Custom «Rate of Violence in School and Work Place » Essay Paper Sample

Violence in the school has been on the rise, schools are no longer immune to the violence that is spread out throughout the society. A lot of crimes are committed every year in or near many learning institutions. Violence in school has become a major concern in local and state elections. Some countries like the United States have even gone to the extent of deploying city cops in public schools which cost a lot of money. The appalling thing is that the school crimes have grown more violent and the executors are school children. Miloudi (2009) argued that two out of five teachers have been assaulted in the classrooms in Wales. Grunbaum, J. et al. (2004) showed that 17.1% of high school students took a weapon to school and this had led to so many violent cases. School shootings which have been occurring frequently have raised serious concerns about children's safety. School violence encompasses bullying, threats, online bullying, physical assaults, sexual offences and emotional and physical abuse among others. All these types of violence are brought about by many factors.

The first cause of school violence is the media, watching violence incidents and scenes in T.Vs, Internet and other entertainment media have led to violence. Most violent incidents occur in children and youth programs and this occurrence has a direct impact on violence levels. Viewing violent media is a risk factor of violent behavior in learning institutions since it leads to aggressive thought and behaviors. Ybarra et al (2008) positively linked the internet and other media violence with aggressive actions among the youth. The second cause is the community environment. Children and youth who are exposed to violence on a daily basis tend to adopt such behaviors. Domestic violence has also been a common problem and looking up to dysfunctional parents has emotionally affected the children leading to them being violent in schools and elsewhere. The third cause is the school environment, nowadays children form cliques which are based on race, class, performance and color among other factors, discrimination occurs from this. Children and youth who are discriminated may commit violence act because of anger which they harbor inside. A good case in point is that of Columbine high school in 1999.

Workplace violence has also been on the rise, most studies have shown that more than two million violent situations happen in the workplace every year (Germond, 2009). Workplace violent is very real and can happen anytime anywhere and everywhere. One U.S. human resource firm said that the office suicides jumped to 28% in 2008 and that the recession was partly to blame since it brought out the worst in companies (Hawthorne, 2009). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics(2010) out of the 421 workplace shootings in 2008, the total fatal injuries were 8 % and 24%(99) occurred in retail trade. Workplace shootings in manufacturing were 17. Workplace violence has become one of the major health and safety issues in modern day workplace. There have been increased cases of homicide cases in most workplaces as a result of the recession. Most employers have not been taking responsibility for this violence and they have not put up measures for minimizing workplace violence.

Workplace violence has been on the increase because of mounting pressure on the workers. This is as a result of the current economic conditions. Most workers have become devastated by the recession since they have to work hard to compensate for staff reduction. Reduced budgets and staff reductions have led to violence. These conditions lead to workplace violence and its conduciveness. The second factor that has led to the increase in violence is the rise in cases of mental illnesses. Employees with mental illnesses are usually at a higher risk of committing a violent act. The untreated and active symptoms lead to violence in the workplaces. Substance abuse among the employees has also led to workplace violence, this results from job stresses making people seek relieve from life stresses and struggles.