School Violence and Disruption Revisited: Equity and Safety in the School House

Abstract

In the September, 2000. issue of Foctts on E.xceptianal Children, we, along with several colleagues, examined .school violence and related disorders through ecological and other perspectives (Leone. Mayer. Malmgren. & Meisei. 2000). That article attempted to move beyond a discussion limited to child-centered characteristics and toward the contexts of children's lives. Our analysis of school violence examined family structure and poverty, exposure to violence in popular tnedia. access to guns, and influences in the education system (e.g., accountability, zero lolcrance) thut might help to explain school violence and disorder. After presenting data on the extent of school violence and disorder, we closed with a discussi<tn of promi.sing approaches to preventing school violence. Now, with lhe benefit ol' hindsight, we reexamine the issues raised in lhe 2000 Fi)ctL\ on Exceptional Children article and related developments in school violence reporting and prevention since that time. We begin with a review ot currenl reports on school violence and related research. Next we revisii and update information on several key issues di.scussed in the original article, including (a) data collection and interpretation, (b) family struclure and supervision nf children, (c) poverty and income inequity, (d) exposure to violence in the media, (e) media coverage of school violence, (f) access to guns, (g) accountability and high-stakes testing, and (h) zero tolerance policies. We then revisit key areas of school violence prevention, legislative developments, the nexus of students' social skills, mental lieallh, bullying, school exclusion, and tradeoffs between educational rights and maintaining a safe and orderly environment. The atticle concludes with suggestions for a balanced approach to prevention. TRENDS IN SCHOOL VIOLENCEMultiple indicators show a decline in school violence and disruption over the past decade. Several sources, however, indicate that significant problems continue, and that a new. lower plateau of school violence has been realized, suggesting that subsequent significant declines may not be forthcoming.

Bullying and Students with Disabilities: The Untold Narrative

“…Although perpetration may be a learned behavior, ocial skills deficits may also indicate that students with disabilities who engage in bully perpetration could have ocial information processing deficits (Crick & Dodge, 1994;Crick & Dodge, 1996;Dodge et al , 2003). More specifically, a lack of social skills may be related to the lack of assertion, a lack of self-control, or both (Mayer & Leone, 2007). Students with disabilities might also misread social cues , misinterpret social stimuli, or respond with aggression toward peers (Sabornie, 1994 ).…”

The current situation of school bullying among secondary school students in Da Nang city, Vietnam

“…An educational institution is responsible for creating a communicative environment to facilitate students' positive personal and academic growth where their safety and equality are ensured [1]. However, it has been pointed out by Skrzypiec et al (2011) [2] that school bullying is threatening such establishments; and there have been more and more records of peer-on-peer abuse cases that require immediate responses [3][4][5][6][7].…”

“…Yet, a few students responded by self-concealing, retaliating, reporting directly to law enforcement, or complaining with certain people about the bully Mendes (2011) [16], or calling the police [17]. Other researchers, namely Mayer and Leone (2007) [1]; Rigby (2020) [18]; Smith (2013) concluded that the victims feel helpless confronting their abusers [17]. Research findings by Dobarro (2011) [19]; Nguyen-Thi et al (2014) [20]; Pérez-Fuentes et al (2011) [21]; Totura et al (2009) [8] showed the negative correlation between academic performance and violent behaviors, that is, students with violent behaviors had poor academic performance, and academic performance of those suffering from bullying was also negatively affected as well.…”

Violence in Teaching Settings: School Violence

“…Reviewing literature showed the multi-level occurrence of violence, the individual, peer, family, school, and national levels [20][21][22] . It has been recommended not to study the violence on individual level, but to study the context of school violence as a whole or in a comprehensive view 9,23 .…”