School Shooting Research Papers

Building Bridges

What must it be like to wave goodbye to one’s child as they walk into school, only to receive a phone call hours later saying that same child has been shot in a school shooting? What must it be like to send one’s child to school and never see them again? For too many parents across the nation, this scenario has been a tragic reality. In the past two decades the school atmosphere has evolved greatly. The most disturbing of these developments is the rise of school violence, specifically school shootings. Due to the rapid increase in these events, schools have had no choice, but to implement sophisticated security systems throughout school buildings. Unlocked doors are now monitored by camera and opened electronically; parents

Each year schools are faced with problems, such as gang violence, intruders, and bullying. However, in context with this piece, “school violence” will pertain to K-12 school shootings committed by students only. Any act which involves one or more student gunmen and at least one deceased victim will be classified as a school shooting. It is these violent acts that have transformed the school environment from what it once was to the safety hazard it has

What began as innocent children’s games has become arguably the most violent media outlet kids have access to (Levant and Thomas). As the years have passed, video games have only risen in violence. One survey calculated of the twenty most popular video games, 68% contained at least one act of violence, and 78% used “lethal acts of aggression…” The more violence present, the higher the popularity among audiences of varying age groups. (Tamborini). The relationship between popularity and violence is especially disturbing. Also, as technology advances, the graphics of these video games, while visually astounding for their realism, give players a realistic sense of what it is actually like to injure and kill someone. Unlike violent movies and TV shows where the viewer passively watches the violent actions on the screen, video games actively engage their players to kill in a disturbingly realistic manner. They become an active participant of the violent acts being committed (Tamborini). If the viewing material were not realistic enough, the rules of the game certainly are. Because the games often revolve around violence, it is through violent acts that players are rewarded and “win”. Initially, players must decide whether to perform these acts, and to what