Violence at School: How can we deal with this problem?

A survey released by Jornal do Comércio in April this year brought frightening numbers. Monitoring carried out in 25 schools in Porto Alegre (RS), over two years, detected that 42% of students assumed they had already suffered some type of aggression at school and 79% said they had been the target of some type of aggression. discrimination.

Data were collected by the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Flacso) and the State Department of Education (Seduc RS). What is most shocking is that this reality, although recorded in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, is not restricted to it and spreads across all Brazilian states.

A recent article published by Portal G1 indicates that the rate of aggression against teachers in public schools in São Paulo, this year, is the highest since 2014. In the first quarter alone, 64 cases had already been registered. Considering the same period in 2014, the number was 51. Throughout last year, there were 251 occurrences.

Faced with this terrible picture, the question remains: how can institutions deal with the problem of school violence?

What are the types of school violence?

In October 2017, Brazil was surprised by the sad news of a student at a private school in Goiânia who opened fire on classmates. Two died and three were injured. One of the colleagues ended up paraplegic. The young man was arrested and is being held in a specialized center for juvenile offenders.

This type of episode means that, when talking about school violence, the first factors we point out are the use of weapons and physical aggression. But the case leads us to another type of problem, bullying, also considered a type of violence at school. In addition to it, racism and intolerance must be included in the list, as well as robberies carried out in the surroundings.

Let’s see how the types of school violence are classified:

• Physical violence: physical aggression, properly speaking, such as hitting classmates and teachers, beatings and extreme cases, such as the use of weapons
• symbolic violence: when both colleagues and the school itself promote indifference to their student and work capacity. Most of the time, this violence is caused by social issues.
• domestic violence: yes, physical, verbal and psychological aggressions perpetrated by family members are part of school violence. This is because its reflections are felt in the school environment and can have serious consequences.
• violence against property: depredation of the physical structure of the school, including furniture and buildings

The four types can also be grouped into three larger groups, namely violence against the school (depredation of property and devaluation of the teacher), violence at school (institution as exclusionary in cases of sexual orientation, gender, race and social classes) and violence at school (relationship between student-student and student teacher).

The very distinction between the types of violence helps us to understand what leads a student or the teacher to commit violent acts. There are several factors that trigger violence, such as social inequality, career devaluation, family structure, emotional conditions of the student, intolerance and bullying.

How can the school deal with school violence?

There is no magic formula to end the problem of school violence. However, some strategies can and should be adopted in order to combat this sad reality.

Beware of generalization

The first step is for the school not to generalize the root of the problem. It is not prudent to consider that the main cause of school violence is bullying or that, as an institution of needy community, the chances of receiving transgressing students are greater (extreme example of intolerance and prejudice).

The school, which plays an important social role, must remain open to dialogue with students and the entire school community. This is the so-called democratic management, in which the institution builds the rules that govern the school in a shared way with those who are, in fact, involved in them. It is the best form of problem recognition and detection.

talk to students

In a group of students, there is always the quietest one, who keeps his head down or isolates himself from the others. The big mistake is to think that this is a characteristic of each one when, in fact, this type of behavior can hide a big problem. Therefore, it is important for teachers and directors to be aware.

As professionals in direct contact with students, it is necessary for them to observe changes in behavior. From then on, try to talk to the student, gaining the confidence that they don't always get at home. At the first sign that something needs to be addressed, the next step is to contact the parents.

Interaction with the family

Once again, we mentioned the importance of the school's contact with the students' families. This applies both to reporting a problem that is happening at the institution or even to detecting whether, in fact, something is happening in the child's or adolescent's own family environment.

The premise that those who grow up with violence tend to reproduce it is very valid. The tendency is for students to discount what they receive outside of school on a colleague or teacher. Therefore, investigating the roots of extreme behavior is essential to combat it, making the school a healthy environment.

Awareness

Does your student suffer some type of violence at home and, therefore, reproduce it at school? Maybe it's time to guide the family to seek professional help. In the same way, if the problem is at school, it is time to work on the issue together with the team and other students in order to solve it.

Lectures, parent-teacher meetings, as well as training events are true allies. The discussion of ideas can help the injured student to become aware of his own value, the family to analyze the consequences of their actions and the aggressor to self-criticize his actions.

Such integration finds support in constitutional provisions, such as the Statute of Children and Adolescents and the Law of Guidelines and Bases of Education. The Federal Constitution, then, establishes the need to integrate family, society, community and State in the educational process, protecting students against violence, cruelty and oppression.

The joint work brings favorable results from the moment when all the fight against violence started at school is continued at home. Together, parents and educators must ensure the physical and moral integrity of students. The approximation between the two formative pillars makes the school community safer.

Effective school actions

Within the aforementioned context, schools can organize effective actions to combat violence in schools, such as:

• policing for the control and prevention of robberies in the surroundings (after all, violence does not only happen inside schools)
• constant supervision in classes and free environments, such as patio, court and canteen
• establish strategies that combat abuse, such as courses, lectures, conferences, suggestion boxes and values ​​education materials
• identification of cases of aggression for further action

Effective actions at home

Parents, in turn, should complement the actions carried out at school. The communication and transmission of values ​​with children are fundamental in the fight against school violence, combined with aspects such as:

• maintain an open dialogue with the children
• attention to behavior changes
• interest in their children's lives, trying to find out who they spend time with, what they play with, what they read and what they do in their free time
• determine rules and limits for certain actions
• educate them to live in community

The problem of school violence affects everyone and, therefore, it is the responsibility of the entire community to extinguish the problem. Therefore, the integration between school and community, especially families, is of paramount importance in building a truly educational environment.