My Boarding School Blog

Every parent’s worst fear involves the safety of their children. Almost every kid spends most of his day in school away from the protective care of their parents along with other kids of different backgrounds and upbringing. Although schools are deemed to be a safe environment for learning there is no guarantee that havoc will not occur especially if violence is initiated by a student, faculty or staff within school grounds.

School violence may take many forms which include assault, shooting, rape, robbery and gang fights. Schools can become targets for terrorism attacks because they are heavily populated with students of different levels. These threats are very alarming but they are not highly impossible to happen which is why school safety and crisis prevention should be taught and implemented in every school.

The American Association of School Administrators says that a detailed crisis plan should be prepared to be ready for use in cases of a crisis or emergency situation strikes. Teachers and school administrators should be trained to be alert and focused when emergency situation arises. Avoiding panic and leading the group into safety is the priority. Teachers should also be taught on how to observe for student’s untoward behavior that could signify a troubled mind which is high risk for bursts of anger and at times violence. The Columbine High School Massacre is an example of how troubled teens can get violent to the point of taking lives. Columbine High School did not expect that two young boys can take the lives of 13 innocent people in just a few hours. Truly an awakening on how school security and safety is taken for granted.

Ways to prevent school violence includes collaboration among faculty, school staff, administrators, student body and parents. Efforts should be made to monitor student behaviors, school security from outsiders and general inspection for suspicious substances and items brought in school grounds. Strict implementation of school policies and regulations should be adhered to and violations should be addressed with the proper disciplinary action. Funding of school safety programs and campaigns is very important to increase surveillance and security measures. The National Association of School Psychologists suggests that parents and teachers exercise open communication with students to foster reassurance of school safety and encourage reports of any incidence of bullying or violence among student groups. Observe changes in behavior that can indicate problems on self esteem and peer pressure. Teachers should brief students on crisis prevention and emergency procedures for them to be ready and equipped in times of the actual crisis. Promoting school safety is an alliance between students, teachers, school administrators and parents to make schools safe and foster an ideal learning environment.

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Growing up as adolescents we are faced with many troubles and challenges we feel we cannot go on and surpass them all. It is a normal phase that every kid goes through usually between the ages of 12 to 18. At this time students become vulnerable to all kinds of influences either good or bad coming from teachers, parents and peers.

Every time there is a change in environment such as a kid transfers school, graduates from a grade level or faces new challenges there is the need of fitting in a group or society. It somehow makes them feel secured that they belong and that they are not alone or isolated. Peers can become a good influence on your child or they may lead your child into doing bad things just to get into the group or to feel that they fit in. In a class or grade level there is usually the popular group that everyone wants to belong to because of the desire to be popular and gain public attention or for protection from other bullying kids in school. Some peers or groups influence students negatively by performing an act that could get them into a group even if the initiation act will cause harm to others or will violate present rules and regulations in the institution.

What can your kid do to prevent this from happening? How can your child choose to be in a situation that she will not feel obliged to change her personality just to fit in? Parents play a major role in developing their child’s self esteem and in doing so they will not feel pressured to be accepted by a particular group in school and they can be themselves without feeling guilt or ashamed. Self confidence is achieved and resistance to peer pressure is high. In order to achieve these, parents should always communicate with their child. They should be able to identify their children’s fears and worries towards peer pressure to be able to address the problem directly. Explain it to them that they don’t have to prove anything to anybody to feel accepted. Listen to their concerns even if they sound too foolish or unimportant because at this age every bit of their life is magnified and felt as though it is the most important thing in the world. Like choosing a dress for an upcoming party or asking this girl out for prom night. These things might seem simple and unimportant for adults and parents but for a teenager it means the whole world. Listen with the intention of understanding. They will feel that they have you to support them and that you accept them for them which greatly contribute to their feeling of self worth which likely boosts a child’s self esteem.

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Children coming home with bruises and tears in their eyes is a heartbreaking sight to behold for every parent. Physical bullying is just one component of bullying that happens in school which affects 77 percent of students. It may be physical, verbal or emotional bullying. It starts with a simple joke or criticism and then it progresses into a humiliation act wherein a victim’s self esteem is greatly affected. Victims are usually students who are quiet, lack friends and keeps things to themselves most of the time. These kinds of students are sometimes branded as geeks, nerds and outcasts.

Most victims are weak and will not fight back to the bullying act but they also have their limits and they can at a certain point burst with anger and turn violent like the Columbine High School Massacre that killed many lives.

Bullying is present in every school in the U.S. even though some institutions claim otherwise. Bullying is the purposeful desire of one individual to hurt another either through physically, mentally or emotionally through hurtful statements and putting that person in a humiliating situation. Basically anyone who wants to hurt another person intentionally is a bully.

Boys are engage in physical bullying acts while girls use the more subtle type wherein bullies attack victims psychologically. In movies you can see a group of girls trying to humiliate a geek looking girl spreading rumors about her, insulting her in front of many people or alienating her from the class of group. These actions cause a severe amount of stress to the victims which don’t really deserve to be treated this way.

