of the people who have researched the article whenever the subject comes up and providing a link to an article with more details. Wikipedia already repeats certain procedures that don’t tell the public how to solve the problem should they censure the procedures that do tell the public how to solve the problem? If Wikipedia allows this material then Wikimedia will deserve the contributions that they are asking for.

I have created the following versions of many pages that deal with this subject. This could be considered a step in the right direction if they are allowed to remain on Wikipedia. Is someone has ways of improving on it that would of course be fine but to continue censuring it is unreasonable. These versions or something better should be restored and maintained. They are based on information from some of the most credible academics on the subject and this message isn’t getting through to the vast majority of the public. Instead the Mass Media is spending an enormous amount of time manipulating the emotions of the public. The sections on most of them that lead to the Preventing school violence page are currently redirected to the School violence page due to ongoing dispute. The recommended article is on this page and there is also a version on the history of the page currently housing the redirect.


 * Preventing school violence
 * School shooting
 * Jokela school shooting
 * List of school-related attacks
 * École Polytechnique massacre
 * Red Lake massacre
 * University of Iowa shooting
 * Cleveland School massacre
 * Columbine High School massacre
 * Charles Whitman
 * Heath High School shooting
 * Westside Middle School massacre
 * Kip Kinkel
 * Northern Illinois University shooting
 * Dunblane massacre
 * 2009 Richmond High School gang rape
 * Virginia Tech massacre
 * Bremen school shooting

Where’s the outrage??
Outrage that leads to positive action without panic can be a very effective way of addressing the most important problems of society although this doesn’t usually happen unless people think things over after they have had time to study the problem. If they forget about it by then the purpose can be defeated.

I hesitate to use this expression since outrage often leads to overreactions and that isn’t what I want. Quite the opposite that is what I am trying to avoid. In many cases after these school shootings there is an enormous amount of outrage and emotional people are spurred to action often to seek justice by punishing the perpetrators. This is often followed up by over reactions. However after some time has gone by there have been several researchers who have done some very good work to help people understand how to solve these problems. These people are the sources I have attempted to cite for this article. This information hasn’t been presented to a very large percentage of the public. The Mass Media and the government have virtually ignored this information and they continue to manipulate the emotions of the public. This brings out a lot of outrage that is expressed in a panic. What we need is outrage that spurs people to action without panic or if they are spurred to action without outrage that is just as well if not better.

Here on Wikipedia there has been no outcry to improve on this just the opposite. There has also been a lot of outrage from gun rights advocates’ which has led to defense of guns even when it means censoring academic information that will help solve this problem. This is one of the biggest problems to our society and there should be much more effort to focus on the most effective ways to solve it. If this sounds like advocacy so be it. There is plenty of advocacy on Wikipedia including gun rights advocacy. To look the other way at one instance of advocacy and censor something based on academic sources is extremely biased and indicates a totals lack of reasonable discretion.

Preventing School Violence
Preventing School Violence before it happens is easier and les expensive than dealing with it after it happens. There are many contributing causes to school violence and these contributing causes also cause other social problem including drug abuse and school drop out rates. The leading contributing causes include abuse at home that leads to dysfunctional behavior and bullying. When violence is not addressed early it often escalates. In order to solve these problems in the most effective way possible researchers believe it is necessary to address all the contributing causes. This means that if people solve School violence problems they will also solve other related problems both in and out of school. Some of the contributing causes happen off the school grounds so this should be a community effort. Researchers believe the most important way of preventing school violence is proper education at a young age. Studies have indicated that by third grade a pattern of learning develops that lasts through high school. Parents and teachers teach children to respect each other by treating them with respect and setting a good example. Another idea which has long been popular is creating and enforcing rules limiting the kind or degree of force students are allowed to use in various situations, e.g., self defense vs. running away, etc.

Community Organizations
National Organizations can help with studies of school violence and experts like James Garbarino, Ellen deLara, Gavin de Becker and Alice Miller can help provide guidance and make recommendation, however it should be the responsibility of local organizations to make final decisions and implement policies. This can start with local School Boards and the PTA. Parents, teachers and students can work together to establish programs that prevent violence and create a productive education environment. It helps to make sure everyone is familiar with the rules and laws. If there are problems with the rules or laws they can work together to correct them. It is also important to maintain an open line of communication so that the adults understand what the students are dealing with. Many of the problems occur when the adults aren't present. Maintaining close contact with children from a young age will help preserve good relations with adults. Additional organizations that can contribute to solutions include the following:
 * YMCA
 * Boy Scouts of America
 * Big Brother
 * Big Sisters
 * Girl Scouts of America
 * AmeriCorps
 * Boy Scouts
 * Boy Scouts of America
 * Girl Scouts of the USA

