Poverty and School Violence: Position Statement

Families that are of low socioeconomic status are burdened by money issues in urban cities throughout the U.S  Financial The neighborhood public schools are often run-down and lack common essentials such as textbooks and basic technology.  Although education is often viewed as a way out of poverty, most of these children fail to see the bright spot amongst these deplorable conditions.  Due to these disparities, they are likely to feel resentment towards the societal values of the white middle-class.  They often feel that education is not relevant to their life they do not feel that their public education will lead them to success in the future. The results of poverty and feelings of oppression put them in a hopeless state with no outlet for their feelings.  This built up anger and resentment results in a school environment that is hostile, disruptive and violent. 


Jessica Lynn Argondizza
Colleen M. Gray
Briana M. Hoachlande
Kaltra Marku

School violence blamed on poverty, gangs

School violence blamed on poverty, gangs
from The Globe and Mail
Mayor's message overshadowed by stabbing at a suburban Brampton high school yesterday
TIMOTHY APPLEBY AND JOHN LORINC



This article talks about a stabbing that occurred in a middle class school in Canada. A 16 year old
boy was stabbed by a 17 year old student. The publicity this is getting worried the mayor because of how scared the parents and students would now be. He also goes to explain that the most violent areas that
really need work are the impoverished communities.

Many parents and onlookers were stating that they think it doesn’t matter where you are, violence occurs everywhere. Although this is true, the Mayor and Mr. Falconer voice their concern of the lack of effort being put into the safety measures for the 13 priority neighborhoods. The article also talks about a shooting of a 15 year old boy that led to a 1,000 page report which showed the severity of violence in the city schools. According to these results many precautions were to be put in place such as sniffer dogs, close surveillance of entrances, a profile based on safety, etc. These precautions were never put in place which makes it seem as though school violence hasn’t been a priority in these neighborhoods. This is a legitimate concern to the citizens because they feel threatened and unsafe when sending their children to school. With this insecurity comes many problems for the government, as well as the students who don’t feel comfortable attending school every day. This also worries the mayor because a lot of pressure is being put on the government to create a change, but his changes were never put in place. It could be that although he feels it necessary to make these changes in the more impoverished and violent schools, he has not taken the necessary steps to make these changes. It is obvious that these schools have not been getting the attention they need which has resulted in the escalation of school violence in these impoverished schools. I think the mayor is trying to convey that although violence does happen everywhere, it needs to be taken care of in the more prominent areas first. Although it is wrong to discriminate when looking at which area needs help, it is clear from this
article which areas have the larger issues.

This article really shows how poverty and oppression can affect school violence. This article shows that impoverished communities are high risk for violence and that these schools need to take extreme precautions to protect their students. The events that are occurring at these schools are making parents afraid to send their kids to public and city schools. The media is really emphasizing each event that occurs which isn’t making things easier. However, now that it is starting to be recognized as a problem, something needs to be done to not only help these children keep violence out of school, but how to deal with what is making them act with violence and how to deal with it when violence does occur. And although impoverished communities are statistically the higher priority, other schools need to be assisted when it comes to violence as well.

Freedom Writers: Oppression & Poverty

A perfect example of a movie that demonstrates how poverty and feelings of oppression affect school violence is “Freedom Writers.” In this movie a 23 year old teacher named Erin Gruwell takes on the challenge of teaching at a school full of gang affiliated students. These students had been written off by their school as hopeless cases but she tried to change that and get through to them by buying them new books such as Anne Frank and believing in them.

Throughout the movie many of the students situations are shown. Eva, a Hispanic girl in a gang, was at a shooting in a convenience store and knows that her boyfriend Paco killed the man in the store. Her father is in jail for gang affiliated reasons as well. Because of this, her father tells her that she needs to lie in court in order to stay loyal to the gang. If she does not do this, her and her family will no longer be protected or respected. She ends up telling the truth and when she gets to school the next day she gets beat up by the gang. She then has to move because she is not safe.

Eva was so worried about staying safe that she had no time to worry about school. All she had time to worry about was her safety and her survival which is how almost all the kids in Erin Gruwells class felt. All the kids were segregated based on gang affiliation and they all got into massive fights during school that resulted in everyone being sent home. The poverty these kids lived him forced them to join gangs to feel that they were protected and wanted. They had no other choice, especially when their families pressured them. With this in mind, they were taught to be violent in school and protect their “turf.” Although this movie shows how one teacher changed all that for one class, she couldn’t do it for the entire school which gives us as viewers a good look at what poverty can do to children.

With this in mind, the movie also contrasts poverty and middle class by placing a white middle class student in the class with these gang affiliated students. He is uncomfortable and doesn’t fit in. The gang affiliated students resent him because he is white and doesn’t live the harsh lives that they live. He is deathly afraid of all the students in his class because they are so violent. This doesn’t change until Mrs. Gruwell brings them all together.

