Ways to Prevent School Violence
Ways to prevent school violence
School violence is a major reason for failure and school dropout by many students. It is also a source of injuries and deaths, especially when it involves fights among students. There are a number of ways for preventing school violence. The first is appreciation by rewarding students for their good behavior by the use of incentives, which reinforces good behavior (Elliott, 2003). This encourages students to consistently improve their behaviors in the quest for the associated reward. A word of appreciation or recognition from parents and teachers goes a long way to reinforce good behavior among students. There ability of parents and teachers to identify student violence, weigh its magnitude and find a reasonable solution is quite important (Elliot, 2003). Teachers should therefore be equipped with violence preventing and addressing courses, such as guidance and counseling.
Discipline among students must be a fundamental requirement in all schools. Owing to this, students should be held responsible and punished accordingly when they violate school rules and regulations (Morrison, 2000). Such punishments can include any form of punishment that equally fits the offence. Still, there is need to have regular security checks, such as metal detectors in schools to ensure that students do not carry weapons in school. Students should be thoroughly checked before they enter into the school compounds. This reduces damages caused during violence activities by students.
Most school violence result from relational breakdown between adults and students. It should therefore be in the interest of teachers and parents to nurture a close relationship with students. This will ensure free flow of information between teachers, parents and students thus enabling the early identification of potential cause violence (Liaupsin, Nelson & Scott, 2001). Still, discrimination and bullying in school leads to