Warning signs
Many incidents of school violence have been preceded by warning signs that have been ignored. This includes Kip Kinkle, Andrew Wurst and the Columbine High School massacre. In some of these cases they students had been building pipe bombs, spoke out against other students, had been to therapy etc. In the Columbine case there was a web site which was reported to the police that threatened to kill someone. This was ignored at the time even though the students were also in trouble with the police for other reasons. In Kip Kinkle's case he received the gun from his own father who he later killed. Some of the warning signs for violent or suicidal behavior that Gavin de Becker advises people to watch out for include the following:


 * Change in eating or sleeping habits
 * Drop in grades
 * Truancy or fear of bus to school
 * Withdrawal from friends, family and regular activities
 * Violent actions, rebellious behavior
 * Drug and alcohol abuse
 * Unusual neglect of personal appearance
 * Marked personality change
 * Nightmares
 * Persistent boredom, difficulty concentrating, or a decline in the quality of school work
 * Frequent complaints about physical symptoms, often related to emotions, such as headaches, fatigue, etc.
 * Loss of interest in pleasurable activities
 * Not accepting praise or rewards
 * Addiction to media products
 * Aimlessness
 * Fascination with weapons and violence
 * Experience with guns
 * Access to guns
 * Sullen, Angry, Depressed
 * Seeking status and worth through violence
 * Threats (of violence or suicide)
 * Chronic Anger
 * Rejection or Humiliation
 * Media Provocation
 * Abuse of animals

Additional warning signs for suicide may include giving verbal hints like saying "I wont be a problem anymore" or putting affairs in order and giving away favorite possessions.

Contributing causes
Identifying and preventing social activities that make violence more likely will help prevent violence before it happens.

Child abuse
Child abuse teaches children to deny, minimize, suppress and compartmentalize. Abused children learn that when it comes to violence it is better to give than receive. Abused children are more likely to become abusers later in life either as bullies or abusive parents or in other ways. Abused children are often inclined to take out their anger on those weaker than them since they can't take it out on those that abuse them. This often means that they abuse smaller children and animals that can't fight back and are often not in a position to tell adults. A federal research project selected 1,600 children who had been abused or neglected and followed them for close to 20 years fully half of them wound up being arrested for some crime. In one case cited by De Becker two children who witnessed their father kill their mother went on to become killers themselves one killing his girlfriend and the other killing his wife. In some rare cases the abuse victims wound up killing their abusive parents. Some abused children may be more reclusive and then they may become the target of bullies and receive even more abuse. Child abusers tend to be repeat offenders in one study by Dr. David Southall in England he found that when children were hospitalized for suspected abuse 33 out of 39 were caught abusing the children again. He received permission to put a camera in the hospital rooms of the children to film the parents while they visited their children and the additional abuse was caught on tape. This was used to prosecute these parents. this study involves parents that were already suspected of serious abuse and may not reflect most cases. Some of these abusive parents may respond to intervention and counseling assuming they truly regret the violence but others don't, in this case it is better to separate them from their families.

Most victims of abuse tend to hide their experiences rather than use them as a defense in court. They often have to be talked into bringing it out into the open. Contrary to what some commentators claim they don't want to use it as mitigating circumstances. Abused children often assume that their experiences at home are normal, they don't realize that there is an alternative since they have often lived with this all their lives. Abused children often don't realize that the abuse that they experience has any effect on their development and they often are given the impression that it is their own fault.

Abused children often feel that they can't count on adults and they often feel it is up to them to take justice into their own hands.

According to Alice Miller some mild forms of child abuse may seem very subtle from the point of view of an adult but from the point of view of a child they may seem much more important. She cites an example where a couple of parents have ice cream cones of their own and tease the child who wants some but say it is too cold for him then laugh at him as if it is no big deal. She believes that parents should try to look at this from the point of view of the child and realize that to the child being ridiculed by two big adults who have total control over the child is humiliating and if a child is treated this way when he is young he will treat others this way when he gets older. She also cites some parents that believe strict upbringing is the appropriate way to raise children. In many cases they advocate corporal punishment as the primary way to treat a child. De Becker also agrees with her that if defiance is always met with discipline and never with discussion the child will learn to respect discipline without understanding it. Richard Ramirez and other serial killers and school shooters were raised like this. Ramirez was raised by a strict Christian father who was also raised by a strict Christian father that used violence to discipline their children without proper education. some parents with inadequate education will look down on children if they try to take advantage of better educational opportunities. In some cases Alice Miller expresses concern over the motive for parents to have children. Some mothers may want children so that they can receive more attention. this can be addressed through counseling. Hawaii has started a program where they offer assistance to young mothers at high risk. This is done with volunteer home visitors who help those that accept the offer. They go to the homes of the young mother and help with simple child care and provide basic advice. They continue these visits for the first 2 years of the child’s life. This has been proven to reduce the drop out rate and delinquency rate of children who participate. This program was later expanded to other states including Massachusetts. the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse is seeking to extend home visiting programs throughout the USA.

