In Context: 5 Web Perspectives On A Story In The News

Student violence against teachers

(Xinhua) A student stabbed a professor to death in China yesterday. Cheng Chunming, a law professor at the prestigious China University of Political Science and Law, was about to begin class when a 22-year-old student burst into the classroom and attacked him with a kitchen knife. Chunming died en route to the hospital and the alleged attacker was taken into custody. This is the third case of similar attacks this month in China: on October 4, a middle school teacher was stabbed to death by a 16-year-old student in class, and on October 21, a teacher was strangled to death by a 16-year-old student when she went to his house to investigate his absence from class. A Chinese education official said the government should work with educational employees to guarantee the safety of teachers and encourage tighter security in class.

1.

1969 TIME report about school violence

Time
This archived article from TIME Magazine was printed on Nov. 14, 1969, but its message of violence against teachers is still applicable today. Despite certain outdated and racist suggestions, such as the idea that school violence is a result of “racial desegregation”, it mentions some problems that exist today. It says violence against teachers is on the rise, especially in junior high schools, where teachers have to deal with “the most combustible years of adolescence.” The article mocks new security measures, such as special lighting and alarms, saying they enforce inauthentic discipline and an atmosphere that’s not conducive to learning. The article suggests the best way to deal with violence against teachers is to remove violent students from schools and provide them with care and rehabilitation. This article shows that this has been an issue for at least 40 years and proper steps have not been taken to remedy the problem.

2.

Texas teachers bring guns to school

The New York Times
A school in Texas with only 100 students took a new approach to violence against teachers: allowing teachers to bring concealed weapons to class. This New York Times article has photos of the tiny school that drew national attention and a map of the school’s location. The governor of Texas endorsed the idea. But even in Texas, where gun laws are quite lenient, there has been heated debate about the issue. A second link is to a seven-minute YouTube clip from Fox News. The host spoke with David Thweatt, the superintendent of Harrold Independent School District, who says guns in class are a measure of protection for students and teachers. The clip also features Gayle Fallon from the Houston Federation of Teachers who says there’s a likelihood of accidental death.

3.

Youth violence prevention resources

Safe Youth
This website is an extensive resource for information on youth violence prevention. The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center is sponsored by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It links to many articles about school violence, including statistical reports, federal data sources, and an article specifically about violence against teachers. It says that on average, in each year from 1996 to 2000, 28 out of every 1,000 teachers were victims of violent crime at school. The site also has fact sheets about school violence and a long list of external resources for teachers and school boards.

4.

Youth violence in Canada

Safe Canada
This site, which is sponsored by the Canadian government, has many external links to resources specifically for Canadians and has guides to “Safe and Caring” schools for many provinces. There is an interesting link to a fact sheet entitled “Youth and Violence” which is an overview of violence perpetrated by young people in Canada. It lists the forms violence can take and cites how widespread the problem is with statistics. There is also an in-depth section about risk factors for youth, especially males. A subsection entitled “What You Can Do and Where You Can Go for Help” has resources for teachers and counsellors as well as students and parents.

5.

Google map of international school shootings

Mibazaar
This website has a Google map of recent worldwide school shootings. The site is hosted by a blogger called “Mibazaar,” whose blog seems to focus extensively on the use of Google maps. The source for information on the shootings is listed as being primarily from infoplease.com. There are 57 flags on the map, each of which has the location of the shooting, the source, the date the crime occurred, how many victims there were in each crime, and who the perpetrator was. The map has the most information about shootings in the U.S. , with the majority of flags grouped in the eastern states.