Six people died from a recent shooting at an Amish schoolhouse last Monday morning in Lancaster County, PA and according to authorities,  more people are still in hospitals recovering. Although this particular shooting was committed by an adult outside the local community, the recent tragedy heightens our concerns for all forms of violence in our schools. Why is school violence increasing, and even more importantly, what can we do to stop the violence?

School violence is sadly no longer a “freak” occurrence but rather an annual tragedy for multiple states in America. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice noted that 20 percent of all public schools from 1999-2000 experienced one or more serious violent crimes such as rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault.

School violence is increasing because a greater number of kids are not being cared for by their parents. Many parents today are either too busy with dual-income lives or their families have been ravaged by divorce.
 
Parents need to know who their kids are hanging out with and the kinds of friendships they are developing.  If you notice that your child is hanging out with the “wrong” crowd, then you need to be able to address this with your child and seek to understand why he is befriending kids who don’t have the best reputations.

This all may sound like common sense to many Christian parents – yet violence continues. That’s because the parents who do care about their kids and actively participate in their lives typically don’t have kids who would commit these violent kinds of acts on other children. We don’t need to worry about the good parents and their kids. We need to worry about the neglectful parents, the tired parents, the broken parents. We need to be able to identify their children and then identify how we can reach out to the kids – and their families - who really need positive influences in their life.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has these following tips on how to recognize a kid who might turn violent:

• loss of temper on a daily basis
• frequent physical fighting
• significant vandalism or property damage
• increase in use of drugs or alcohol
• increase in risk-taking behavior
• detailed plans to commit acts of violence
• announcing threats or plans for hurting others
• enjoying hurting animals
• carrying a weapon

If you notice the following signs over a period of time, the potential for violence exists:

• a history of violent or aggressive behavior
• serious drug or alcohol use
• gang membership or strong desire to be in a gang
• access to or fascination with weapons, especially guns
• threatening others regularly
• trouble controlling feelings like anger
• withdrawal from friends and usual activities
• feeling rejected or alone
• having been a victim of bullying
• poor school performance
• history of discipline problems or frequent run-ins with authority
• feeling constantly disrespected
• failing to acknowledge the feelings or rights of others