Children who become overly aggressive early are much more likely to grow up to be violent adults than children who don't show aggressive tendencies until there adolescence. This may be because there is better training earlier in life to fall back on but researchers are uncertain of this. This does add to the need for intervention earlier in when it has a greater impact. If children are removed from abusive homes at an early age or if the parents receive proper counseling and they abuse comes to an end it is much easier than to wait until they are older and less susceptible to treatment. James Garbarino cites one case where caretakers from head start consulted with a social worker who visited the mother of the child and found that she was overwhelmed and didn't know how to handle the situation, the social worker was able to help resolve the situation by consulting with the staff at head start and providing some advice to the mother. Within a few weeks there were noticible improvements. There was no need to take the child away or take any further action.

According to Psychologists Dan Kindlon and Michael Thompson good discipline from care givers encourages discussion with children and asking for their input. This doesn't mean agreeing with them all the time but it does mean letting them be part of the discussion. They have cited research that shows that parents who are angry with their children and yell at them more often are more likely to become troubled children than if they react calmly and take the time to discuss the situation with the children.

Bullying
In most cases bullies become bullies after they are bullied or abused themselves. This may happen at home as a result of abuse by adults or at school as a result of abuse by other students. Stopping child abuse or bullying early can have a major impact to break the cycle of violence. This requires close attention to children at a young age in preschool and grammar school. This is especially important in large cities that have large high schools that may require security in the halls if the children aren't raised right at an early age. The security is much harder to implement if the children don't respect it and are looking for a way to avoid security.

According to a 9 page report by Regina Hueter, Director of Juvenile Diversion to the Denver District Attorneys office there were many stories of bullying and students didn't report them because they didn't believe anything would be done about it. Many students claimed that the teachers would only do something about bullying if they saw it themselves. There was one parent who called the administration to complain and he claimed he didn't receive a response for 6 weeks. When they did call him back he claimed they were abrupt and rude. According to Brooks Brown and other students and parents in Littleton this environment didn't change immediately after the Columbine High School massacre. Many of the teachers, police and policy makers were more concerned with avoiding blame.

Gavin De Becker cites several other cases where bullying leads to revenge attacks or other problems. In one case when a mother called an expert radio personality she told her to teach her son to tough it out and stand up for himself without realizing that he was half the size of the bully that was threatening him. Coincidentally that same day the child intended to take his own father gun and shoot the bully, however he didn't because his father had called in sick that day and was in the bedroom where the gun was. In stead he went to school and wound up being beat up by the bully and receiving a fractured rib and losing both front teeth. The only thing that saved this student from further beatings was dumb luck, the bully failed to fully close his locker one day and a counselor came by and reached into the locker to rearrange things so that she could close it and found a handgun. He was arrested and never returned to the school. Another incident was witnessed personally when De Becker was in high school involves a student that was bullied routinely until one day he hit one of the worst bullies from behind with a steel bar seriously disfiguring him. The bully was hospitalized for weeks and the victim that sought revenge was taken away by police never to be seen again.

Gavin De Becker cites some pre incident indicators that might help predict and prevent these incidents from happening in the first place:


 * Alcohol and drug abuse
 * Addiction to media products
 * Aimlessness
 * Fascination with weapons and violence
 * Experience with guns
 * Access to guns
 * Sullen, Angry, Depressed
 * Seeking status and worth through violence
 * Threats of violence or suicide
 * Chronic anger
 * Rejection or Humiliation
 * Media Provocation

Mobilizing the community against bullying at a early age is an effective way to prevent bullying and school violence at a later age. Many teenage children have said that they feel that they should say something when other kids are being targeted. Teaching children at a young age to speak out against bullying and addressing the concerns of the children are much more effective at preventing violence than waiting until the teen years. Maintaining consistent rules and applying them consistently will help reduce violence. It is also important to make sure that everyone knows about the rules.

