School Shootings and Teen Violence

School Shootings and Teen Violence

Loretta Roberson

Intro to Criminal Justice 101

Professor Paine

April 26, 2016

Abstract

School shootings go back as far as the year 1978, deeper research will more than likely lead to school shootings even further in the history of humankind. However, for this paper the timeline will start in 1978. Teachers or even parents do not do most school shootings but instead out of control teens. Some people probably sit and wonder what could possibly set a young person off so bad to make them resort to hatred of such magnitude. There are multiple reasons, as you will soon read.

School Shootings and Teen Violence

According to Barbara Cruz, author of School Shootings and School Violence: A Hot Issue, “A 2001 study found that almost 50 percent of American high school students have easy access to guns. The survey also found that one in five high school boys took a weapon to school the previous year.” (p. 11).

Bullying: A leading cause to school violence

“Every 7 minutes a child is bullied. Adult intervention – 4%. Peer intervention – 11%. No intervention – 85%.” (www.nveee.org/statistics). Violence has always been a part of human history, when things are different or not understandable, hatred is breed and people resort to violence. When someone has something or is sitting on resources that another country wants war breaks out. “Throughout human history, social conflict is ubiquitous. Wars erupt naturally everywhere humans are present.” (James Waller, Journal of Hate Studies p.5). It is no different in schools, especially high school, where teenage hormones are effecting them mind and body. High school is a society in and of its self; it is divided into factions with “leaders” that others turn to for examples. Teens come in every shape and sizes, and so do bullies, they find the differences in people and exploit them, “Kids who are obese, gay or have disabilities are up to 63% more likely to be bullied than other children.” (www.nveee.org/statistics). Bullying has an adverse effect on the one being bullied, it makes them think less of themselves, and it makes them socially awkward, never knowing if someone is going to bully them.

Cyber Bullying1

Unfortunately, in todays’ world of technology bullying has been made easier thanks to social media. This form of bullying is known as cyber bullying, “32% of online teens say they have been targets of a range of annoying or potentially menacing online activities. 15% of teens overall say someone has forwarded or posted a private message they’ve written, 13% say someone has spread a rumor about them online, 13% say someone has sent them a threatening or aggressive message, and 6% say someone has posted embarrassing pictures of them online.” (www.nveee.org/statistics). Bullying used to be limited to school but now in the new age of technology, bullying follows teens home. Yes, teens have the power to turn off their computers or phone but the damage is already done, the seed has been planted and social media sites help it grow like a fungus.

La Psychologie des Foules.

According to James Waller, Gustava Le Bon author of La Psychologie des Foules, or better known to those of the English language as The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, theorized that “in a crowd, the individuals psychology is subordinated to a collective mentality that radically transforms the individuals’ behavior.” (Journal of Hate Studies p.8). When humans, teens especially, are put into crowds the weakest will always band to the strongest and follow their lead. Those isolated and shunned from the collective mentality feel alone and some of them turn to rage and thus violence. The best example of this is the Columbine High School shooting, it is speculated that bullying combined with other factors lead to Harris and Klebold going on a killing rampage and then killing themselves. According to Jeffrey Margolis, author of Teens Who Kill, “Over the last fifteen years or so in the United States, the number of teens who kill has risen tremendously, by almost 200 percent. At the same time, the number of teens who have been killed has risen almost as much.” (p.9)

Violence on the home front.

According to Barbara Cruz, author of School Shootings and School Violence: A Hot Issue, “Studies have found that availability of weapons, problematic parenting, and weak family bonds can all contribute to violence in children.” (p. 10). There are many teens that are unfortunate enough to be born to those that have no right being parents. To relieve their own pain and frustrations they turn to violence, a teen can only handle so much before they snap. Children pick-up actions and behaviors from their parents and when their parents abuse them, it teaches’ children that violence is how one expresses themselves. According to Carol Anne Davis, author of Children Who Kill: Profiles of Pre-teen and Teenage Killers, “…the child is physically and emotionally abused by an adult or adults, often the very people that created him. In turn, he – or she – goes on to perpetrate violence on someone else.” (p. 18).  There is good and bad in every human and it is the individuals choice as to which path they follow; but sometimes multiple negative factors weigh down someone, especially someone so young, and they lose touch with reality and that is when they are at their most dangerous because they want the pain to stop but the only way they know how to deal with it is to resort to violence. This then begs the question how many of these cases of school shootings are because the teen finally snaps from the abuse at home and then from being picked on in school? The next question would be why do they have such easy access to firearms?