Causesof School Violence

Essential Viewpoints

CCCCCthe causes of

Violenceb y H e l g a S c h i e r

School


Content ConsultantProfessor James Garbarino, Ph.D.

Maude C. Clarke Chair in Humanistic Psychology



The Causes of School Violence

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Chapter1

A typical classroom in the United States

Victims of Violence

The Constitutional Rights Foundation reports, “Ev-ery year, 3 million young people in the United States fall victim to crimes at school. Almost 2 mil-lion of these incidents involve violence.”2 Very few of the students caus-ing this violence are the students who commit school shootings.



The Details of Violence

“In most schools,” for-mer President Bill Clin-ton said in July 1998, “it’s not the sensational acts of violence, but the smaller acts of aggression, threats, scuffles, and con-stant back talk that take a terrible toll on the atmo-sphere of learning, on the morale of teachers, on the attitudes of students.”3


Deadly Lessons

A number of shooting rampages have oc-

curred on U.S. campuses:

On October 1, 1997, in Pearl, Mississippi,

16-year-old Luke Woodham opened fire at

his high school, killing two and wounding

seven. Before he went to school that day,

he killed his mother.

On December 1, 1997, in West Paducah,

Kentucky, 14-year-old Michael Carneal

killed three students at his high school.

On March 24, 1998, in Jonesboro,

Arkansas, 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson

and his cousin, 11-year-old Andrew

Golden, opened fire on their schoolmates,

killing four students and a teacher.

On May 21, 1998, in Springfield, Oregon,

15-year-old Kip Kinkel shot 25 classmates,

two fatally. He also killed his parents.

On April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado,

18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old

Dylan Klebold of Columbine High killed

12 schoolmates and a teacher. They also

wounded many others before killing

themselves.


“No child should go to school in fear. … Schools need to ’take back the controls‘ and to identify what the local issues are that may be causing fear and anxiety on the part of students and staff. Once the local issues have been identified, school admin-istrators, working with students, teachers, par-ents and support staff, are able to effect change.”4

—National Alliance for Safe Schools


Some U.S. schools have become crime scenes.


The Majority and the Minority

The National Alliance for Safe Schools points to the differences between the majority of students and the students who may potentially become violent: “The majority of students are good kids who do their best to play by the rules and to get an education. There is a very small proportion of stu-dents who choose to con-duct themselves in such a manner as to pose a threat to themselves and to others.”5


Students at the University of Miami pause for a moment of silence honoring the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting rampage in April 2007.

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Chapter2

Bullying has occurred for decades.


Forms and Frequency of Bullying

In 2005, approximately 28 percent of students aged 12 to 18 reported being bullied at school. Name-calling was the most com-mon form of bullying. Approximately 19 percent of students had been ver-bally abused; 15 percent reported being the sub-ject of rumors; 9 percent were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit upon; 5 percent were threatened with physical harm; and 3 percent reported that their belongings had been damaged on purpose.

Of the students who reported being bullied, more than half had been bullied twice in the six-month period prior to the study, a quarter had been bullied once or twice a month, 11 percent had been bullied once or twice a week, and as many as 8 percent of the students had to deal with bullying on a daily basis.


“In 2005, 38 percent of middle school students reported seeing hate-related graffiti deliberately using derogatory words or symbols relating to race or ethnicity, religion, dis-ability, gender or sexual orientation.”1

—The National Center for Education Statistics


Graffiti is just one of many forms of school violence.


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Violence toward Teachers

By no means are students the only victims of school violence. The National Center for Education Sta-tistics reports that, “ten percent of teachers in central city schools re-ported in 2003–2004 that they were threatened with injury by students, com-pared with 6 percent of teachers in urban fringe schools and 5 percent in rural schools. Five percent of teachers in central city schools were attacked by students, compared with 3 percent of teachers in ur-ban fringe and 2 percent in rural schools.”3 In turn, however, some teachers also bully students. In 2006, the International Journal of Social Psychia-try published the results of a study that showed nearly 50 percent of el-ementary teachers admit-ted to bullying students.


Where Violence Occurs

In 2005, 14 percent of stu-dents in grades 9 through 12 reported being in fights on school grounds in the previous 12 months. As many as 36 percent of students reported be-ing in fights in general, either on or off school grounds. While not all fights involve weapons, some students report be-ing threatened or injured with a weapon such as a gun, knife, or club. In all surveys pertaining to school violence between 1993 and 2003, at least 7 percent (and sometimes as many as 9 percent) of students reported having been threatened or in-jured with a weapon. This is not surprising consider-ing that in 2005, 19 per-cent of students in grades 9 through 12 admitted to carrying a weapon off school grounds, and as many as 6 percent admit-ted to carrying a weapon on school property.




