Increase or Decrease violence in school?

Question

Hello everyone!
For my anthropology class we have to do a debate. I chose to do my debate in a written assignment and my topic is:

"We must reduce school violence through increased security measures, harsher punishments for offenders"

I chose to be FOR the topic but I still need arguments for the opposing side (which is also going to be me, since for a good debate you also need to talk about the Cons' arguments) .. and I don't really know what to put for the side AGAINST.

Please help! and if you could also jot down points for PROS it will be fantastic!

Thank you in advance!

AGAINST
- Students will rebel
- Schools can't suspend a student because they tease, name call and look down on other passive violence
- Suspension and expulsion from school will limit and ruin their education, students will will not feel the need to do their homework and they will fall behind their school work


i need arguments about the increasing in schools security that will cause the violence to reduce.

Answer 1

FOR:
- safety or well-being of other students
- less exposure to violence = less probability of becoming a victim of mental, physical or sexual abuse

AGAINST:
- creates an scared atmosphere (in other words, an environment where people are always afraid; check up Hammurabi [an eye for an eye])
- harsher punishments will not necessarily correct the problem
- increased security measures, they'll find ways around it (loop holes)
- will make the school seem bad with increased security measures
- suspension or expulsion doesnt necessarily have a positive effect; disrupt education and allows time for more exposure to delinquents, contributing to crime

SUGGESTIONS:
- counselling or programs promoting positive thinking (ex. anger management)
- more activities to keep them away from violence (ex. more clubs, or sports that interest them, afterschool recreational & care)
- alternatives (ex. family group conferecing, having student call parents themselves or the teacher)
- if some students are in extreme poverty, uniforms. If students need the help, schools can pay for the uniform to prevent any bullying that may occur. (Since that student is not able to afford certain things(ex. sports jerseys, designer labels) that other students can afford to spend on, he/ she may be made fun of, or just bullied)

"Repeat offenders who commit the majority of youth crimes... have often been raised in an environment characterized by poverty, violence, substance abuse and inadequte parental guidance. They do poorly in school and commonly associate with delingquent peers. Many will graduate to adult system."

MY opinion: Schools should be using alternatives to zero-tolerance policies, which inhibit the educational possibilities of students, to deal with school violence.

Answer 2

I wouldn't really know. There isn't any violence at my school.

Well if increased security measures includes searching, I guess you could say that it's a violation of a student's privacy.

Some pros, students feel as if they're in a safer environment. Harsher punishments may have a more profound impact.
Students can be effected in such a way that they wouldn't
dare resort to acts of violence in the future.

Answer 3

i think of regardless of each and all of the media insurance of "college violence" directors and instructors nonetheless turn a blind eye to "unusual habit" bullying and including "BOYS would be Boys!" have faith me I even have firsthand journey with this at my sons college. I had an incident which my son became neither on the receiving end or giving end and it nonetheless affected him because it impacts anybody. the school tried to play it off as they're merely 5th grade boys! i became insisting that that is while the subject concerns commence, quickly it must be ingesting and worse. merely some human beings took it heavily. Cant wait to make certain the way it performs out next twelve months in junior extreme!

Answer 4

Actually, my school just recently was receiving threats that were found in one of the bathrooms. Police were searching our bags and making us turn out our pockets for two days. Our school was also on lockdown. They still haven't found him, but they caught another person writing a bomb threat in another school in our district. Our school has won awards for its excellence and these threats have torn a huge hole in our district's reputation. If the person who wrote threats in our school is found, he will be facing 20 years min. in prison. The boy caught writing threats in the other school is already facing 4 years in prison for his "joke." So yes, I think school violence is becoming more prominent. -- hopefully this helps with the "harsher punishments for offenders" part of your argument. our school plans to press charges to the fullest extent if he is caught.

Answer 5

you could argue the 'what are we living for?' strategy or in other specific words how far are people willing to go to protect themselves? - i.e. oppositionally you could say the worth of going to school vs. unchained violence is not worth the cost of wisdom? sorta like a strike. just a thought.

Answer 6

Perhaps that the security measures in question (school uniforms, for example) stifle a child's self-expression and creativity...also may inhibit the course of self-discovery.

Answer 7

School Deaths and School Shootings
http://www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/school_violence.html