An Overview

It is unfair to speak of violence and schools without pointing out that the majority of our teenagers are NOT VIOLENT and have never committed or thought about committing an act of violence. According to an article entitled An Overview of Violence in School there are generally three groups of students in school and they can be classified via an 80-15-5 rule* (above link) The report states that... 80% of the students rarely break the rules or violate principles,5% break the rules on a somewhat regular basis by refusing to accept classroom principles and restrictions, the last 5% of the students are chronic rule breakers and are generally out of control most of the time. They may commit acts of violence in school and in the community (Curwin & Mendler,1988).

The issue of violence in schools is not a new phenomenon. Reports of school violence can be traced back to the 1950s according to "Discipline in the Public Schools: A Problem or Perception," (Phi Delta KAPPAN: Jan 1979). At that time, the term used to describe violence was juvenile delinquency. Today, Canadians believe that violence in schools is on the rise. A survey of 1500 Canadians in Canada & the World Backgrounder, December 1998 revealed that about two-thirds of Canadians believed that high schools were either somewhat safe (37%) or much less safe(30%) today. About 66%, didn't think that schools were tough enough in dealing with violent incidents!

Many educators and school psychologists etc. now believe that arguments among school aged teenagers are more likely to be solved through violence than discussion, and many believe as well that the old-fashioned fist fight is being replaced by the threat of weapons. Bullying and harassment (physical, verbal, emotional, sexual) seem commonplace among some of our students One of the major differences between violence of the 1950s and the 1990s seems to be the presence of weapons, especially guns in schools. Further evidence of violence can be seen in the increase of bomb threats, emergence of hit lists etc.

One pole by Statistics Canada (1997) indicated that more than 95% of the 2800 elementary school principals they polled said they have never had to deal with a problem that related to weapons. However, high school principals seem to tell another story.   Similarly, Canadian newspapers and magazines have reported increasing incidences of school violence.

Consider these statistics for 1994:

  • In Calgary a seventh grader was stabbed to death in a school yard
  • In Winnipeg three 14 year olds opened fire in a school hallway with a pellet gun, and one student was shot in the neck
  • In Etobicoke students from two different schools battled with knives and baseball bats, and one 16 year olds lung collapsed after five stabbings
  • In an Edmonton high school two 15 year old boys were charged with assault after another student was stabbed in the shoulder
  • Outside a Scarborough high school a 17 year old boy was stabbed in the armpit during a lunch hour argument

Newfoundland Statistics 1999