I do not know, but I appreciate your comments on this article. Anything that will give us a better understanding of the situation in our schools.
On Hit Lists, Anger Finds an Outlet
By SUSAN SAULNY
Published: March 22, 2007
CHICAGO
www.times.com
TWO teenagers in Jonesboro, Ark., were overheard at a party last month bragging about a “hit list” and their plans to take a gun to school and use it on their enemies.
The plans circulated through the high school and made their way to the sheriff. The boys, 16 and 17, were arrested two weeks ago and charged with making “terroristic threats” and possessing a stolen pistol.
No hit list was found, but in other cases at schools across the country, hit lists have fallen out of lockers, been scrawled on bathroom walls and have made the rounds like hot gossip among teenagers in Web videos and on blogs...
Islam in America - Planting a Good Tree
7 months ago
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Salaam alaikum Faraz,
Apparently, there are numerous risk factors involved in youth/school violence. Insha'Allah if we study the stats, we can create solutions to make improvements in certain categories. Here is what I found.
Individual Risk Factors:
1.History of violent victimization or involvement
2.Attention deficits, hyperactivity, or learning disorders
3.History of early aggressive behavior
4.Involvement with drugs, alcohol, or tobacco
5.Low IQ
6.Poor behavioral control
7.Deficits in social cognitive or information-processing abilities
8.High emotional distress
9.History of treatment for emotional problems
10.Antisocial beliefs and attitudes
11.Exposure to violence and conflict in the family
Family Risk Factors:
1.Authoritarian childrearing attitudes
2.Harsh, lax, or inconsistent disciplinary practices
3.Low parental involvement
4.Low emotional attachment to parents or caregivers
5.Low parental education and income
6.Parental substance abuse or criminality
7.Poor family functioning
8.Poor monitoring and supervision of children
Peer/School Risk Factors:
1.Association with delinquent peers
2.Involvement in gangs
3.Social rejection by peers
4.Lack of involvement in conventional activities
5.Poor academic performance
6.Low commitment to school and school failure
Community Risk Factors:
1.Diminished economic opportunities
2.High concentrations of poor residents
3.High level of transiency
4.High level of family disruption
5.Low levels of community participation
6.Socially disorganized neighborhoods
And of course there are risk factors blatantly found in the media including music, video games, movies, and cartoons that promote violence leading children to believe these activities are acceptable.
I hope this information helps better our understanding & we can make a POSITIVE change going foward with our children and schools insha'Allah.
Salaam
Aggression is rewarded and even encouraged in our society. At a very young age, the inclination to prey upon the “weak” i.e. anyone who does not look, dress, speak, or live according to what is considered the societal norm, is cultivated. In school, among peers, in sports and extracurricular activities, and at home, boys, especially, are groomed to be macho, hyper-masculine, misogynistic, egotists, devoid of character and a real sense of self. Their egos are nurtured and the need for physical superiority propagated, while little or no attention is paid to the developing of the mind and intellect. Violence is also a common denominator in the many forms of entertainment they enjoy.
For years, student violence and hostilities were considered an ill endemic of urban and inner city school districts. The tragedy in Columbine, Colorado and other affluent areas suggest that this belligerence in young people is not specific to the economic and socially depraved. Most recent studies conclude that bullying is the root of hostility and violent behavior exhibited in students. Being teased constantly, which often escalates to the extent of brutality, causes victims to become depressed or to develop other psychological and emotional issues. Some bullies even resort to using the internet as a means of antagonizing their peers. Why are they angry? Well, the victims that don’t become introverted, withdrawn, or suicidal, often choose to turn the tables on the banes of their youth and resort to homicide or at least have serious homicidal tendencies.
--Nasihah
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