Counseling for Students in the Face of More School Violence

When did we begin to think of a stabbing outside of a school as a mundane incident? In the face of more violence in our Baltimore City Schools we seem to do nothing as a school system or society to prevent or mediate the increasing level of conflict and violence that young urban students face.

Within our schools, most administrators’ hands are tied by the bureaucratic code which does not allow them to discipline serious first time offenses. It is only after a student has repeatedly done something wrong that he/she can face more severe disciplinary action.But what type of message does this send to the student body at large and the multitude of students who do follow the rules every day. It shows those students that there are no consequences for their bad choices or violent actions. It tempts the student who is angry over what may be a minor incident to act out because there are no visible limitations. Furthermore, when those dangerous, disturbing and rather violent incidents do occur, like the stabbing outside of one school or the riot inside another, the news and media often get the details wrong or ignore it entirely. Meanwhile the school often tries its best to make the incident disappear as quickly as possible, and the students and teachers receive little news of what steps are being taken, or counseling. These actions ultimately, are what can make a student feel as though his/her life has little value within our society.

In any other school system, a student’s death, serious injury, or a violent action would be addressed within the entire student body. Students should have a safe space to speak and reflect on the incident and their own actions. School reform will ultimately take many different forms some will be of an administrative nature, others will be more academic in scope, but we cannot forget that our students have young, impressionable minds and they are not as immune to the violence around them as many would like to believe. Schools have the potential to shape a person’s character;I do not think that we should ignore this side of our many responsibilities. We must find spaces to discuss these issues and we cannot continue to treat incidences of rebellion and violence as “normal”.