As students, we often hear about school violence happening in other states, but it’s not something we ever expect to happen in our own schools. Unfortunately, the reality is that school violence is a growing concern in Florida, and it’s something we can’t ignore any longer. From bullying to physical fights to more serious incidents like mass shootings, it’s clear that our schools are not as safe as they should be. As students, we need to be aware of the dangers of school violence and take proactive steps towards prevention. The effects of school violence can be devastating. Leading to serious injuries, trauma, and even loss of life. It is crucial to examine the root causes of this problem and find solutions that can ensure safer schools.
When it comes to schools today, schools are known to be an exceptionally safe environment for children of all ages. However, since the life changing pandemic in 2020 caused by the Corona Virus, the dynamic of the world has changed tremendously in all areas. Since this global tragedy occurred, many would say covid has caused children and even some adults to lose certain attributes that are key in communicating with others. This has led to a consequential increase in school violence, misdemeanors, school disruptions, and even federal charges and drug usage in children. According to The Washington Post, a survey was conducted (post-pandemic) by the National Center for Educational Statistics among 846 public schools. This survey revealed that 46% of schools recognized a substantial rise in physical violence and verbal threats between students, and 56% of schools encountered frequent disruptions due to student misconduct, which resulted in many students getting reported and reprimanded. It was also discovered that 70% of the staff and students interviewed agreed that greater efforts need to be taken to aid the social-emotional development of students. As these numbers continue to rise, it is bound to raise the question: do our local teachers and students genuinely feel safe on campus?
Our local teachers and students at Saint Cloud High School were asked these questions. Mrs. Pennington who is in her 5th year of teaching stated, “Fights in schools seem to happen more frequently ONLY because we hear about them (via internet/social media) more than in the past. If there are more fights in the last couple of years, I would attribute that to a ripple effect of the Covid pandemic.” Mrs. Pennington associates the increase in school fights strictly towards the Covid Pandemic that affected the entire world. Wanting a unique perspective, we wanted to see what the student's response would be, Jaques S (A senior at SCHS) explained that “I believe the covid gap has been the most influential in the violence we see. The kids who are committing these acts were in 8th or 7th grade when covid hit. Grade range is super key in our development as students.” Andrea R (Another senior at SCHS), gave her answer of, “I have noticed more verbal aggression and fights in schools lately and I think it all goes back to quarantine, people were isolated for so long that they don’t know how to act now.” The students and the teachers have related the increase of school fights to the Covid pandemic. Due to this the students were unable to experience face to face learning, as well as practice communication, and emotional balance with teachers and peers.
Coach Aun (a 16 year teacher at Saint Cloud Highschool) explained, “Social media also amplifies the significance of fights as well making it seem like a common, everyday occurrence.” Coach Aun’s reasoning was that social media helps to spread the news that a fight has occurred even if the fight was not one that lead to a big disturbance. The only thing social media reflects is the occurrence of violence, not the situations severity, or reasoning behind it. People get excited when something unusual occurs or induces adrenaline, which causes the news to spread faster. Coach Aun expressed that “violence is at far lower levels than it has been. The only reason that we are more acutely aware and responsive to the violence is due to social media, the internet, and other forms of communication.” This awareness causes the public to have more of a dramatic response to what happens around them and be more on edge, causing them to notice details they would otherwise not recognize or even notice.
Mrs. Pennington is part of this group of people who are affected by the fights, she felt, “Defeated [and] Sad. Worried that one of my "kids" [students] might have been involved/gotten hurt.”. Although it is upsetting the fight took place Pennington shared, she will always be concerned for the students safety and health after the fight. Another view of how teachers are affected by the fights are through Coach Aun who felt, “Frustrated because there were multiple failures across many fronts that culminated in that fight occurring, but I know something positive can be gleaned from such a negative event to help others in the future. Coach Aun felt frustrated about the incident that occurred but turns what happened into a learning experience for his students and himself, so it is not so much of a negative experience for everyone. Another perspective is Coach B’s who felt sympathetic towards the students who decided to take part in the fight that occurred and will impact the students going into the future. Techers are either, worried, sad, or frustrated about incident that took place and the affects the fight had on everyone not just teachers or students. For the teachers and students that are affected, they turn this negative interaction into something that they can learn from so that something similar to this does not happen again in the future, so the same results do not play out like they did in the past.
Because teachers are with their students for most of the day, we thought that they might notice how their students are feeling throughout the day or even class period. To this we asked the teachers how they thought their students were affected if at all because of the fights? Mrs. Pennington’s opinion was that “There is often a feeling of uncertainty, or even excitement from students after a school fight.” which Coach B added on to saying, “it distracts them because everyone wants to talk about it for the rest of the day, and sometimes week. Throughout the responses the teacher revealed that they think that the students are affected in some way through being worried, distracted, or scared about wat transpired during/after the fights. Since the students feel these emotions, teachers thought that they talk about the events more and spread more information that could be factual or made up just to see what happens.
Although the teachers' thoughts were all similar to each other this is just how they thought they felt. We asked the students directly what they thought. Jaques’ response being, “Most of the time I do not feel uneasy about a fight, the only time I have ever felt uneasy was during the Officer Ball fight earlier this year. I think the thought that he was taken down made me think a lot, what if the student was able to grab his gun during the incident or something else, he carries? However, I am very thankful we do have multiple school resource officers.” Andrea’s thoughts were, “After a fight takes place, I feel like the focus of the day shifts, I am distracted, people talk about it in class, and teachers have a hard time regathering us.”
Taking notice of the students being distracted by the commotion that emerged because of the fight we wanted to know if they could think of any ways that the fight rates could be lowered or at the very least lessened. Andrea’s suggestion was, “I would try to neutralize the situation and then get adults involved.” Andrea’s suggestion was to calm things down, so they do not become bigger incidents and cause even more of an issue. Jaques gave the detailed answer of, “A lot of times school issues stem from an at home issue or something personal going on. We need to look at all the causes of these events and try and see if there is a way for us to fix that. I think we are also sometimes too easy on kids or sometimes punishments are not distributed equally. Honestly maybe these repeat offenders need a visit to the jail house or a court room to see what the true implications of bad behavior in school can have on their real life and future.”
On the other hand, students get a Code Of Student Conduct by the district at the start of the school year to remind them of school rules and expectations to follow. It also provides what will happen if you do not follow said rules and expectations. There are set disciplinary actions to keep a safe and kind environment at schools. It also asks the student and parent to cooperate with the rules and expectations of the Student conduct. When students violate the Code Of Student Conduct to a certain degree of misconduct, they go to a detention center in their county to help aid in fixing the students behavior. In Osceola County we only have one detention center, New Beginnings. In the real world outside of school, students would have to deal with the law which is not as forgiving. Students are given multiple opportunities to prove that they are willing to abide by the code of conduct so that they can continue their high school education in their zoned school. Quoting Mr. Godfrey, a dean at SCHS said, “Once you attend New Beginnings and have "served your time" you are sent back to your home zoned school to continue your education.” Meaning that once students complete their time at New Beginnings, they are sent to the school that they are zoned for. It is up to the district how long a student attends New Beginnings, depending on the situation is how they decide to go about the consequences.
The Cloud staff tried to contact numerous schools within the state of Florida for their opinion on the safety and security of our schools. Unfortunately, we received no response despite the different attempts.
School safety is a critical issue that requires ongoing attention and action from school administrators, law enforcement and the broader community. While much progress has been made in recent years to improve safety protocols, there is plenty of room to do more.
