How to Prevent School Violence

School violence has been one of the major issues, that still needs to be dealt with effectively. With the rising rate of juvenile delinquency and crime involving and related to children, it becomes even more important to take effective steps against such activities in school.

It is a major reason why children fail in classes, and drop out of school at an early age. It is also known to affect students mentally, causing them to have a mental block for attending school out of fear.

Crimes related to violence in schools include shootings, drug abuse, rape, alcohol abuse, assault, robbery, etc. All of these are serious issues that cannot be dealt only with a legal aspect in mind. It involves many other factors that need to be analyzed and understood. Steps have to be taken to prevent such incidences.

The possible causes of student violence include the following:

• Illegitimacy
• Poverty
• Low socioeconomic status
• Family disintegration

• Divorced parents
• Taking drugs and alcohol at a very early age
• Child abuse
• Domestic violence
• Behavioral problems that are ignored by parents and teachers
• Too much exposure to television or video games

You can take the help of various devices like CCTV cameras and metal detectors to keep a check on any unwanted material that is being brought into the premises. Random checks can also help keep a tab on such behavior. This needs to be done in schools that are at a considerably high risk of violence.

Teachers should monitor student behavior within the classroom, and also outside the classroom. If you find any student at the risk of giving rise to violence, keep a tab on the student's behavior, and also report this to the higher authorities at the school. Also, try and have frequent talks with the student, and report if there is any drastic change in his behavior. This method of early intervention can help prevent violent outbreaks to a great extent.

School authorities must clearly specify all the rules, regulations, and policies of the school to the students as well as the parents, at the time of admission, and also during academic meetings. State the kind of behavior expected clearly, and the actions that would be taken in case of misbehavior.

Conduct violence prevention workshops in the schools with the involvement of all the students. Discuss its importance, consequences of alcohol and drug abuse, and also ask the students about their view on this. Discuss the laws related to crimes, especially juvenile delinquency, and ask them to help any of their friends involved in any such activity. Intervention may help revert such students back to normal behavior.

Apart from these, school authorities can have frequent meetings, and implement strategies, using suggestions from students and teachers to come up with ways to prevent crime. Implementing these steps will go a long way in reducing the rate of school violence. Parents play an important life in children's lives. They should bring them up in an atmosphere conducive to their growth and development.