Gangs at School

In 2006, the National Center for Education

Statistics reported the following:

“In 2005, some 24 percent of students re-

ported that there were gangs at their schools.

Students in urban schools were more likely

to report the presence of gangs at their school

than suburban students and rural students. …

Hispanic and Black students were more likely

than White students to report gangs in their

schools in 2005 (38 and 37 percent, respec-

tively, versus 17 percent). This pattern held

among students in both urban and suburban

schools. Between 2003 and 2005, reports of

gangs increased among both Black students

(29 versus 37 percent) and White students (14

versus 17 percent). No measurable change was

detected in the percentage of Hispanic students

reporting the presence of gangs between 2003

and 2005.

“Students in public schools were more

likely to report the presence of gangs than

were students in private schools regardless of

the school’s location. This may be due to the

selectivity of private schools. In 2005, some

25 percent of students in public schools re-

ported that there were gangs in their schools,

compared with 4 percent of students in private

schools.”4



Some students have to navigate gang turf on their way to and from school. Pastor Mike Cummings, right, sometimes accompanies

students in Los Angeles, California.

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Chapter3

Caitlyn Goldben testifies against Eric Hainstock, who was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of principal John Klang.


A Domino Effect

The National Center for Children Exposed to Vio-lence warns, “the topic of school violence is one that affects all of society. Aside from interfering with the learning process, the long range effects of school violence affect us all. Statistically, children who engage in bullying behavior are more likely to become adult crimi-nals. Many children who display violent behavior at school are exposed to violence or abuse out-side of school and may be in need of help from adults.”2


“Schools should be plac-es of safety and sanctu-ary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American commu-nity.”3

—President George W. Bush, April 16, 2007,

speaking after the Virginia Tech shootings


Risk Factors for Violent Behavior

The American Academy of Child and Ado-

lescent Psychiatry lists the following risk factors

that may lead to violent behavior in children

and adolescents:

Prior victim of physical abuse and/or

sexual abuse

Exposure to violence in the home and/or

community

Genetic (family heredity) factors

Exposure to violence in media (television,

movies, etc.)

Use of drugs and/or alcohol

Presence of firearms in the home

Stressful family socioeconomic factors

(poverty, severe deprivation, marital

breakup, single parenting, unemployment,

loss of support from extended family)

Brain damage from head injury

Children who turn to violence often exhibit

several of the risk factors and the following

behavioral patterns:

Intense anger

Frequent loss of temper or quick to anger

Extreme irritability

Extreme impulsiveness

Easily frustrated


Afraid at School

According to the Na-tional Center for Educa-tion Statistics, “In 2005, approximately 6 percent of students ages 12 to 18 reported that they were afraid of attack or harm at school, and 5 percent reported that they were afraid of attack or harm away from school. … Consistent with findings from 1999 and 2001, students in 2005 were more likely to report be-ing afraid of an attack at school than away from school.”4


Avoiding School

Statistics show that in 2005, “some 6 percent of students reported that they had avoided a school ac-tivity or one or more plac-es in school in the previ-ous 6 months because of fear of attack or harm; 2 percent of students avoid-ed a school activity, and 4 percent avoided one or more places in school.”5



Members of Mothers in Charge, a group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who have lost children to violence, hold up antiviolence signs during the

Millions More Movement on October 15, 2005, in Washington, D.C.

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Chapter4

Kip Kinkel, who killed two fellow students and wounded 25 others at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, as well as murdered

his parents, is now serving a life sentence.




Defining Bullies

No child is predestined to become a bully or a victim, neither by their ra-cial, social, or educational background nor by their temperament or a psy-chiatric condition. Bullies are defined by the behav-ior they exhibit, not by a psychological predisposi-tion. Some children tend to be shy and quiet, and others enjoy exercising control. But this does not mean that they will auto-matically become victims or bullies. If channeled, any temperament can be guided toward construc-tive rather than destruc-tive behavior.


Jacob Rubin, right, was a victim of bullying.




Drinking and Violence

The legal drinking age in the United States

is 21. Yet according to the National Center

for Education Statistics report, “Indicators of

School Crime and Safety: 2006,” almost half

of all students in grades 9 to 12 surveyed had

consumed at least one alcoholic drink in the

month prior to the survey. Alcohol and drug

abuse is both a function and result of the tur-

moil and anxiety associated with teenagers.