Drug abuse
James Garbarino and Ellen deLara conducted interviews with many teenagers and concluded that in many cases they are opposed to drug use and wish there was more supervision from parents, however they hesitate to speak up in front of other children. Most teenagers agree that bullies are more likely to use drugs although there is no direct evidence to indicate one causes the other. They advise parents to consult with school faculty to know what there policy is on how to handle drug abuse, if it is clear and if it is enforced consistently. They also recommend drug education for teachers and faculty. They advise parents to discuss drugs with their children and if necessary get advice from counselors about how to discuss it with children.

Delinquent friends
Fathers are undervalued in America, in some cases where a father isn't present or isn't involved enough with the children they may look to others for guidance. If there isn't a responsible big brother figure they may look to someone less responsible. This may have been what happened in Jonesboro, Arkansas when Drew Golden and Mitch Johnson became famous killers or when James Vance and Raymond Belknap joined in a suicide pact. This may also have been what happened when Klebold and Harris became involved in the Columbine shooting. This is much less likely if they have a father figure to turn to or a guidance counselor that they trust.

Teacher accountability
There are some cases where teachers or other adults may ridicule or harass students for example in one case where a student walked in while a teacher was discussing his paper with a colleague. They were laughing and commenting negatively and when the student overheard this he lost interest and his grades went down. Other teachers have used shame to discipline children and this had a negative affect on the attitude of the child. This doesn’t happen as often as it used to but it still does happen on occasion. According to a study by psychologist Irwin Hyman teachers who use emotionally brutal behavior learn this as children. Many students that were interviewed by James Garbarino and Ellen deLara felt that adults didn't know what was going on in the schools. They often feel that adults are to busy doing other things or don't want to get involved in violent situations so they look the other way. James Garbarino and Ellen deLara also found at least one adult teacher who didn't feel they should bother listening to the students. He claimed the students didn't know how to handle the problems. James Garbarino and Ellen deLara concluded that the schools that were least likely to have problems were the ones that tried the best to maintain an open line of communication and address the problems as they came along. They didn't conclude that they should always believe everything the students said but they should listen to them and seek confirmation. They found that many of the students understood things better than many adults expected them to. They recommend that parents who want to help reduce problems at school volunteer to help monitor halls or buses as well as participate in extra curricular activities. At Columbine according to some students including Brooks Brown teachers would give preferential treatment to some students that included looking the other way when they bullied or teased the outcasts. Some of these teachers expressed denial after the shooting and may have hampered the investigation to understand what caused the shooting. Gavin de Becker, James Garbarino, Ellen deLara and others have all said that in adition to more accountability for teachers there needs to be more reources available for them to do their jobs including competitive wages.

Social Workers
Social workers are often portrayed as negligent in the media and in some cases this may be justified but in many cases they are doing the best they can with what they have and they don't receive the recognition they deserve. Unlike teachers they don't generally receive respect from the parents they are dealing with since they are often investigating them and the parents look at them as adversaries. often the neighbors or friends of the parents may take their side but when something goes wrong the media is often quick to blame the social worker. Social workers are like teachers ion some ways and need more resources pay and respect. To withhold resources and then blame the social workers is guaranteed to fail.

Child Care
"50% of working parents of young children have to leave their children in care you or I wouldn't trust nor do they." Dr. Berry Brazelton

Gavin De Becker recommends that parents check licenses of daycare systems. It is rare where this would be a problem however he cites one case where there was a convicted sex offender who was running a day care center without a license who was telling his customers he had one and no one checked it until he was caught abusing children again. He also recommends that parents check daycare policies and ask for them in writing. Keeping in touch with other parents is also a good idea. Some corporations are offering company day care, this improves productivity, reduces absenteeism and increases loyalty to the company. The parents benefit as well by having more reliable daycare assuming it is held accountable.

Cultural Differences
Comparing cultural differences can help understand why some schools have fewer problems with violence than others. School violence is a global problem and not all cultures treat it the same way. For instance, in Singapore any tendency towards violence among teenage boys is kept in check by the use of school corporal punishment (see Caning in Singapore). Sometimes there are even differences in schools in the same culture nearby. According to a 9 page report by Regina Hueter, Director of Juvenile Diversion to the Denver District Attorneys office there was one child who transferred to Columbine and her grades went from mostly As to failing. Then when she transferred out again she began flourishing again.

