Types of School Violence
Bullying and belittling can make children fearful, and it can affect their ability to interact well with teachers and other students. Image: Bullying. Authored by: Geralt. Source: https://pixabay.com/en/bullying-child-finger-suggest-3089938/. License: CC-0
Teachers, students, staff, and security can be perpetrators or victims of violence in a school. This can include physical violence, including attacking a teacher or student, as well as insults and threats. Student-on-teacher violence is often unreported because many teachers might not realize they were the target of threats because it took the form of insults, putdowns, or other behaviors that teachers did not perceive as threatening at the time. Teacher-on-student violence refers to violent actions or exclusions that occur because of a teacher’s position, including belittling students or denying them grades or access to materials needed to complete assignments, both of which are psychological violence. It can even be violent outbursts or abuse on the part of the teacher.
There is a current discussion as to whether corporal punishment in schools, which is still legal in 15 states, should be considered a form of violence. In the 28 states where it is illegal, the use of force as punishment is considered violence, while in the 15 states where it is legal, force is just part of the punishment strategy used by
teachers and administrators. According to Sparks and Harwin (2016), during the 2013–14 school year, 109,000 students reported being paddled, swatted, or otherwise physically punished (Clark, 2017). The use of corporal punishment is most often in lower socioeconomic status schools and occurs almost exclusively in the South; black students are more likely than white students to experience corporal punishment (Clark, 2017). Researchers have questioned whether this might create a climate where the use of force to resolve problems spills over to the students, who may then use force or threats of force to resolve their own problems.
Paddling was a common practice in schools in the 1800s. Many Americans are surprised that corporal punishment is still an option in U.S. schools. Research shows that the use of this type of punishment disproportionately impacts minorities and poor kids. Most corporal punishment takes place in the South. Image: Prügelstrafe 1842. Authored by: Theodor Hosemann. Source: https://www.lehrerfreund.de/medien/_lf_artikel_bilder/pruegelstrafe- schule-1842.jpg. License: CC-0
As with workplace violence and domestic violence, sexual violence is prevalent within schools. School sexual violence, like other types of sexual violence, overwhelmingly happens to girls and young women (DeMitchell, n.d.). In addition to more overt forms of sexual violence like rape, more subtle forms of sexual violence also occur. This can take the forms of teasing as 10- and 11-year-old girls begin to develop breasts or get their periods, snapping of bras, pulling of hair, or grabbing of bodies inappropriate ways. It wasn’t until 1999 in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education that the Supreme Court ruled that schools are legally responsible for intervening and preventing sexual harassment in schools and that the failure of teachers, principals, and other staff to intervene when they are aware of harassment violates Title IX, which requires equal access to education for everyone.
Schools have focused on creating dress codes, including banning tank tops, shorts, and other clothes that schools deem “too revealing” as their main prevention measure for sexual harassment, although this is starting to change. Dress codes are not usually applied to young men. This is important to note, as women are most likely to be the victims and rather than teaching students how not to offend, the focus is placed on girls. The notion of blaming the victim and making women responsible for their potential harassment was discussed in depth in the module “Sexual Assault Victims.” Those who debate against dress codes argue that having dress codes perpetuates victim blaming.
Bullying is the unwanted aggression by another child or group of children who are not related or dating (as that would be domestic violence). In bullying, the imbalance of power is clear, with the victim being subjected to physical, psychological, social, or educational harm multiple times (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2016). A child can be the perpetrator of bullying toward one victim and at the same time be the victim of bullying from other kids. In that case they would be called the bully/victim. Historically, bullying only occurred face to face, but today, with the increased use of technology by kids, bullying happens in person as well as digitally, especially through social media. Bullying can lead to physical injury, social and mental distress, educational impacts, and even death, which can include homicide as well as suicide.