Public Schools are the Most Dangerous Place in America for Kids
A joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school. Major findings include: Violence, theft, bullying, drugs, and weapons are widespread. In 2003, students ages 12-18 were victims of about 740,000 violent crimes and 1.2 million crimes of theft at school. Seven percent of students ages 12-18 reported that they had been bullied, 29 percent of students in grades 9-12 reported that drugs were made available to them on school property, and 9 percent of students were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. In 2003, 5 percent of students ages 12-18 reported being victimized at school during the previous 6 months: 4 percent reported theft, and 1 percent reported violent victimization. Less than 1 percent of students reported serious violent victimization (such as rape, sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated assault).
Okay, none of those statistics really surprised me. With all the recent media attention on teachers having sex with their students, I wanted to see on paper what the numbers were saying. As if public schools hadn’t declined enough, now there seems to be a real pandemic of predatory teachers.
I am sure most of you have heard in the news about the teacher whose then 14 year-old victim refused to testify against her and so the case was dropped and she’ll receive no significant punishment. The media is taking so much interest in this one case, but I can think of at least five other cases I have heard in the media in the past few years. It’s not like it’s a first time crime. I realize that her lack of punishment and that the double standard in law for prosecuting sex crimes against children for women are different for that of male offenders is what is driving this latest reporting craze, but lets get to the root problem.
As a father of a child who will begin kindergarten this year in the public school system I have thought long and hard about his education, safety, social integration, and wellness. I believe that the present caustic state of, for lack of a better word, chaos in the public school system has been a steadily building predicament of a couple of major legislative removals of morality.
When our parents were in school the biggest violations reported in school were chewing gum, running in the halls, and talking during class. Students respected authority and if they didn’t then they received the board of education on the ‘seat of their higher learning.’ Sure there were pranks, some hazing, maybe even some forms of bullying or violence, but not to the degree we see now. So what happened?
Well, I postulate that there is a direct correlation of the removal of school prayer and The Ten Commandments which has been sending the message for years that morality isn’t important anymore. We cried out that our students didn’t have to obey anyone’s authority, the least of which were the school and their principals. The students began to lose the fearful respect they had for all authority and gradually became more and more daring and obscene.
Teachers and school officials have little recourse in disciplining children today because parents won’t allow them to hold their children accountable. This causes the teachers to feel a sense of hopelessness and so the burn out rate has risen, crimes against students has gone up, and education in general is suffering.
If you were to look at the violent crime statistics in a timeline you would see a fairly flat line and then a steady increase at about the time in history that we removed morality and God from the classrooms. Do you think that is a coincident? I don’t. I think we’re being sent a clear message and if we don’t heed the warning then our school systems, indeed our whole society, will continue to become a more volatile war zone.
Okay, none of those statistics really surprised me. With all the recent media attention on teachers having sex with their students, I wanted to see on paper what the numbers were saying. As if public schools hadn’t declined enough, now there seems to be a real pandemic of predatory teachers.
I am sure most of you have heard in the news about the teacher whose then 14 year-old victim refused to testify against her and so the case was dropped and she’ll receive no significant punishment. The media is taking so much interest in this one case, but I can think of at least five other cases I have heard in the media in the past few years. It’s not like it’s a first time crime. I realize that her lack of punishment and that the double standard in law for prosecuting sex crimes against children for women are different for that of male offenders is what is driving this latest reporting craze, but lets get to the root problem.
As a father of a child who will begin kindergarten this year in the public school system I have thought long and hard about his education, safety, social integration, and wellness. I believe that the present caustic state of, for lack of a better word, chaos in the public school system has been a steadily building predicament of a couple of major legislative removals of morality.
When our parents were in school the biggest violations reported in school were chewing gum, running in the halls, and talking during class. Students respected authority and if they didn’t then they received the board of education on the ‘seat of their higher learning.’ Sure there were pranks, some hazing, maybe even some forms of bullying or violence, but not to the degree we see now. So what happened?
Well, I postulate that there is a direct correlation of the removal of school prayer and The Ten Commandments which has been sending the message for years that morality isn’t important anymore. We cried out that our students didn’t have to obey anyone’s authority, the least of which were the school and their principals. The students began to lose the fearful respect they had for all authority and gradually became more and more daring and obscene.
Teachers and school officials have little recourse in disciplining children today because parents won’t allow them to hold their children accountable. This causes the teachers to feel a sense of hopelessness and so the burn out rate has risen, crimes against students has gone up, and education in general is suffering.
If you were to look at the violent crime statistics in a timeline you would see a fairly flat line and then a steady increase at about the time in history that we removed morality and God from the classrooms. Do you think that is a coincident? I don’t. I think we’re being sent a clear message and if we don’t heed the warning then our school systems, indeed our whole society, will continue to become a more volatile war zone.
posted by Troy at 5:02 PM
1 Comments:
My personal opinion (which is worth every penny you paid for it) is that there is no one thing to blame. It is a result of several things. You mentioned taking God out of the schools - absolutely. You also mentioned the lack of ability to discipline kids (by teacers, principle, etc.) - again, absolutely. I believe you left out the biggest influence on a child's behavior - parents. There are many children who are shuffled from one place to another and are not being taught what's right and wrong, good manners and behavior, let alone what they believe and why (or at least what their parents believe and why). Too many parents are relying on the school system to not only educate their child but also to raise them. I believe that is the biggest mistake a parent can make. They are your kids - and your responsibility is to raise them into worthwhile, positively contributing adults.
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