For decades the USA has experienced several cases of acts of violence in schools throughout the country. These acts of violence are the deliberate use of bodily force that is either threatened or actual on another person, a community or a group of students that results to bodily harm, assault and in some cases death. Chiefly, these acts of violence involve the actual assault on the students, students towards their tutors or other staff members and teachers on students. This type of violence considerably occur on either school premises and during events, and they take the form of strikes, internal demonstrations, bullying, school brawls and the prevalent school shootings that have become a common phenomenon. This occurrences and acts of violence have led to significant harm, physical injuries, deformations and actual deaths. Mostly, it is notable that such violence is undesired, this because they not only cause harm both school premises and students but also physically, psychologically and emotionally affect the victims (Fox & DeLateur, 2014). Where victims survive, they are subjected to depression, anxiety and some may be suicidal. In this regard, therefore, an analysis will help reveal the magnitude of acts of shootings that have been occurring in the United States and other countries.
Statistically, captured data indicates that shooting has been a vice that has been occurring for decades dating back from the 19th century. In 2010 February there was a shooting that occurred in Discovery Middle School, in Alabama where a 14-year-old was shot dead while in the school’s hallway. Similarly, in the January 2011, the Omaha Millard South High School experienced the same fate when one student opened fire and killed the school’s principal and his deputy before he killed himself. Statistics also show that 2012 alone there were two shooting incidents reported, one in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut where more than 20 children were gunned down. The second one occurred at Chardon high school in Ohio, where a gunman killed several students. In 2013, two incidents occurred in Colorado, Arapahoe school and Nevada Sparks Middle School a young boy shot several classmates (Mears et al. 2017). Recent statistics posit that in 2018, January, a male student opened fire and killed two of his colleagues and injured others in Kentucky Marshall County High School. A similar incident occurred on February 2018 in Florida's Stoneman Douglas High School, where a student killed more than 17 students.
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The unanswered question that has always existed is what the commonalities among the shooters and victims are. Interestingly, there have also been debates on this notion. Interestingly, from the statistics recorded it is notable that all the shooters and the perpetrators of the school’s acts of violence are mostly men. Statistics and data collected also indicate that most of these men are white or have that Caucasian background at some point in their lineage; this situation may be related to the availability and accessibility of guns within the country. Ostensibly, it is also important to note that this shooter does not necessarily have the common historical background. In the same breath, experts and psychiatrists have intimated that majority of the shooters and perpetrators of violence in schools have that some mental problems and that where they lack such as may be in some cases, the majority of them may have undergone some process of depression and psychopath before engaging in such heinous acts. Fundamentally, a clear look at their backgrounds, it is realizable that majority of them have come from homes experiencing domestic violence. A desire for notoriety drives most of them and have a feeling that society has wronged them in one way and are seeking revenge. This was the case in 2015 killings that occurred in Oregon College (Osborne & Capellan, 2017). The killer had talked of killing others to become famous.
Before school violence or shooting incidents occur, there are always signs that at most times always ignored, observable, there are cases of social withdrawal, isolation, feeling of rejection, no interests in academics, unnecessary anger, and impulsiveness. Similarly, there is drug and alcoholism in some case. The perpetrators will show signs of physical fighting with close people, anger on minor things and threats of fatal or lethal violence. Where this is not intervened, the consequences are dire and fatal. Comparatively, this form of violence is caused by several factors. This includes; bullying, mostly all the shooter have undergone through this vice thereby ending up frustrated and therefore engage in violent acts. Similarly, the presence of depression and mental illness are also telltale signs of impending violence if the illness is not addressed promptly. In the same light, the culture of violence prevalence that is learned or derived from the media is also a contributor to school violence (Kalesan et al. 2017). The ready availability of guns and firearms majorly contribute to school's shooting and violence among others.
In conclusion, the increase in schools shooting has fundamentally changed the overall security mechanism in schools. Schools now have beefed up their security systems, engaged professional and private security providers and ensured that the personnel and other staff are trained on handling guns and firearms. In the same breath, schools today are now like fortresses. Metal and weapon detectors have been installed in schools; there has been tremendous investment in closed-circuit cameras installation. Students carrying backpacks are extensively scanned before entry into school premises. To some extent, other schools have banned bag packs in hallways, and have placed a significant number of trained personnel with the school compounds.
References
Fox, J. A., & DeLateur, M. J. (2014). Mass shootings in America: moving beyond Newtown. Homicide Studies, 18 (1), 125-145.
Kalesan, B., Lagast, K., Villarreal, M., Pino, E., Fagan, J., & Galea, S. (2017). School shootings during 2013–2015 in the USA. Injury prevention , 23 (5), 321-327.
Mears, D. P., Moon, M. M., & Thielo, A. J. (2017). Columbine Revisited: Myths and Realities About the Bullying–School Shootings Connection. Victims & Offenders, 12 (6), 939-955.
Osborne, J. R., & Capellan, J. A. (2017). Examining active shooter events through the rational choice perspective and crime script analysis. Security Journal , 30 (3), 880-902.
