Stereotypes That Have Committed Highly Delinquent Students

Students who misbehave and commit delinquent acts at school are more likely to be placed in an alternative learning setting. These settings can be an In-School Detention program or an Alternative School for those that have committed seriously delinquent acts such as possession of drugs while at school, fighting, or threatening harm to other students or teachers. Juveniles put into these alternate settings are placed in an environment with others who have committed delinquent acts. This placement increases the association with delinquent peers and the social learning of delinquency (Agnew and Brezina 274). A child’s likelihood for association with delinquent peers is increased due to the neighborhood they live in. Poverty-stricken neighborhoods tend to have higher rates of crime, such as vandalism, as well as a higher gang presence (Fite, Preddy and Vitulano 748). The delinquent children that live in these neighborhoods tend to ride school buses together. This continued association only further serves to develop the child’s beliefs that delinquent acts can be justified (Agnew and Brezina 205, 225). This concept of “best friend delinquency” further serves to prove the social learning theory as well as the association

These children are likely to continue to be placed into In-School Detention or another alternative learning environment. To help prevent bullying, teachers and administrators must be aware of what is happening in the classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, and at recess. Olweus outlines “The Bullying Circle” which shows the roles that students and onlookers play in the bullying cycle. Passive supporters, as well as potential defenders of the victim, surround bullies and their followers. All of these students have the potential to step-in and interrupt the act of bullying that is occurring, but it is rare for that to happen