Imagine the students who don’t have a teacher to bring them together and bring out their potential. They are just written off with no one to look after them. They stay in gangs and bring this violence to school because they know nothing else. Since no one believes in them, they find it hard to believe in themselves. Violent behavior becomes a part of their lives. They feel like this is the best they can do so they don’t try to get out. In these students minds, they do not have a choice.

Addressing School Violence Must Be Part of Education Reform

An article in the Atlanta Post (Which can also be found on their website http://www.atlantapost.com) also adds firm grounding to the claim that poverty and feelings of oppression can lead individuals to commit acts of school violence. R. L’Heureux Lewis, an assistant professor of sociology and black studies at the City College of New York – CUNY writes that citizens can not ignore social factors faced by inner city children, when talking about the United States education system as a whole.

In an opinion piece written on September 16th, 2010, Lewis states “We must remember that school is much more than just what happens inside brick and mortar buildings.” With this statement, he brings up the point that environmental and family factors , can effect what happens inside of the classroom.

In the article, Lewis mentions a meeting with African youth in Harlem who were made to watch a documentary on the civil rights movement. He stated in the article that this led to a conversation amongst the youth that not much has really changed. They began sharing experiences with each other about people they knew that were injured or killed in violent acts around their places of residence. Lewis states. “If we are to reform education, we must also work at transforming the neighborhoods that surround schools.”

The cycle is a vicious one. Individuals who are brought up in poorer neighborhoods are more likely to be subjected to this criminal behavior. Since they, nor their families, have the ability to move away from the hazards of these neighborhoods, the children become accustomed to living in such a place. These experiences can also tamper with their school life, leading them to become victims and perpetrators in acts of violence that those living in more wealthy neighborhoods may not witness.

Lewis mentions cities like Chicago and Philadelphia as ridden with crime. These inner city areas are known to house areas and neighborhoods stricken with poverty, and oppression. “Whether as a participant, being a victim of it or having to deal with the psychological trauma of witnessing it, our children remain underserved in this area.” Lewis writes. With this, he brings up an interesting notion. The psychological impact of witnessing crimes around them, may lead to further feelings of oppression, and being a prisoner in their own lives; feelings that would not necessarily manifest in those who do not live in neighborhoods where this type of crime is common. These psychological impacts to one's life may give the child or youth an increased need to lash out and in turn become a bully, or engage in other acts of violence himself in the place he or she spends most of their time; school.

Lewis' article brings up a statistic founded by the US department of Justice. It says that 87% of inner city students have been exposed to school violence in the last year. This shows that there is some correlation between the violence these students witness in their inner city neighborhoods, and that to which is being perpetrated in their schools.

As Lewis says: “Physical safety must be our concern if we are concerned with nurturing the mind .”

Link to Article

With Open Eyes I Realized

Not too long ago, I came to a realization/
That the main complication with human collaboration is lack of communication/


See, I've come to the realization that,
people are fast to talk trash, despite not knowing the whole story/
Listen to the 1st half then they ignore me/
Their minds drift as they take and twist the story/
And create the annoyance we all know, as rumors/
Then others are quick to jump to conclusions/
Seeking satisfaction in violence, such an illusion/ 'Cause see, I dont pick up a fight/
I'd rather sit down and write/
The pen is my weapon, and I know how to use it right/


'Cause see, I've come to the realization that,
Violence doesn't solve problems, it just causes retaliation/
So I say, restore pacification/
Stop the racial discriminations/
Stop the murders and assassinations/
We need to address the nation/ 'Cause it's our obligation to asses the situation/
We are the future, our generation/
The future leaders of a new civilization/


So if you understand what I say, and can agree with me/
Stand up for what you believe/
Don't let your voice be silenced/
With open eyes I've realized, that we can stop the violence/


The poem I choose was written by Christopher Amat who was a high school student in New Jersey. The poem talks about school violence as the main issue at high schools.  The main factor of school violence is causing by feeling of oppression, discrimination and racism. At his poem he called everybody to fight for their rights against injustice and to stop school violence because it not take us anywhere.

 According to him school is place that children should learn and be safely not a place of violence, death and murder. School violence is a problem that negatively affects our society and students individually. Violence happen at high schools because many students feel discriminated from the others and they are disposable to use violence. They don’t feel free to express their opinions and feelings which means that at those schools we notice lack of communication among students. They feel left aside and judged from the other students. In conclusion we all should fight for our rights but violence is not the right way. It only damage children, parents that suffer for their children and society also. This is the message that Christopher transmit to us violence should stop and we all should stand up and talk and defend our rights without permitting that the other oppress us.

