Causes, solutions to school violence

THE EDITOR: The pictures are horrific, the videos worse. School violence is physical attacks between students occurring to, from or in school. It is a public health problem taking the form of bullying or other physical abuses. The consequences and repercussions of school violence are grave.

School violence is a multi-faceted social ill and may occur for diverse reasons. One, is the ingestion of hard drugs or alcohol abuse. Drugs on the human body can be a catalyst for school violence.

And yet politicians in their wisdom or lack of, want to decriminalise marijuana to appease their supporters. Another cause is personality problems. Shyness influences a student to be rebellious. Such behaviour can lead to bullying. School violence can also arise due to the psychological deficiencies created by dysfunctional homes.

Worry, hatred,inferiority complex, anger, fuel violent behaviour and can develop in people exposed to poor parenting. In homes where adults display violent behaviour children adopt violence as a way of asserting authority. Behaviour is learned.

The media is another cause of school violence. Children emulate their favourite television characters in violent movies and shows. Even cartoons display violence. TT needs to develop specific laws to curb school violence and make it an offence punishable by the law. There should be strong disciplinary measures in schools.

Students must be engaged in awareness campaign, they must be counselled on anger management, conflict resolution and character development. Parents need to ensure the home is violence free. Teenagers are impressionable and adopt their behavioural standards from what is obtainable in their households.

There must be effective communication between parents and children, both the sender and receiver must comprehend the message. Feedback is most important. Parents should monitor the types of video games and television programs their children are exposed to. Violence in schools is a social problem with an enormous ripple effect as one act of violence can trigger numerous outcomes, all negative. It is imperative TNT works as a whole to curb this social ill.

AV RAMPERSAD

Princes Town

Comments

"Causes, solutions to school violence"

More in this section