Terror in the Classroom
It was a cold and snowy day in February of 1995. I was in seventh grade. I remember walking to my locker in the morning, and as I turned the corner, I saw it happen. My young eyes peered upon one of the scariest things I have ever witnessed. My heart started pounding, and my body began to tremble. I had no clue what to do. I said to myself, “How could this be happening? Not here, this school is very safe!” Fortunately, a teacher walked outside of her door, turned, and saw the very same horrifying sight that I was witnessing. She quickly went over and grabbed the young boy and escorted him to the principal’s office. I was later summoned to the office to state what I had seen. I then told the principal exactly what I had witnessed. What I saw was an eighth grader hold a little six grader at knifepoint, for money. With all of the recent attention that the media has given acts of violence in schools, it is hard to ignore the fact that our society has a serious problem. Elementary aged children are being expelled for bringing guns to school. High school students choose not to attend class in fear that someone is going to hurt, or harass them. Even more alarming, children are actually killing fellow classmates over humiliation, popularity, or the newest pair of Nike’s. What is the cause of this? Maybe it is alienation from peers, their family environment, an overcrowded classroom, living in a bad neighborhood, lack of attention, or they simply think that violence is the best way to resolve problems. Whatever the intentions, our society has to face the realization of this problem, and we must work together to make schools safer for our children. To understand where the problem originates, we must first look at the history of this problem and what actions have already been taken. Taking in account the violent nature of some of these events, we need to analyze the facts. We need to look at some of the issues facing schools and students right now and find out what solutions are and are not working. Understanding the problem is the first step in creating effective solutions. Research of some issues and statistics will aid in the understanding of this problem, to better produce a solution. Over the last few years this problem has been on a dramatic increase. Although numbers point in both directions, to fully understand this problem we need to analyze each school system individually. In 1994 the United States Congress passed the Gun-Free Schools Act. “This act required all states to pass laws that require a mandatory expulsion for any student caught bringing a firearm into school” (Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994).