Socioeconomic Status and Behavior Problems: Addressing the Context for School Safety

Socioeconomic Status and Behavior Problems:
Addressing the Context for School Safety
Michael Boroughs
Oliver T. Massey
Kathleen H. Armstrong


This summary written by Michael Boroughs, Oliver T. Massey and Kathleen H. Armstrong describes a research article on school violence and school safety and how the school environment is related to socioeconomic status or SES. Social class and poverty play an important role in our society, especially for schools in urban areas. In looking at the home life of students in urban schools, families of low SES struggle to make ends meet in paying the bills and for food. Parents often work long hours for low pay and many are not able to help their children with their homework and make sure that they stay out of trouble. Low SES families often lack stability in residential living, employment and health status which cause disruptions in the families. Schools are titled “low SES schools,” when a majority of the students in the school are from low SES families. These schools are often in execrable conditions and lacking basic learning supplies such as textbooks, updated libraries and computers.

Due to the conditions these children face, it is not surprising that achieving academic success in low SES schools is infrequent. This article explains that previous research has found that poverty is the risk factor most highly correlated with antisocial behavior as well as poor academic achievement. Children, who are struggling with these challenging conditions in the school, neighborhood and home, often turn to violence as an outlet for their problems. Violence in the school is frightening and anxiety-provoking leaving both students and teachers on-edge. This type of school environment becomes difficult for kids who try to stay out of trouble and focus on school. They likely feel anxiety that violence could erupt at any moment, making it difficult for the average child to focus in the classroom.

This research study found that low SES schools reported nearly 1,000 incidents of violence in each year of the study, totaling 3,000 in 3 years. It was also likely that the perpetrators of the violence committed more than one act. Also, low SES schools had four times the number of students carrying out violent acts. These facts show that these are not isolated incidents, but rather they reflect the typical school environment for low SES schools.

The incident rates in elementary schools are particularly shocking; low SES schools had almost 15 times the rate of incidents in comparison to high SES schools. This shows that violent behavior often begins in elementary school and that interventions should be in place to change the environment in the school and prevent these children from continuing on this path through middle school and high school. These violent conditions lead to a poorer quality of life for all students and staff and lower student academic achievement.

No child, not even the aggressive or violent one, wants to be in these conditions, but children do not have the means to fix these problems on their own. While more and more schools are attempting to implement policies in order to make schools safer, this article explains that it is especially important to develop effective interventions for low SES schools that continue to be plagued by violence.

These Deadly Times: Reconceptualizing School Violence

This article written by Ivan Watts and Nirmala Erevelles who propose a theory that teases out the causes of school violence and examines the systemic causes that are rooted in oppressive social conditions.  They explain that social, political, economic and ideological structures work together to create a violent school environment.  Urban schools are embedded in conditions of poverty and violence, where even children have to struggle for their day-to-day survival in contexts that offer little opportunity for hope and redemption.  In these chaotic school environments, behavior modifications and failed attempts by the teachers to control the class become a part of daily school life while learning is put on the back-burner.  When incidents occur, rather than getting students the help they need, they are often expelled due to zero tolerance policies, which are in about 90% of public schools.  Expulsion of the student from school leads to the student more frequently becoming associated with street violence, crime and poverty, which is likely the central to their problems in the first place. 

Children in these conditions develop a feeling of being trapped with no way out; there are rarely jobs with livable wages available and access to quality education does not exist.  Violence becomes a desperate mode of survival for these students, who have nowhere to turn.  The idea that we live in a society where everyone has access to the same opportunities is not only false, but also psychologically harmful to children who are forced to live with the feelings that they are a failure because they are unable to achieve success in this “equal” society. 

This article explains ethnographic studies of urban schools that have found that parents explicate the conditions of these schools and state that in the schools they experienced racism, lowered teacher expectations, dumbed-down curriculum and the guidance into vocational tracks rather than college.  Many teachers and school officials do not understand that children know when they are not respected and they know when teachers look down on them and this has serious effects on the self-esteem of minority students.  In is not surprising that students feel oppressed and have no outlet for these hurtful feelings and violence is often the result.  This article noted that students who attended urban schools were twice as likely to become victims of school-associated homicide. 

It is important to realize that school violence can not be separated from the social, political and economic conditions in which it is embedded.  This article explains that these conditions are considered to be “socially toxic,” with the toxins being community violence, child abuse, domestic violence, family disruption, poverty, despair, depression and rejection.  An important model is noted called “an accumulation of risk model,” which explains that children are capable of dealing with social pressures until they reach a saturation point, at which they become violent and disruptive.  Children in urban areas are resilient, but one can only take so much stress before they begin to act out; these children need loving support and they deserve the same opportunities available to middle-class white students.