According to the American Justice Department, the incidence of 1 out of 4 kids is being bullied every month. It is becoming more prevalent in younger kids although bullying occurs mostly in six to eight grade and males are more likely to experience bullying or being victims of it compare to girls. What are we doing about it? Educators and parents have to collaborate to stop incidents of bullying in school. The Department of Education sent a letter last October 27 to school districts and universities to encourage educators to comply with federal laws regarding prevention of harassment in schools which includes bullying acts. The department’s action was brought by a series of high profile cases wherein students commit suicide because of severe low self esteem from a bullying act. A case of an 18 year old female who jumped off a building days after her roommate has posted her sexual encounter with a man over the Internet. The letter emphasizes that harassment from discrimination in race, color, origin, disability and gender is a violation of the federal civil rights law.

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Racial discrimination has plagued the US educational system for a long time. It is quite hard to imagine that there are racists among educational institutions who should be promoting camaraderie and equality among individuals. Countless incidents of racism in schools have elicited debates, regulations and laws to implement just and fair treatment of every individual regardless of race, nationality and color. Most critics would say that those people who initiate that racism prevail in schools are just seeking special treatment to ease their way through school. This have been proven wrong by 16 year old named Charissa who was named 1995 Newsweek scholar, when she spoke in front of her classmates on the “Difficulties Minority Students Encounter in Predominantly White Schools”. She received a lot of hurtful comments like she’s just another black person crying in need of a crutch. That particular incident has lowered her self esteem which greatly affected her studies; she later on applied for early entrance to college and didn’t attend graduation at her high school.

Racism is characterized as the presence of superiority of one group to another usually a smaller group. Difference in color is the earliest recognition of a child to racism. Parents have the direct influence on a child racial attitude either in a positive or negative way. The biggest challenge is maintaining a positive attitude towards racism in the presence of your peers or groups which practices negative racial discrimination.

How prevalent is racism in schools? Racism exists in the presence of a diverse society. There are racial jokes, stereotyping and derogatory arguments among white kids and black kids. States that has a high immigration rate experiences an increase in racial discrimination. States where there are many minority groups are likely to have higher incidence of racial discrimination.

Can racism be prevented? What can we do to eradicate racism among students? Resources are widely available for teachers to recognize such occurrence and avoid tolerating such racial actions. Educators and school administrators should develop strategic ways to change student’s racist behaviors.

-          A clear manifestation of expectations regarding racism should be communicated to all

-          Implement rules and regulations strictly by enforcing corrective measures for those who violates set rules on racism behaviors

-          Quick response to racial incidents in schools should be practiced

-          Propose integration in seating arrangements

-          Seek cooperation from parents and student organizations to participate in the campaign to eradicate racism

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In a small town of Littleton Colorado, two high school boys Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris went on a frantic killing spree in Columbine High School. In less than an hour 15 people are dead and 23 more are injured.

The massacre at Columbine High School is a tragic event that poses numerous questions on the reason why two high school boys can intentionally shoot their schoolmates and teachers randomly. The little town in Denver became the spotlight for months after the killings with every parent shocked with disbelief that their children who goes to Columbine High has experienced a face to face encounter with death.

How did Dylan and Eric orchestrated the events that led to mass bloodshed on school grounds is highly interesting. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were smart kids who played sports and liked computers. When they entered Columbine High they had difficulty fitting in as most new kids in a school. There weren’t any specific indicators observable in these kids that they would be capable of any violent acts. They were typical teenager boys, but we were mistaken.

Written in Klebold and Harris’ journals were troublesome ideas of suicide and murder as early as 1997-1998. Their journals reflected that they researched how to make improvised bombs on the Internet, acquired guns and knives and other explosive devices. They studied the place in which they would perform their act, scrutinizing every detail of how many students are in a certain place at a particular time.

And on that dreadful Tuesday of April 20, 1999, Klebold and Harris went to school to bring terror to unsuspecting students and faculties. Initially part of the plan was to bomb the cafeteria where most people are during that lunch hour but unexpectedly their plan didn’t work and no explosion was made in the cafeteria. Across the school, in the open fields the two boys had set out a ploy to distract police, they timed two pipe bombs to explode at around 11:19. At this time Klebold and Harris started shooting students just outside the cafeteria. They walked around the cafeteria shooting guns and throwing pipe bombs. There were delayed reactions from students and teachers about the seriousness of the situation because they thought it was a senior prank commonly staged by students before graduation. Soon as they realized the reality of the gun shooting they hide under the tables, and try their best to be out of the way of the two gun men.

From the cafeteria the two boys went past the hallways, in the library and back to the cafeteria. A detailed time line of the events that happened are illustrated here. When the SWAT team arrived and police are gaining control of the situation, Klebold and Harris were at the library ready to take their lives. Harris shot himself putting the barrel into his mouth which instantly killed him. Klebold fired a shot to his left temple.

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