Violent and aggressive behaviors in schools have been seen more and more in the news as of late, from daily bullying to school shootings such as Columbine. Violence in schools is not something that should be taken lightly; and, it needs to be addressed by educating teachers and parents on how to raise and educate non-violent, non-aggressive children.
Typically, the media focuses on violence in our high schools, and although it can be the most dramatic, it is not the only place violence and aggression is happening. In fact, the triggers for aggressive and violent student are present in all schools, at all grade levels. These triggers include, but are not limited to a low frustration tolerance, deficits in social information processing, disorganized/inconsistent teachers, failure, boredom, lack of positive reinforcement, irrelevant curriculum, and overexposure to punishment.
Although aggression and violence occurs at all levels of schooling students show different signs at different ages. Students at all levels may show frustration or anxiety by sighing constantly or other non-verbal cues; they also may exhibit minor behavior problems, such disrupting class or not cooperating. At the elementary level, a student may cry frequently in class, or verbally vent. An elementary student may also withdraw himself from class. A secondary student may get defensive and argue and complain in class, or take their aggression out on other students in the form of verbal or physical abuse. Special education students may lose control and hit, bite, kick, or throw objects. They may also withdraw from classroom activity.
If a teacher notices the fore mentioned symptoms from any of the students, there are ways to change the classroom setting to avoid further problems. Teachers need to be therapeutic and show that they not only has confidence in themselves but confidence in the class. Teachers must also set the example for students to follow. When a teacher gets frustrated, stressed, or anxious he should maintain control of himself and show the students how to behave through his actions.
Aggressive and violent behavior must be intervened by forth grade, or it is likely that the student will be an aggressive adult. Most students that are aggressive in high school did not have their aggression handled properly in elementary school. They were probably sent to a time out or some other form of detention, if we want students to not be aggressive not only in secondary schools, but after high school graduation, then aggressive students must be intervened properly before they make it to forth grade.
Intervention has three different levels and is reserved for students that have been recognized by a universal screening procedure for antisocial behavior. The first level of prevention tries to keep problems from happening. Teachers and schools can adapt commercially available curriculums that can divert antisocial students from resorting to violence and aggression. The second level is more one-on-one between an educator or counselor and an at-risk student. Counselors or teachers may have a meeting with a student to see why they are antisocial and then the teacher can try to socially involve the student through the curriculum. There are also commercially developed curriculums for the second level. The third and last level involves intensive “wraparound” services from within the community. These services can range anywhere from the student’s family to social support services. This last level is only for extremely at-risk students.
There are some myths about indicators for violence in schools and they need not to be confused with the real indicators. In a recent study done at Harvard, some attributes that were thought to indicate of violence and aggression showed not to. They are gender, race, and socioeconomic status. The indicators that were reinforced by the study were harsh punishment by the family, inhibition, peer victimization, aggressive fantasy, and low self-esteem (low self-esteem was not as strong as a predictor as the others).
Students are facing a more complex and challenging world then they ever have before and with that, the tendency to lash out is becoming greater and greater. Educators need to look for the signs of aggression in students and intervene when necessary. Educators need to discipline students without lowering students’ self-esteem. Lastly, educators need to set the example for students to follow when life gets stressful or confusing.
2 Comments
February 12, 2007 at 12:22 AM
That’s weird, because I thought Video Games, and Rock N’ Roll were the one and only cause for aggressive behavior in children. I hope my kids are lucky enough to have someone like you as their teacher when the time comes. *Thumbs Up*
October 11, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Most people think the media is the main promoter of aggression however there are several other factors involved when it comes to triggering aggression, especially within children.
For example, there are the environmental stressors. The classroom environment and home environment are two of the most important factors at play when evaluating a child’s aggressive behaviour.
As a parent, are you aggressive towards your child or any family member? The way a child acts is based on what they see and, as a parent, you are a role model for your child. For example, if you regularly beat your child when they do something wrong, then your child has been exposed to such aggressive behaviour and may believe that it is okay to perform such acts. If a child’s parents are constantly arguing, this can trigger a child’s aggressive behaviour and they may begin to argue a lot as well.
Furthermore, if a child is sitting in a boring class, they may become bored and this can lead to frustration. When a child feels this way, they tend to be in a “bad mood” which can lead to acts of aggression. Moreover, if a child receives poor marks on an assessment, they may be so upset and this can cause aggressive behaviour.
Therefore it can be concluded that the media is not the only cause of aggression. Although it may be one of the influences of aggressive behaviour, there are so many other factors at play when considering this topic.