Preventing Dangerous School Fights

In middle and high schools across the country teachers and school officials are struggling with ways to help their students. They are responsible for educating their students, but also for keeping them out of trouble. The number of physical and verbal fights that occur in schools are on the rise and many school officials are trying to get a hold on the growing problem.

In many larger cities it is likely that at least one physical or verbal fight will break out daily in a school or on school property. There are a number of reasons why a fight may breakout at a school. These reasons may include, but are not limited to, a sports team, friends, grades, relationships, or drugs.

Although a verbal fight is not as damaging as a physical fight it can still cause an unlimited amount of damage to a teenager or young adult. There are many instances where verbal fights are not even being considered fights. This is due to that fact that no one is being physically injured and they are now happening so much that they sometimes go unnoticed.

A few years back a typical school fight would involve fists, punching, and maybe some hair pulling. Unfortunately now many violent students have a large number of dangerous weapons all within their reach. It is not uncommon to hear of a school fight that involves a knife or a gun.

School officials in areas throughout the country are faced with the difficult task of trying to prevent fights from breaking out on their grounds. Large populated schools are often equipped with security guards and metal detectors. Although this protection may not completely eliminate school fights there are many school officials that are noticing a decrease in dangerous school fights where extra security guards and metal detectors are in place.

Smaller school with a smaller budget may be unable to fully staff their school with potentially expensive security measures. For this reason many smaller schools rely on their teachers and students to be aware of their surroundings. Many students are encouraged to inform an adult if they learn of an impending argument or fight.

In a world that is filled with peer pressure many students may be afraid to alert school officials or adults to a potential fight. For this reason many schools are effectively developing anonymous ways for students or other community members to report any existing or potential acts of violence.

Another way that schools are trying to control the number of fights that occur during school hours or on their property is by punishing students why many be involved or have previously participated in a verbal or physical fight. Many students are now being expelled or suspended from school. A lighter punishment may involve after-school or lunchtime detention.

Many parents and school officials are aware that if a teenager wishes to harm another individual or student they will likely try, whether it be on school grounds or not. School officials are in charge of keeping a large number of students safe and free from danger. Although most school officials would hate to see a fight occur off of school grounds their main responsibility is protecting students while they are in their care.

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.