Drug and alcohol abuse can severely affect

impulse control and lead to a bullying behav-

ior that escalates into physical violence. This

is true whether an individual suffers from the

effects of chronic alcohol and drug abuse or

from a one-time transgression. The average

American boy tries his first drink at age 11; the

average American girl tries her first drink at age

13. Americans who develop a drinking prob-

lem at some point in their lives usually started

drinking regularly at age 16.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and

Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that, “not only

may alcohol consumption promote aggressive-

ness, but victimization may lead to excessive

alcohol consumption.”4 In other words, those

who drink are more likely to be violent, and

those who have suffered violence are more

likely to drink.



The school cafeteria is often a setting for bullying.

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Chapter5

New research suggests more families are reclaiming mealtime as family time. The benefit is stronger communication.


Protecting the Family Unit

The Universal Declara-tion of Human Rights pro-tects the family unit: “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.”1



The Link between Parenting Styles and Conflict Resolution Skills

A study conducted at Johns Hopkins Univer-

sity investigated the relationship between par-

enting styles and the reaction by adolescents

to hypothetical situations that might lead to

conflict and violence. Based on the adoles-

cents’ descriptions of how their mothers raised

them, the mothers were classified as permis-

sive, authoritarian, or authoritative. Presented

with several different hypothetical situations

that might lead to violent conflict, children of

permissive mothers reacted more negatively

than the others. The researchers concluded

that there is a relationship between parenting

styles and an adolescent’s ability to deal with

conflict.

Which parenting style is most successful

in dealing with conflict was not the subject

of this study. But the assumption exists that a

permissive parenting style does not prepare a

child well for conflict, as this style of parenting

avoids conflict altogether, and thus does not

provide a platform for practice.


“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy fam-ily is unhappy in its own way.”2

—Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina


“To put the world in or-der, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our per-sonal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.”5

—Confucius


Reactive Attachment Disorder

Abuse and neglect may be responsible for cer-tain personality disorders, which in turn may be responsible for some in-stances of youth violence. A person suffering from Reactive Attachment Dis-order is unable to estab-lish caring relationships with others. A person suf-fering from Oppositional Defiant Disorder shows constant defiance toward authority figures and dis-regards rules of conduct. A person suffering from Conduct Disorder often resorts to violence when showing defiance toward authority.


Legislation has been proposed that would make it illegal to market or sell devices, such as spanking paddles, to be used solely for

hitting and whipping children.



What Is a Family?

Families come in all shapes and sizes. The tra-ditional family is a mar-ried couple with children. It does not include grand-parents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, or other members of the extended family. It is the family that became typical in West-ern civilizations in the nineteenth century. Its de-mise has been lamented since the 1950s, at the very time it was celebrat-ed most in TV shows such as Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

In 1960, almost half of all American households had a married mother and father with biologi-cal children. Today, only a quarter of American households fit that de-scription. The 1960s were also a period of social and political change. In the 1970s, the baby boomers were marrying later or not at all. The decline in the traditional family unit is also due to an aging pop-ulation. Today, there are many more empty-nest families and single house-holds that lost one partner to death.



The cast of the TV series Leave It to Beaver portrayed an idyllic American family in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

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Chapter6

On average, children in the United States watch more than 40 hours of television each week.


“Television has replaced all other institutions as the single most power-ful transmitter of cultural values.”2

—Madeline Levine, Viewing Violence



Violence on Television

The Kaiser Family Foun-dation reports that almost two out of three televi-sion programs contain violence, and fewer than 5 percent contain a posi-tive nonviolent message. Sixty-nine percent of tele-vision shows directed at children and 57 percent of television shows directed at adults contain violence. Researchers were most concerned with “sinister combat violence” shown on Saturday morning tele-vision. Violence is central to the story line of many Saturday morning car-toons that feature a hero using extreme violence to defeat an equally violent villain.



Research indicates that violent videos games influence the decisions and inhibitions of young viewers.


Violence in Western Countries

The U.S. Department of Justice cites that compared to the United States, there are fewer incidents of vio-lent crime in general and school violence in par-ticular in other Western countries.


Does Media Violence Create Killers?

Some theories argue that some of the more

horrid incidents of school violence may have

been modeled on or influenced by violent tele-

vision shows, movies, and video games. Before

shooting three of his schoolmates at Heath High

School in Kentucky, in 1997, Michael Carneal

had reportedly watched the 1995 movie The

Basketball Diaries and remarked how cool it

would be to go on a shooting rampage similar

to the one depicted in a dream sequence in the

movie. Although Carneal had never practiced

with a real gun, his aim was remarkable, which

was attributed to the hours he had spent play-

ing violent video games.

