Violence among African American Males in Schools
Senior Seminar
Breon Hall
North Carolina A&T State University
March 26, 2017
Abstract
Adolescent Black males throughout the years have been subject and victim to numerous economic, socioeconomic, and environmental disadvantages. In many inner-city neighborhoods, these disadvantages have led to an increase in violence among these adolescent African American males, especially in the educational system. Violence among African American males in schools is something that increases tremendously each year; a 2010 study in Education Week showed that over 70% of the students involved in school-related arrests or referred to law enforcement were African American students. This can be explained
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Living in low-income and impoverished neighborhoods with little upward mobility and the way African American teens are treated and seen as in society are also major factors in the growing violence in predominantly black schools. Preventing violence in black teens begins with changing the environmental factors that affect African American adolescent males. Also, by providing support from the home, classroom, and community, the effects of the socioeconomic and social disadvantages will begin to decrease.
This paper will explain the some of the causes of teen violence among the African American community and the effects that teen violence has on these students. This paper will also discuss some methods and ways to help prevent the growing violence among Black teens in the school system.
Violence Among African American Males in the School
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For example, in Orange Country Florida, where black students only make up 27% of the public school’s population, black students represent over 50% of the students getting suspended (Lynch, 2016). This can be the effect of discrimination in the school system as young black males are already viewed as “trouble makers.” This alone can also create violence in black males because they recognize the unfair treatment which leads to resentment and anger. This soon manifests into even bigger problems within the self. "Exposure to aggressive experiences, in school and outside school, can profoundly affect mental health, including adjustment at school,” (Basch, 2011). Also found in this article, a recent study showed more than 42,000 11-17-year old’s that were affected by school violence were associated with having experienced internalizing behaviors such as depression, anxiety, sadness and more. Depression, anxiety, sadness are all ways for a child to cause aggression behavior because that's the only way they know to express themselves. This all stems back to the environment in which these young African American males are subjected to (Farrell et al, 2010) as well as their place in society and how they are viewed. If all they see and experience is negativity in their communities, homes and schools, it is what
In order to solve the problem of violence in schools, we must first find out who the problem is. Being that not every teenager is prone to participate in such violent acts as what happened at Columbine, there must be specific environment imposed on a particular biology to turn a teenager into an Eric Harris or a Dylan Klebold. These are not normal, healthy teenagers, and they don’t just become killers overnight. They become killers because they are already deeply disturbed individuals who can be sent over the edge by all sorts of innocuous influences. Violent teens often have specific characteristics that put them at high risk for committing these crimes. These high risked students may display some of the following traits. First,
Ever since the terrible tragedy at Columbine High School, there has been a numerous list of recent school shootings in America. Youth violence is a major issue in today’s society. Many people dread what causes adolescents to be so violent, committing horrible crimes.
A sudden increase of youth violence in public schools in early 1990 has caused many to raise concerns about violent behaviors in schools. In the past, the most common form of violence that took place in schools was bullying, physical fights, or
The article “The National Conversation in the Wake of Littleton is Missing the Mark" By Jackson Kats and Sut Jhally is about finding the cause of violence and relating it to students who dispense harm to society, as well as other students. There is a focus on masculinity, along with behavior and how that behavior is being influenced by the environment. The article focuses on factors such as peer exclusion, the prevalence of violence in the media and most importantly, violence in relation to gender. .
Adolescent violence has turned into an expanding issue in the U.S. youth violence and young people raised in the 1990s and has stayed high. Youth are the in all probability gathering to be casualties or culprits of high school violence, however the after effects of teenager violence influence everybody. Youth brutality insights demonstrate this is a significant issue: A normal of 15 youngsters are killed every day in the U.S., and more than 80 percent of those are killed with firearms (Khey, 2008). In 2004, brutality insights report 750,000 youngsters were dealt with in doctor 's facilities for roughness related wounds (Khey, 2008). One third of secondary school understudies reported being included in a battle at school in 2004, and 17 percent reported conveying a weapon to class in the month going before the 2004 overview (Khey, 2008). 1 in 12 young people in secondary school are harmed or undermined with a weapon every year (School Violence in America, 2015). 30 percent of junior and senior secondary school understudies are included in tormenting every year as the casualty, spook, or both (School Violence in America, 2015). According to a savagery measurements report by the U.S. Mystery Service, in the earlier decade, the chances of a secondary school understudy being harmed or debilitated with a weapon were around 1 in 14, and the chances of an adolescent being in a physical battle were 1 in 7 (Hiscock, 1926). Youth roughness can influence anybody, however a few
Black males enter educational environments questioning if they belong while trying to survive. Schools reflect critical factors that impact how Black males see themselves and how they envision their futures. Brooms (2016) asserts that school culture cannot understand the context of the lived experiences of Black males within education without positioning them as victims of the system. However, it is due to “institutional racism, intergenerational poverty, and the lack of meaningfully sustained educational reform and community development (Brooms, 2016)” that disproportionately puts Black males at risk for educational failure. Polite and Davis (1999) adds that “to be an African American male in school and society places one at risk for a
The youth of the black community are perceived as violent because of the brutal past the previous generations had to go through. “I think the African American community… [understood that] … somebody like Trayvon Martin was statistically more likely to be shot by a peer than he was by somebody else. So folks understand the challenges that exist for African American boys … they get frustrated, I think, if they feel that there’s no context for it and that context is being denied.” If a white teen was put into the same situation, the results would have been distinct from the outcomes of a black male teen.
