Stabbing in Newark, OH
The article linked above from New Jersey caught my eye. A cafeteria food fight apparently esscalated to a stabbing. The student in question had a knife on his person at the time, and stabbed another student. Few details were given, but what I found most relevent is the question raised by the author at the end of the article:
Why does any student feel the need to take knives, or any weapon, to school?
This is precisely the question I am out to answer. My personal feeling is that the student brought it for one of two things, either because he was afraid for his safety, or it made him feel more powerful, more in control. Any thoughts anyone has on this article are most welcome.
I think it’s sad that violence in schools is becoming more and more prevalent. It seems like it’s a defense mechanism for some students to bring weapons to school. They don’t know how to handle situations with mature discussion, so they handle it the only way they know how — bringing knives and guns to school. I think the escalation has a lot to do with violence in the media and how connected students are to these types of TV shows and video games. They are teaching kids that solving problems with violence gets solutions, and kids are applying these fantasy role plays to real life. Again, I think parental involvement and monitoring of movies and TV would help immensely to reduce situations like this stabbing in the lunch room.
This article touches on a subject every teacher is concerned with, at least to some degree. I have substitute taught for several years. I have been in a few altercations at some of the rougher schools. It is never easy no matter what, but one time there was a high school kid who just blew up in gym class at another student. At first, this boy was just yelling and getting in the face of another student. You have to be careful as a teacher as how you deal with these things. This is the part that often angers me, that I have to be conscious not to touch a student, but I digress. I tried to separate the two. It was basically a one sided fight, the defensive child seemed just as taken aback as to why the other was so volatile. My focus was entirely on the student who was erupting. I tried calming him down, not sure as to why he flew off the handle. I found out later of his sever emotional issues. I told him to just calm down, we would go out in the hall and just take a breather. I am pretty sure I even laughed a little. I put my hand on his shoulder as a way to walk him away from the situation. Well, he then turned his anger to me, shoving me and threatening to stab me. He rained down a series of expletives and was almost foaming at the mouth, saying he was going to cut me and I didn’t know who I was dealing with. Lucky enough for me, one of the security guards was walking by, or was drawn in due to the noise. He (forcibly) removed the child. There was a meeting afterward with several of the faculty including the principle. I basically filled out a report. I knew the vice principal fairly well. He told me the kid was suspended for a small time. I learned later that there were more of these acts from him and eventually he was expelled.
Violence in the class room is a very real thing. The article points out a hotline, a study done by the secret service, and a presentation. Well my goodness. I think there needs to be a whole lot more done in the way of dealing with this. I was threatened for just trying to calm a kid down. A child was stabbed during a food fight. A food fight is an age old adolescent rite of passage almost. What kind of days are we living in when that turns into a stabbing. Personally, I think talking it out with kids in a real forum situation would help. I think we need more of a real intervention, not just bully presentations, but a hard dialogue attempting to get down to the bottom of the situation. I am sure the majority of students feel the same way.
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