Most of the countries that are doing much worse than the USA have a better excuse, as they are at war. Peter W. Singer and Jimmie Briggs have studied the way war affects children including children who were forced to fight as child soldiers. They concluded that like abused children and children that have been involved in gangs or school shootings they need appropriate counseling in order to reintegrate into society. the increase in the availability of small arms has contributed to the increase in the use of child soldiers as well as in school shootings. Without small arms children were never able to do as much damage so quickly before.

One of the countries that has one of the most disastrous child welfare agencies is Romania; however it may be one of the greatest examples of how reform can be implemented as well. From 1945 to 1989 it has relied on state run child care which resulted in an enormous amount of negligence to the children. this has lead to high infant mortality rates as well as dysfunctional children some of whom were adopted by Americans who found that they were so troubled they couldn't handle raising them. This has shown how vital close contact with parents is when children are infants and what can happen when children don't receive the care they need from the very beginning. The reforms that have taken place since 1989 have also shown how much improvement can be made if the proper effort is put into it. the most important cultures to compare with may not be the ones that have had the most problems but those that have the least to find out what they have done right.

Gavin de Becker even believes it would help to compare to the daycare that animals provides. He cites one father who claims that animals never leave their children alone therefore he wouldn't either. De Becker doesn't agree that we should always raise children the same way as animals nor does he believe all animals treat their children this way but he does believe we can learn something from comparing them. He thinks people have done much better than animals but it is important to understand what people are doing better how and why in order to keep it up and if animals are doing something better than people it is also important to understand what, how and why in order to change it. One thing humans do different than animals is that they spend more time raising their children this enables people to develop a more sophisticated society with more advantages. However when people stop spending so much time raising children they run into more social problems including school violence. Some animals leave their children with "aunties" that they know and trust as do humans. Humans sometimes rely on day care that they are less familiar with though. This is based on the reputation of the daycare center, however in some cases that reputation hasn't always met expectation which is why he recommends checking references. Several researchers into animal behavior have also found that animals learn how to raise their young when they are children as do humans. when many animals are separated from their mothers as infants they fail to learn how to raise their own children as adults. One example of this is Washoe Jane Goodall has also found that dysfunctional families pass down from generation to generation in the wild. She has found that when chimpanzees are raised by dysfunctional mothers they tend to be dysfunctional when they grow up and have their own families.

Gun safety
Gavin De Becker recommends that parents who are opposed to guns in school and want a gun free School policy in their area start with a letter to the principal telling them what they believe. This could be followed up with participation in the PTA and letters to state and federal legislators. He recommends that guns be locked up out of reach of children. There are some cases where children involved in school shootings got guns from their parents. According to a 1994 study by Harvard University's School of Public Health 60% of student's nation wide grades 6-12 knew how to get a gun quickly and 39% were close to someone who had been killed or wounded by gunfire.

Additional Gun Statistics from USA
 * Every day about 75 American children are shot. Most recover, but 15 don't.
 * The majority of fatal shootings happen in the home.
 * Gunshot wounds are the single most common cause of death for American women in the home, accounting for nearly half of all homicides and 42% of suicides.
 * An adolescent is twice as likely to commit suicide if there is a gun in the home.
 * A gun isn’t likely to be a key element in protection and is far more likely to harm a family member.

Defensive gun use surveys have been used to determine how often guns were used to stop crime. These are sent out to participants who fill out forms and return them. They are often cited to point out high uses of guns to deter crime, however after a close look of the results the Department of Justice/Police Foundation study concluded that an "estimate of millions of defensive gun uses each year greatly exaggerates the true numbers." One of the responders reported 52 such incidents.

Summation
According to a study released May 14 2002 by the National School Board association only 9 educators out of 837 thought School violence was a major concern. according to the report by Regina Huerter many teachers weren't paying adequate attention to bullying and other issues. Addressing all the contributing factors to School violence may seem like a big task but in the long run it will be more cost effective than ignoring the issues. It is cheaper to raise children right in the beginning than to deal with the social problems including increased crime and more prisons afterwards. According to Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Scott Gordon "For every dollar we invest in kids in their young years, we save a thousand dollars in their teen years. It is a better investment than any internet stock." The benefits of treating these problems before they get worse are much greater than the costs and they go far beyond school violence.

Along with these newer ideas, there is still support for the tradition idea of punishing those who commit assaults. This idea stems from the ethical notion that individuals are responsible for their own behavior. Along these lines, students who attack others are given time out (younger children), detention or suspension, suspensions are often accompanied by a mandatory conference with the parents and a counselor or teacher. For more serious offenses, they may also be referred to the police and courts.