The Columbine High shooting also shows

eerie similarities to the same dream scene in

The Basketball Diaries in which the main char-

acter, dressed in a black trench coat, shoots

several students in his high school. Eric Harris

and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine High shoot-

ers, also were avid players of Doom and fans

of the Oliver Stone movie Natural Born Killers,

which satirizes the glorification of violence on

television.



The Oliver Stone film Natural Born Killers has been blamed for lessening the violent inhibitions of people such as Michael Freeman,

seen here during his murder trial.

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Chapter7

Elvis Presley was one of the first music icons accused of influencing youth behavior in negative ways.



“Most kids deserve the respect their parents wanted when they were kids: to be able to con-sume bits of pop culture and decide on their own whether it’s poetry, enter-tainment or junk. There is a lapse in parental logic that goes from ‘I don’t get it’ to ‘It must be evil,’ and from that to ‘It makes kids evil.’”1

—Richard Corliss, Bang—You’re Dead


“There is a sound basis for concluding that some popular music can help lead some young people to violence.”2

—Thomas Jipping, Diagnosing the Cultural Virus


“I’m a poster boy for fear. Because I represent what everyone is afraid of, be-cause I say and do what-ever I want.”3

—Marilyn Mansonresponding to Michael

Moore’s question about why he was held respon-

sible for the shootings at Columbine High in

Bowling for Columbine


Goth

Goth subculture draws heavily from the

themes and imagery of nineteenth-century

Gothic literature, which combined elements

of horror and romance. Prevalent themes of

Gothic literature included a rebellion against

the religious establishment, particularly Ca-

tholicism and its practices of the Spanish Inqui-

sition, a melodramatic view of love and death,

and a preoccupation with the dark nature of

man expressed by the fascination with mon-

sters, vampires, and werewolves.

Today’s Goth subculture is defined by a

stress on individualism and a tolerance toward

any and all individual lifestyles. This is in part

responsible for the fact that Goth subculture

cannot easily be defined as a movement with

a particular philosophy. Goth has been consid-

ered atheistic, although it embraces religious

themes and symbolism. Goth has more to do

with a shared fashion sense, a romantic mood,

and a certain taste in music than it does with a

social, political, or religious agenda. Although

many see Goth as a reaction against social

conservatism, much like the hippie movement

of the 1960s or the punks of the 1970s, the

Goth subculture does not necessarily promote

social change. Its explosive power stems more

from its aesthetic symbols and postures, which

are often considered offensive to mainstream

culture.


U.S. rock star Marilyn Manson has been blamed for encouraging school violence.


“The obvious causes of so-cial violence—economic inequality, racism, and racial profiling—are all but ignored when the focus is on the music of (minority) youth.”5

—Michael Eric Dyson, Testimony before the

Senate Commerce, Science and

Transportation Committee,

September 11, 2000



In London, England, rapper RhymeFest met with the head of the Conservative Party to discuss violent rap lyrics.

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Chapter8

Students leave for summer vacation.


Leading Cause of Death

In the article “Violent Behavior,” health care author Sydney Younger-man-Cole notes the seri-ous effects of hostility: “Violence causes more injuries and deaths in children, teenagers, and young adults than infec-tious disease, cancer, or birth defects. Homicide, suicide, and violent injury are the leading causes of death in children. Vio-lence related to guns is the leading cause of death of children and teenagers in the United States. Approx-imately 3,500 teenagers are murdered every year and 150,000 are arrested for violent crimes.”2


Hate Crimes

Based on data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an es-timated 7,163 incidents of violent hate crimes occurred nationwide in 2005. Hate crimes includ-ed an African-American teenager who was beaten up by white teenagers while driving to school, a swastika spray-painted on a synagogue, a gay man attacked by heterosexu-als, and the use of racial epithets at women wear-ing traditional Islamic clothing. Almost two-thirds of the attackers and almost half of the victims of hate crimes were under the age of 24.


“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, includ-ing food, clothing, hous-ing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemploy-ment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”5

—Universal Declarationof Human Rights,

Article 25


The accumulated negative effects of living in poverty can lead to school violence.


Poverty Rates

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, while the official U.S. poverty rate in 2005 was 12.6 percent, the poverty rate was 24.9 percent among blacks and 21.8 percent among Hispanics. Among whites, the poverty rate was 8.3 percent. Children under the age of 18 are more of-ten affected by poverty at a rate of 17.6 percent as opposed to 11.1 percent of adults.


The Origins of Gangs

Gangs originally started in inner-city envi-

ronments, in part out of economic necessity, as

ill-conceived means to get out of the ghetto by

engaging in criminal activity. The shock value

of the gang culture has allowed the phenom-

enon to spill into American suburbs.

