Fighting in Schools - Connecting with Kids

Fist Fights

Guns, knives and other weapons making their way onto school campuses are hot topics of conversation, but most conflicts between kids are still fought with fists. Thirty-nine percent of all adolescents say they’ve been in a fist fight.

“Me and a couple of my friends got in a fight with a couple of other kids and one of the kids got hurt real bad,” said Andrew, 17.

Trouble these days, even for a first offense, often means a suspension and possibly, prosecution.

“I believe that people are taking any act of violence in school very seriously because often times just a pushing and shoving match, if it is not dealt with in a firm way, can lead to something more serious,” said Nancy Jones, a school counselor.

With zero tolerance policies under scrutiny, some parents and students say discipline, alone, isn’t enough.

“It doesn’t solve the problem. You take kids, and you send them to court, and you send them to juvenile hall and send them to boot camp, and that doesn’t solve the problem at hand,” said Josh, 16.

Many schools are initiating preventive measures by teaching children how to handle anger at a young age.

What Parents Should Know

What was a good old fist fight 10 years ago, may be a precursor to more serious violence today.

A study conducted by The American Journal of Preventive Medicine , revealed that the relationship between fist fighting and weapon carrying was “significant”. The journal also reported that 40 percent of the surveyed adolescents were involved in a physical fight within the past 12 months.

These types of numbers cause concern for schools, parents and communities. Most administrators, as well as parents, agreed that the key to dissolving violence was two-fold; prevention and strict enforcement. Most also felt that teaching anti-violence programs to children at a younger age was imperative.

Also, through the use of resource officers, teen counselors and various other programs aimed at civility, schools hope to “crack down.”

From pushing and shoving to pulling the trigger, most schools are adopting a zero tolerance code.

“It doesn’t solve the problem. You take kids, … and you send them to court, and you send them to juvenile hall and send them to boot camp, and that doesn’t solve the problem at hand.”

--Josh, age 16

Preventing Problems

Experts agree that prevention, prevention, prevention is the key to curving fighting and other violence. Kids need to understand the long-term effects of what may seem minor today.

Bullies tend to thrive off of positive reinforcement from others. If they aren’t granted the much desired attention when they are young, their dominating and aggressive behavior will likely dissipate.

An Officer and a Resource Man

Many schools are bridging the gap between law enforcement and school administration. By incorporating School Resource Officers (SRO) into their system, they are hoping to avert some of the fighting that has become so prevalent in schools.

While their general responsibilities are consistent, the specific duties of an SRO varies from system to system. In some schools they are allowed to enforce school rules as well as the law. Other schools have strict regulations against an officer handling any incident that is not considered criminal. Those instances are to be handled completely by the school’s administration.

They serve as the liaison between the school and the law.

Resources
Center for the Prevention of School Violence	For more information on parenting issues contact us: Connecting with Kids