Research on School Crime and Violence

SCHOOL CRIME AND VIOLENCE

Crime and violence in schools are issues that are of significant public concern , especially after the series of tragic school shootings recently . The schools have exercised

care in making the students safe but many schools are now facing serious problems so that effective strategies can be devised to prevent school violence and increase school safety (Small and Tetrick

The terms "school violence " and "school safety " are still terms that need to be commonly defined . The authors maintain that Multiple approaches can prove beneficial as each discipline brings

to bear the full force of its knowledge and experience , but they complicate the task of summarizing the state of school violence . For instance , should school violence be considered a subset of youth violence (Small and Tetrick

Most of the violence in schools are involved in gangs . A gang is a group of people who form an allegiance for a common purpose and engage in unlawful or criminal activity . Gangs give members companionship guidance , excitement and identity . When a member needs something , the others come to the rescue and provide protection . Gangs members have significantly lower levels of self-esteem compared to their non-gang peers . They also could name fewer adult role models than did their non-gang ,peers . It is no doubt that America has become a violent society . Television programs alone show gruesome murders and violence as if they are normal incidences in our lives . It is said that children learn to imitate the violence that they see on television . These take root in a lot of issues , foremost of which is on gun control

The positive effects of the strict enforcement of gun laws are readily seen . The Brady Campaign , for example believes that background checks nationwide stopped over 600 ,000 felons and other prohibited purchasers from buying handguns from federally licensed firearm dealers ' Some say this is one big reason why there is a need to advocate gun control . Once people realize that there is a direct correlation between the increases in violence as correlated with gun possession , they would also be against gun violence in society

However , opinions are at odds with regards to the issue of gun control Remarkably , both advocates and opponents of gun control policies in the United States use statistics to back up their stance . The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that

According to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS , in 2003 449 ,150 victims of violent crimes stated that they faced an offender with a firearm . Incidents involving a firearm represented 7 of the 4 .9 million violent crimes of rape and sexual assault , robbery , and aggravated and simple assault . The FBI 's Crime in the United States estimated that 67 of the 16 ,503 murders in 2003 were committed with firearms ( Gun Control vs . Gun Rights

Advocates of gun control directly use statistics such as this to assert that the increase in violence is positively correlated with gun possession . Organizations such as the National Rifle Association of America (NRA ) and...