While race and ethnicity are often major fac-

tors in the original gang formation, “gang cloth-

ing, language, and music have been seized on

for commercial exploitation […] and diffused

worldwide.”8 Touting gang colors and listening

to gangsta rap has been separated from their

original economic and racial factors and be-

come popular the world over.


Violent Communities

The National Center for Education Statistics re-ports that schools in ur-ban areas of high levels of crime are more likely to report violent and seri-ous crime than schools in neighborhoods with low levels of crime, suggest-ing that the violence in communities has a direct effect on children.



Using airport-style metal detectors, a security officer checks students for weapons in Hollywood, California.

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Chapter9

A trooper carries an assault rifle on the Virginia Tech campus following the April 2007 deadly shootings in Blacksburg, Virginia.


”Everyone has the right to education. … Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental free-doms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups.”1

—Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Article 26


“Mass shootings have come to define our na-tion. Today’s shooting at Virginia Tech—the largest mass shooting in U.S. his-tory—is only the latest in a continuing series over the past two decades. These tragedies are the inevita-ble result of the ease with which the firepower nec-essary to slaughter dozens of innocents can be ob-tained. We allow virtually anyone the means to turn almost any venue into a battlefield. In the wake of these shootings, too many routinely search for any reason for the tragedy ex-cept for the most obvious —the easy access to in-creasingly lethal firearms that make mass killings possible.”2

—Josh Sugarman, Violence Policy Center,

April 16, 2007, in relation to the massacre

at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia


The debate over gun rights is part of the school violence controversy.


A Right to Bear Arms

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Con-

stitution guarantees the right of the people to

keep and bear arms. Whether one believes that

gun control is constitutional rests on the inter-

pretation of this amendment. More specifically,

does the Second Amendment guarantee the

right to keep and bear arms only as a member

of a militia? Or does it guarantee a broad and

unrestricted right to keep and bear arms to the

individual?

The United States no longer has a militia. To-

day’s equivalent, the National Guard, has lim-

ited membership and uses a government-sup-

plied arsenal of weapons rather than privately

owned weapons. Thus, gun control issues do

not affect the effectiveness of a militia. There-

fore, the issue is only whether private owner-

ship is guaranteed under this amendment and

whether a particular gun control law violates

this right. For example, do age restrictions,

background checks, stricter gun-registration

procedures, and more and stricter gun safety

features infringe upon this right? Do these re-

strictions unduly empower the government to

decide who can buy a gun? Or do they help

ensure the safety of children and adolescents

by making sure that those with a question-

able background (criminal history, a history of

mental health problems, or substance abuse)

or exposed to certain risk factors cannot be in

possession of a gun?




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A Summit on School Violence

On October 10, 2006, President Bush convened a summit on school vio-lence. In several panel discussions, school of-ficials, Parent Teacher Association (PTA) repre-sentatives, members of President Bush’s cabinet, and law enforcement offi-cers came up with a basic tried-and-true response: Open the channels of communication and get parents, school teach-ers, students, police, and community representa-tives to work together.



Skill-building programs, such as this one led by Annica Trotter, work to create constructive environments.


1998 1999

On May 21, Kip Kinkel shoots 25

classmates, killing two. He also kills his

parents.

On April 20 in Littleton, Colorado,

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 12 schoolmates, a teacher, and themselves.

1940s–1950s 1960

In the United States, comic books are

considered dangerous due to their graphic images of violence.

Almost half of all U.S. households have a

married mother and father with biological

children.


2001 2002

The Media Marketing Accountability Act is proposed to prevent the music, game, and movie industry from

marketing violent products to children.

Bowling for Columbine, Michael

Moore’s documentary about the Columbine, Colorado, shootings,

is released.

1961 1994

Experiments show that children who had

first seen an adult hitting a doll were more likely to react

with similar violence when frustrated.

The Educate America Act proclaims that by

2000, U.S. schools will offer a learning environment free of weapons, drugs, and

violence.


2006 2007

On October 10, President Bush

convenes a summit to open the channels of communication

among the community.

On April 16, Seung-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old student, shoots and kills 33 people on the Virginia Tech campus, including

himself.

2003–2004 2005

During the school year, 96 percent of high schools and 94 percent of middle

schools report violent incidents of crime.

Reports note that hate-related graffiti is witnessed by 38 percent of middle school students.

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2007

In early November, Finland witnesses its first school shooting.

2005 2006

Approximately 24 percent of students

report gang presence at their schools.

Almost half of all students in grades 9 to 12 surveyed have had at least one alcoholic drink in the month prior to the survey.


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Causesof School Violence