What Are the Causes of Violence in School Among Students & Teachers?
- Factors in students' home environment may contribute to violence at school, whether directed toward peers or teachers. An environment of abuse, neglect, violence and punishment can produce a negative attitude and violent behavior. A 2006 report by the Vermont National Education Association asserts that children exposed to parental violence and abuse may be led to follow suit.
- Children are exposed to more violent images in video games now than ever before. The effect of viewing and playing violent games is controversial, but some studies have suggested a link between exposure to video game violence and violent attitudes. An Ohio State University study found that students who were exposed to violent games held more violent attitudes, behaved more aggressively and saw violence as "normal." Other research has disputed this and suggested that the violence seen in games has no significant impact on attitudes toward violence.
- Conditions such as depression and anxiety, and more severe illnesses such as schizophrenia, can manifest in violent and unpredictable ways. Some students with depression withdraw; others lash out in frustration. About 20 percent of teenagers experience depression and about 5 percent have major depression, according to the Teen Depression website. And according to the Uplift Program, at least 4 percent of preschoolers are classified as clinically depressed. Mental illness can cause altered thinking and sometimes paranoia, which can lead to violence toward the sufferer and others.
- Children are bullied at school for many reasons. According to "The Washington Post," more than two-thirds of academically gifted children have been bullied at school, and one-third of them had violent thoughts because of the bullying. Chronic bullying can lead to low self-esteem, resentment and depression.