According to the According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide is the leading cause of death for black men ages 15-34 nationwide. Gun violence usually occurs as result of frustrations taking place within extremely oppressed areas. When young kids don’t have a healthy outlet for expressing their anger, it can lead to violence and unnecessary crime.
Moreover, in this study Voisin, Bird, Hardestry, & Shiu noticed that community violence exposure among urban youth has caused them psychological distress, anxiety, depression, aggression, low academic functioning, and delinquency (Voisin, Bird, Hardestry, & Shiu, 2011). The researchers used a grounded theory approach that helped them understand how African American youth live in a high-violence Chicago neighborhood (Voisin, Bird, Hardestry, & Shiu, 2011). The methodology used by these researchers included 16 boys and 16 girls which are equal to 32 participants (Voisin, Bird, Hardestry, & Shiu, 2011). They found out that participants were exposed to community violence by either hearing about it, witnessing it, or as direct victim (Voisin, Bird,
Teen Violence is a big dilemma in today’s society. Violent behaviors usually start from family and peers, as well as teens observing it at there neighborhoods or communities. These behaviors are reinforced by what youth see on television, on the Internet, in video games, movies, music videos, and what they hear in their music. When children are disciplined with severe corporal punishment or verbal abuse, or when they are physically or sexually abused, or when they witness such behavior in their home, it is not surprising that they behave violently toward others. Teen Violence has had such an impact in our youth today that it leads many destructive things and that’s why we have so much violence today.
Some people today feel that they are isolated from their own community. In Oak Park, Illinois, third through eighth graders took a survey. Roughly 42% of them said they felt excluded or embarrassed socially by their classmates. Another 32% stated that they were bullied by their piers. With all these emotions going through them at such a young and developing age, it can cause serious damage with the way the kids and young teens look at life. With them feeling removed from their school community and friend groups, they may act out in violent ways against those who have made them feel this way. For example, there have been many stories in the news regarding students who bring weapons to school with the intent of harming others. Another result
Race has been considered a risk factor for the onset of violence for some time and it is included as a risk factor in some studies trying to predict violence (Office of the Surgeon General, 2001). However, does race predict violence once other known risk factors are taken into account? As it turns out, research indicates that when the effects of other known risk factors have been considered, generally no significant effect of race on youth violence has been found (Elliott et al., 1989; Reiss and Roth, 1993; Roitberg and Menard, 1995). Thus, it appears that race is not a risk factor. Rather, it can be said to be a risk marker. That is, race suggests other known risk factors, which include living in poor, single-parent families, doing poorly
According to Leoniek Kroneman, Rolf Loeber, and Alison E. Hipwell (2004) research is looking at four major points and questions for girls on conduct problems and adolescences; which it also focuses on filling the gaps in reviewing neighborhood influences on gender differences in conduct problems and delinquency. The methodology that use was meta-analysis; notably many sources were used in this meta-analysis, but some really stand out. One of the sample that Kromeneman, Loeber, and Hipwell (2004) use was take a sample of 225 girls’ age 11 to 19 years old of African American living in housing projects; which more than half of the girls had admitted that they had attack someone out of rage and displeasure, and addition
Youth in today’s society are faced with numerous social psychological barriers that get in the way of healthy development. Urban youth are faced with even more of these barriers such as homelessness, mental health issues, negative influences, poverty, racism, stereotypes and exposure to violence. Table 1 addresses these social psychological barriers, defines them and provides sources from current journal articles that speak about them. Many of these barriers do not happen in isolation alone, but are connected and intertwine. For instance students living in poverty often have to deal with homelessness and students faced with racism often come face to face with stereotypes in their culture. This paper will examine in depth the social psychological barrier of violence and analyze how it impacts students’ performance and achievement.
The United States is facing an epidemic of seriously violent crimes in middle schools and high schools across the country. At least fifty people have died due to a series of high school shootings. These shooting rampages have occurred across the United States in 13 cities ranging from Pennsylvania to southern Mississippi and to western California. Just when the murder rampages seem to be subsiding, another tragedy occurs. Preventive measures have been taken by the government and school systems. For instance, in 1994, Congress passed the Drug-Free Schools and Community Act, which provides for support of drug and violence prevention programs. However, these programs have not been effective in taming the ferocious dispositions of the