Examining the Role of Parenting, Social Media, and Society in Student Aggression-Key Strategies for Preventing Bullying, Mass Shootings, and Classroom Aggression
Introduction
In recent times, there has been a noticeable rise in violence on a global scale. This increase is not limited to wars or street violence among criminals but also includes a surge in peer violence within schools.
Determining the exact cause of this phenomenon is challenging.
Before the internet era, movies and television were often blamed for promoting violence due to the diverse violent content coming from Hollywood productions. With the advent of the internet, the blame shifted from television screens to mobile phones and laptops. The rise of social media further redirected the focus onto a new culprit.
As history shows, each era has had its scapegoats for the rise in violence. The focus has always been placed on external factors rather than potentially addressing the root cause—our modern, civilized society itself.
Violence has always existed throughout human history and will likely persist until humanity reaches an advanced stage of evolution where the need for it will naturally disappear.
Why Are Children Becoming More Violent in Schools?
However, what drives children in schools today to engage in fights, insult one another based on race, religion, or gender, bully the weaker, resort to weapons, and even attack their peers and teachers?
What motivates children to record such violent acts and post them online?
Is the internet and social media to blame, or is the legal system at fault for enacting lenient firearm laws?
Are weapons manufacturers and dealers responsible for the easy accessibility of firearms?
In some countries, such as the United States, firearms can be legally purchased in supermarkets. Should they then be held accountable for school violence?
I believe that responsibility cannot be placed on a single individual or organization. Rather, society as a whole is fundamentally flawed, having transformed into one characterized by violence, intolerance, racism, and hatred toward others.
Instead of fostering values like tolerance, democracy, love, and inclusivity, people have increasingly embraced opposite moral standards. The rise of far-right ideologies can be observed on a global scale.
One only needs to turn on the television or browse the internet to see numerous examples of how far-right ideologies are gaining momentum—from America to Europe and even Asia.
Hatred toward foreigners, fueled by mass global migrations, has permeated all developed nations. It has spread from politicians to the streets and, ultimately, into schools where we raise our children.
Children naturally imitate adult behavior and attitudes as a way of feeling mature and powerful. When they witness the violence and hatred that surrounds them, they replicate it—fighting, vandalizing, and even killing.
The Alarming Rise of School Shootings
School shootings are on the rise. Even in European countries, including my own and those in the surrounding region, unimaginable tragedies have occurred.
In Serbia, a 13-year-old boy used a firearm to kill nine students and injure six others, along with killing one and wounding another school employee. Meanwhile, in Croatia, a 19-year-old teenager attacked schoolchildren with a knife, injuring three students and a teacher, and tragically killing one student.
Until recently, such events were unheard of in our region. We used to watch them with horror, believing they only happened far away in America. No one ever imagined that such violence would reach us, yet it has.
We once felt completely safe in our peaceful communities, but reality has caught up with us. Violence has infiltrated schools like a malignant tumor, destroying the peace and security of our children.
How Can We Stop This Cycle of Violence?
Children are like small sponges, absorbing everything around them. If they are surrounded by hatred—from their homes to the internet and television—they will inevitably project that hatred onto their peers.
To prevent this, we must shield our children from excessive exposure to violence and raise them with positive values. This can only be achieved if we start with ourselves and our own homes.
Children need attention, guidance, and protection from violent influences. We must talk to them, nurture them, and limit their exposure to harmful content. Most importantly, we should lead by example, as children first imitate their parents' attitudes and behaviors. If those attitudes are positive and constructive, our children will adopt them as well.
The greatest societal changes begin with one person and one home, gradually spreading throughout the community until they influence the entire society. Therefore, let us take action and strive for positive change—because the time for transformation is now.
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