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But students aren’t the only ones who
are being threatened and hurt. The job
of teaching involves more than just im
parting knowledge. Teachers’ lives also
are in jeopardy.
In New York City alone, there are at
least 2,000 physical assaults on teachers
and staff per year. The 1991-1992 school
year placed that number closer to 5,000
reported incidents.
What must be done?
Easily, the answer would appear to be
to fight for greater gun control, to get
weapons out of the hands of students.
But the battle is a hard one to fight, since
many people feel it would be an infringe
ment of their constitutional rights.
Parents must become more involved with
their children to learn more about what
their children are doing. In addition,
many experts say parental beatings at
home translate into the first lessons in
violence.
Aside from creating a prison-like at
mosphere with metal detectors, added
police presence and locker searches,
schools are trying more innovative
approaches.
Teens on Target in Oakland, Calif.,
helps students from some of the city’s
most drug-ravaged neighborhoods
spread the word about the dangers of
gun violence. The purpose of the pro
gram is to dispel the romance of
shootouts by giving students a dose of
the medical realities. These students learn
what life is like for those survivors of
needless violence. A Sobering Picture.
Students in Charlotte-Mecklenberg,
N.C., and Dade County, Fla. receive a
similar message via videotape that
realistically details the consequences of
carrying a gun. The video includes a
young victim who shares what it is like
to be a paraplegic.
New York, San Diego, Los Angeles,
Oakland and Dade County schools are
slated to test a K-12 gun violence preven
tion curriculum.
Students will learn how to stay safe
around guns, how to resist peer pressure
and how to differentiate between what
happens on television and what should
happen on the street. Students in other
schools are learning conflict mediation
techniques in order to seek out options
other than violence when faced with
disagreements. In Baltimore, all-male
classes on the elementary level are seen
as a positive approach to offering boys
a new way of embracing school through
African-American male teacher and pro
fessional male mentors.
But some parents are not leaving this
matter to the schools. At Arlington High
in Indianapolis, a public school once
known for violence has a new security
force — they are fathers, the Security
Dads.
The school’s profile is typical of most
schools facing major problems. A third
of the 1,650 students are being raised by
single parents - mostly mothers. The
school does have a reputation for trou
ble. Students witnessed a fatal stabbing
at the school cafeteria and a gang-related
shooting at a basketball game.
But the Security Dads, created last
year have a unique approach to main
taining order. The fathers have now
become mentors. They fill a void for
students who do not have a male figure
in their lives. The fathers were there
when bullets were flying at the basket
ball game. While they may not be able
to stop all the violence around the
students, they were successful in escor
ting them home safely with no lives lost.
Children are dying every day in urban
areas as they simply try to get an educa
tion. Schools have a responsibility to help
stop the overflow of street crime into
their buildings, but they can’t do it alone.
Parents, especially African Americans,
must get involved in saving our children.
Millions are on this front line every day.
“The answers lie in parents learning
how to teach their child alternatives to
violence,” said Terrell of the National
Center Against Prejudice and Violence.
“I don’t think we can attack violence and
not address the social issues outside
schools.”
Center to Prevent Handgun Violence
Gun Violence in the African-American Community
■ Homicide is the leading cause of death for black males aged 15 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease
Control. Firearms are involved in approximately 80% of these homicides.
■ 1 in every 28 black males born in 1987 is likely to be murdered. For white males the ratio is 1 in 205. (Centers
for Disease Control)
■ A young black male is 9 times more likely to be murdered than a young white male, according to the Centers
for Disease Control.
■ The homicide rate among black men aged 15 to 24 rose by 66% from 1984 to 1987, according to the Centers
for Disease Control. And 95% of this increase was due to firearms-related murders.
■ In 1990, 93% of the black murder victims were slain by black offenders. (FBI, Uniform Crime Report)
■ Nearly half (48%) of all black teenage males who died in 1988 were killed with guns, compared to 18 percent
among white teenage males. (National Center for Health Statistics)
■ For black males aged 15 to 19, firearm homicides have increased 125 percent since 1984. (FBI, Uniform Crime
Reports)
■ The percentage of violent crimes against blacks in which the offender had a gun was nearly twice the percen
tage of violent crimes in which whites were the victims (11% versus 20%). (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
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