Speaking Our Peace The Lilliputians
& the Giant
By Paul Olson, NFP President Global Warming Copenhagen: Games People Play
By Professor Bruce E. Johansen Volunteer Nebraska Peace Stratcom
The Most Dangerous Place on the Face of the Earth Whiteclay
Updates on Nebraska's tiny reservation border town. Goin' Broke Essay Winners
 Goin' Broke The Cost of War
 NFP Sticker Get Your FREE
NFP Bumper Sticker!
Just send us an Email.

Scholarship Essay Winner
“Turn Off the Violence”

Alex S. Callan

The tragedies of Columbine High School and the University of Virginia Tech are still fresh in the minds of many Americans. Why do these things happen? Simple. People who are suicidal are no different now than in the past. They cannot cope with the pain of being outcasts so they end the pain by taking their life. However, juveniles are much more prone to anger along with depression. Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech killer, believed that his problems stemmed from his peers. Thus, he wanted to make a statement before he took his own life. I am willing to bet that Cho was more angry than depressed and simply decided to end it all with as much shock as possible. While almost all of the blame lies with Cho, there are some ways that tragedies like this can be stopped before they happen. Obviously, a stricter gun policy would help. 

People with any emotional problems should not have the authority to wield semi-automatic weapons. Most reasonable people agree that the removal of semi-automatic weapons, those weapons only meant for killing, and enforcing improved background checks and wait periods are necessary. Also, I believe that school counseling programs should be created. These programs would consist of selected students that would be taught the symptoms of past killers. Though counselors are more than qualified to deal with emotionally distressed students, the ratio of kids to counselors is too high for any one counselor to effectively identify those with severe depression. Thus, teaching students some of the same observatory skills that counselors have will lighten the load and make it easier to help suicidal students. Also, students who wish to be school counselors or even psychologists would benefit greatly from this kind of learning. Obviously, this will need to be quite conservative. It would be dangerous for kids to give advice to their peers. The counselors and the students would use each other to keep a firm grasp on the emotional status of their schools. In simple terms, the students would provide the information to the counselor and the counselor would use their experience to help solve the problem. However, these “student counselors” must not get overzealous or they may instigate a bigger problem. The school would have to ensure that a program such as this will function as a learning tool rather than a class bent on patrolling the school. However, I believe that with a competent school administration, willing students, and a passionate counselor, that this could help stop school tragedies before they occur.

Another related violence problem in today’s schools is bullying. Bullying is dangerous, especially in younger children. And, tragically, bullying occurs most in elementary and middle schools — a time that is quite chaotic for many students. Middle school is the transitional period of going from a kid to a young adult. Many of the traits that kids inherit during this stage affect them for years to come. Hormones cause them to be more easily stressed or angered. Peer pressure causes some kids to develop harmful traits. The worst of these traits is exerting dominance over someone through force. Bullying is mostly a psychological matter rather than a physical matter. Kids that are missing parents or that are abused are much more likely to bully others. Thus, I believe that the problem must be solved psychologically as well. Bullies need to be confronted, but I believe that they need to be confronted differently. For one, confronting a bully in public and in view of all of his “supporters” is not very effective. The bully feels safe with support. You need to take the support away. Make it a burden for people to support the bully. Take away their ability to participate in sporting events. Don’t be violent, but be strong. Instead of blatantly confronting the bully about why he is bullying others, study him/her and find out what the possible reasons are. Then confront him/her. 

Educate bullying victims on how to avoid bullies and offer them support. Support is the key. Kids lose faith when they feel they are all alone. Talk to the parents about it. If the kid sees that you show interest in his problems then he will slowly gain confidence. Once confidence is created, the kid will stand up for himself. Thus, the bully will have lost the psychological aspect of the situation. Bullying is all psychological, and once you have beaten him/her psychologically they will have little interest in bullying. Now, there is no perfect plan to stop bullies. I believe that this will work for some if the right amount of passion is put into it by faculty members. However, some people just enjoy hurting others for no reason. In that case, more strict behavior intervention may be needed.

Gangs are much more dangerous than bullies and also add to out-of-control violence. The problem with gangs is that gang support is internal and strong, whereas support for bullies is more out of respect and fear rather than camaraderie. Gangs are kept alive by bringing in young, new members. Kids need to be educated on the dangers of gang life. I believe seminars should be shown. These seminars must be very serious and very graphic. Truthfully, I believe that one of the best ways to deter a young middle school student from joining a gang is to show the gruesome ways in which gang members meet their end. Show them a picture of a Blood with a collapsed skull. Show them a Crip with a deformed physique from a pipe bomb. Will it be graphic? Absolutely. Will it work? Kids respond most to pictures rather than lectures. Show them the bad sides of gang life and they will not want to join one. Once they are in a gang, it is hard to get them out. They have to be kept out from the beginning. What better way than to show it to them in way that they’ll understand and feel.