Anthony Anzalone Blog Post #2
Introduction
For this second blog, the question that will be addressed pertains to the age level of students I plan on working with and how the problems that emerge with school violence-related activities can hinder my teaching ability. As a future educator, I aim to work with students at the elementary level and help them develop the necessary foundation for their education. This goal, however, is only achievable if the safety element is held and obtained to a proper standard. After analyzing this module, I've been made more aware of just how detrimental forms of school violence can be to the safety of all. While I came across solutions to limit this violence, I've seen that issues with school violence can affect my teaching ability because lives are at serious risk. In addition, forms of violence can be easy to take.The Problem
Through careful analysis of this module, It's been depicted that school violence is an issue that requires constant focus and emphasis. This same principle can be applied to our last module, which touched on gender diversity. From this, it was also noted that the only way to get at the issue was to carry out acts and habits to better the circumstances and make all feel an element of safety and inclusion. With school violence, one reason your ability to carry out lessons and educate the class is at risk is that lives become at stake with specific acts of violence. After examining one of the articles, this fear became even more lively for me as it referenced an incident at an elementary school. A shooting led to "19 children and two teachers killed by a gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex.," (St. George, 2022). Having this in the back of your head as an educator can indeed hinder your ability to effectively teach a class. The fact that 19 students and two teachers didn't come back home this day is nothing short of devastating and heartbreaking. Safety not being a guarantee for all in a school setting is horrifying and can affect the mindset of all involved. In addition to this point, which perhaps makes this all even more frightening, is that it can be students who inflict violence, meaning the threat can be internal. This point seemed to be a central message in the song Gorillaz as a standard line to be used was "Kids with guns taking over" (Gorillaz, 2010). To me, this seemed to be an essential line to comprehend the song's message because of how often it was used. As a teacher, this makes you understand that; unfortunately, it can even be your students who inflict violence on the school. Just coming to that realization can understandably take a toll on your ability to teach a classroom. My final key emphasis to why this is such a persisting issue that needs action is because of how easily accessible guns have become in certain areas. From the documentary in this module, we see that a man goes into a bank wishing to open an account. From this scene, we see there is a plan in which you can get a gun with the opening of a specific account. It's mentioned that "If you opened an account at north country bank, the bank would give you a gun" (Moore, 2002). The documentary clearly shows from this scene that getting a gun can be incredibly hassle-free. As an educator, seeing that anyone can get a gun is terrifying. With such a loose and flawed system for determining who's qualified to own a gun, it can be seen that oftentimes, a gun will end up in the hands of the wrong person, which is a direct threat to school safety.
What We Can Do
To add some sort of comfort to the situation, it was observed from this module that we can do some type of part in trying to limit the amount of school violence we see in our society. It is crucial that we carry out the necessary steps and do our part in order to limit this horrendous level of violence that we are seeing in schools. What you'll see from the description of how to combat violence is that it takes all of us to make a difference. From this module, a key takeaway in fighting back against violence was that "preventing school violence requires addressing the factors that put people at risk for or protect them from violence. Research shows that prevention efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, community members, and even students can reduce violence and improve the school environment" (Preventing School Violence, 2019). It's so crucial to see that you can play a part in the fight against an issue. What this leads to is a true sense of belief that we can fight back and prevent school violence. As a future teacher, this will undoubtedly be a staple part of my identity. I will take a stand against school violence.
To Sum It Up
As someone who wishes to teach at the elementary level, I've definitely seen that school violence is still very much a topic of concern. It can clearly bring a lot of problems to the table that can limit how effectively you can teach. However, recognizing this issue is the first step in defeating it. Seeing that we can all do our part in limiting school violence is inspiring and should be something all educators vow to do to create a safe learning space.
Reference
Gorillaz. (2010, January 14). Gorillaz - Kids With Guns [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/VCkFSe3voRc
Moore, M. (Producer & Director) (2002). Bowling for Columbine [Film]. United States: Dog Eat Dog Productions/ YouTube https://watchdocumentaries.com/bowling-for-columbine/
Preventing school violence. (2019). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/schoolviolence/fastfact.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fviolenceprevention%2Fyouthviolence%2Fschoolviolence%2Findex.html
St. George, D. (2022, June 28). School Shootings Rose to Highest Number in 20 Years, federal data says. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/06/28/school-shootings-crime-report/
Hey Anthony, I really enjoyed reading your blog post for this module. Gun violence in our country and specifically in schools is a huge issue that we face every day. Time and time again we find ourselves grieving new losses as the number of victims of gun violence increases every day. I really appreciate how you mentioned that it could be our own students who participate. Of course, we all hope this would never happen and that as teachers, we would be able to intervene before it is too late. However, guns have become so readily available that it is difficult to keep it out of some children's hands. I also appreciate when you said that when we as teachers can truly make an impact on lessening school violence, which has been proven statistically. Many people believe that something like school violence would never happen in their school. When you think ignorantly like this, you become a part of the problem. As teachers, we must take an active role in stopping school violence.
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