March 24, 1998, Jonesboro, Ark. - Four students and one teacher killed, ten others wounded outside as Westside Middle School emptied during a false fire alarm. Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, shot at their classmates and teachers from the woods.
May 21, 1998, Springfield, Ore. - Two students killed, 22 others wounded in the cafeteria at Thurston High School by 15-year-old Kip Kinkel. Kinkel had been arrested and released a day earlier for bringing a gun to school. His parents were found dead later at home.
April 20, 1999, Littleton, Colo. - 14 students (including killers) and one teacher killed, 23 others wounded at Columbine High School in the nation's deadliest school shooting. Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, had plotted for a year to kill at least 500 and blow up their school. At the end of their hour-long rampage, they turned their guns on themselves.
These are just a few examples of the recent crime headlines. The media today is full of such stories. The figures are alarming. Shootings and killings are making news everywhere in the world. The US is well equipped to handle the crime rate or terrorist activity. What is puzzling the lawmakers is how to handle the innocent, protected ones from picking up guns and going on a rampage.
There is no way to recognize the attacker and no undercover operation can track and prevent this activity before it actually happens. The sudden rise in school killings has everyone perplexed. The protected kids have unexpectedly turned into killers. You feel more worried for your kids when they are in school among other kids, not knowing when one of the vulnerable kids will turn a pistol on your child. What is it that is making America’s schools the most dangerous place for kids?
Violence in American society
Crime is costing the American economy greatly. A recent study by the National Center for Victims of Crime estimates that about $105 billion is spent annually in medical expenses, lost earnings, and costs for crime victim services. Factoring in the intangible costs, such as pain, suffering, and a reduced quality of life, brings the total estimated cost of crime to $450 billion annually.
This money can be spent productively for so many other purposes if we could control the crime rate. A glance at the increasing violence in American schools proves that we need to control crime and violence at an early stage in life.
There are plenty of good and effective laws in the Constitution of America, but what we need today is a change in the attitude of people, change in their lifestyle, changing their mindset to help them become more tolerant. That is the only way to influence a change in the society on a large scale.
Violence in schools
Every year, 3 million young people in the United States fall victim to crimes at school. Almost 2 million of these incidents involve violence. Although most school violence takes the form of minor assaults, some episodes are far more serious. Some end in tragedy.
For example, in two recent academic years, 85 young people died violently in US schools. Seventy-five percent of these incidents involved firearms.
Responsibility
Whom should we blame for this grim situation? Parents – they do not have enough time for children, as both are busy in their respective careers. Teachers – not enough commitment or lack of role models in the teaching community as in previous times. On the other hand, some say – media – violent movies, video games, glorification of crime and criminals.
Maybe some of them or all of them are responsible to some extent. The cases that have come to light or the attention of media were mostly at the high school levels. However, the recent change in patterns is alarming.
Elementary school principals and safety experts say they are seeing more violence and aggression among their youngest students than before, pointing to what they see as an alarming rise in assaults and threats to classmates and teachers.
Charity begins at home
The increase of violent behavior in American children is pointing a finger at the failure of system - of education and the very institution of the family. This is the time to look at new alternatives to develop a more open relationship with your kids and family.
Whatever we have been doing to achieve it has clearly not been enough – so, it is time to look at non-traditional alternatives. The need of the hour is to develop a strong bond with your family and kids. Introduce them to your faith and belief system and the value of the family. A regular family routine can include meditation.
A usual gathering of the members of a family for solitary time, practicing mediation or self-control can help greatly towards more bonding. A close-knit family will offer the child a place to go to when in state of distress. The children need to be educated in the basic morals of humanity and the right values should be inculcated in them from the beginning.
Self-control, spiritual, meditation
Can meditation promote a healthier physical life for your family? Recent medical studies indicate that spiritual people exhibit fewer self-destructive behaviors (suicide, smoking, and drug and alcohol abuse, for example), less stress and a greater total life satisfaction.
Meditation can help in development of positive values and self-control, not only in children but also in adults. Religious and spiritual beliefs are an important part of how many people deal with life's joys and hardships. Faith can provide people with a sense of purpose and guidelines for living. Attending organized religious services may help some families connect with their spiritual values, but this is not the only way.
There are a number of less traditional paths to help children and parents begin their personal quest for spiritual meaning.
- Explore your roots. In examining your shared past, you and your children may connect with values of earlier times and places, as well as gain a sense of your extended family's history and values.
- Examine your spiritual involvement in the community. If you are already involved in a spiritual group, maybe you will want to take on a larger role - first for you, then as a model for your children. If you have not joined a community, you may want to investigate those in your area.
- Share some silence with your children. Take a few minutes for silent meditation alone or with your children. Think about your parenthood, your life as an individual, and your place in the larger scheme of the world. Spend time discussing these thoughts with your children and listen to their ideas on what spirituality means to them.
- Take a nature walk. Nature has long been an inspiration and spiritual guide. A walk will relax you and allow you to contemplate the wonders of the world around you.
Moral education as a solution
Other than spirituality, providing moral education to children can also help. Moral education will give the children a strong character from the beginning and they will be able to differentiate between right and wrong.
The study will help them in becoming better human beings than just making them materially successful. Spending more time with children discussing positive aspects of life will help in providing with role models to our kids. If we share with our kids how we struggled and then reached where we are, it will give them a role model. Let them know the hardships that you faced in your life and how you emerged as a winner.
Preparing kids to deal with the situation
There are institutes now teaching kids how to identify an attacker and how to defend themselves in the event of an attack. Encourage children to speak and start listening to them more carefully. If they are talking about an impending attack or of some strange behavior of their peers, it needs to be addressed right away.
The good news is that with help from child psychologists, such a training program is already developed. The writer of this article has worked hard on creating and developing such a program. He and his team have worked closely with psychologists and martial arts experts to create a self-defense program that has been tested already on research subjects successfully.
How to make a positive change in the society
Media is the most powerful tool today and it can help in our attempt to change the society. Media can provide a broad platform to promote a safer world for our kids by creating a positive atmosphere and inculcating positive values and culture in our kids – to prevent our children from becoming criminals.
This can help in changing the society and providing a safer world for our next generations. The writer of this article is an eminent media person who has been involved with work on inculcating positive values and culture in children and adults.
The writer has been invited by GloboSat Entertainment (a global entertainment, distribution and broadcasting company based out of New York) to be their Program Director to conceive and implement programs on developing positive values and culture in the children to bring about a positive change in the society.
Their team has worked on and successfully developed a Self-Defense program for children to help them deal with hostile situations.
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