Violence within schools has become a big problem in today's society. School violence is defined as "any physical or verbal attack on a person while on school grounds or school property" (Oxford Dictionary, n.p.). This violence can include anything from bullying to large scale violent acts such as those committed at Columbine and École Polytechnique. In any form, school violence has the power to affect students, teachers, parents, community members and even those who hear about it on the news. In earlier decades, school violence merely involved delinquency and the occasional fight. Today, students are bringing guns, knives, and other weapons to school, and using them to harm each other. School violence can happen for a variety of reasons and there is no way to pinpoint one exact factor that leads to school violence. However, youth who have been bullied and socially rejected by their peers or family members are more likely to have low self esteem and feel humiliation, sadness, and guilt. In this essay I will demonstrate how these negative feelings can motivate an individual to lash out violently against their school and classmates. .
Every day thousands of teens across the world are bullied at school. Bullying is "when a person is picked on over and over again by an individual or group with more power, either in terms of physical strength or social standing" (Oxford Dictionary, n.p.). People are often bullied because of their appearance, social status, race or religion. Some bullies attack their targets physically, which can mean anything from shoving or tripping to punching or hitting. Others use verbal taunts, insults and threats to put their victims down. Victims of bullying often feel weak and can struggle with the emotional, social and academic parts of their lives. Bullying can also cause severe distress in a victim forcing him/her to bottle up their feelings and finally "snap" after a period of time.
