What is school violence? What are the causes of school violence? What are the effects of theschool violence?

These questions are what

came to a persons mind when dealing with suchproblem. Many studies although differ from one another indicates that one of the factors

thatprevents the safety and acquisition of full potential of a student is school violence.One of the causes of school violence in the Philippines is

the Filipinos value of pakikisamawhic h occur in school environment when a student in the act being united with their peers ispressured to do

the same violent behavior as their peers that causes violence against there other classmates. It starts with pakikisalamuha or act of mixing

in which they acquire the sameviolent trait their peers possesses, then pakikilahok or act of joining in which they manifest thesame

violent actions that their friends do such as bullying others then pakikibagay or act of conformity with their peers in which they acquire

the negative behavior of their friends.Bullying is one of the major causes for violence in school. With the help of power, students gooff

their limits to seek fun. This 5 minutes fun can be dangerous if done in wrong sense. Bullying a person at a young age leaves disturbing

behaviour at the end. The child is no where ready toface the world at times. Adequate attention should be given by school authorities in such matters.Home

support should be there with bullied person. This is to ensure that he or she is not alone if something bad has happened.Punishi ng the bullying

person will not help. At times if the bullying person lacks in maturitythere are chances where he can go to any extent. This happens when

there is lacking of maturityin the bullying individual. If there is no sense and presence of mind in the bullying person thenhe can go in the other

direction which is unthinkable. He can react in angry manner which willresult use of power for violence. It will disturb others in different manner

which can be very hardto forget mentally. He can vent out his anger in physical manner. Discussion The effects of school violence

have been extensive. Many students stayed at home out of fear inthe late 1990s than ever before. Schools were no longer viewed as safe havens for

the nation'schildren. The increased presence of police, metal detectors, and intervention programs hasbecome daily

reminders of school violence.The thousands of students directly exposed to school violence, both the highly publicizedmultipl

e homicides and the less publicized episodes of threats and standoffs that did not lead toactual injury or death, can suffer from posttraumatic

stress disorder. This condition can causedepression, anger, and anxiety. Overall, the ability for youth to learn and for schools toeffectively teach

is greatly affected by school violence.One of the great challenges when it comes to school violence is defining what is schoolviolence?

In peoples mind even a single event of school violence is far too many. The mostlikely picture that comes to mind when talking about

school violence is the school shootingincident but what is critical to note is that not just incidents involving the firing of guns areconsidered

school violence many other issues such as verbal abuse, physical abuse by their classmates and teachers are being ignored.

According to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service of the United States, schoolviolence is any behavior that violates a schools educational

mission and vision, climate of respect or jeopardizes the intent of the school to be free of aggression against persons or property,

drugs, weapons, disruption and disorder. The definition indicates that there are manyforms of violence inside the school and

that defining school violence only in terms of shootingmeans that the problem is meant to linger.One in two school children in the Philippines

are bullied or suffer from other forms of abuseinflicted by peers or teachers, according to a study released by a child rights monitor,

PlanInternational. The abuse, on top of widespread poverty, might help explain the relatively highdropout rates in primary and secondary

schools in the country, said Britain-based PlanInternational. The group released the results of a study conducted last year on 2,442 children in58

public schools by the Philippine Womens University School of Social Work. It showed thatat "least five out of 10 children in Grades 1-3, seven

out of 10 in Grades 4-6 and six out of 10 inhigh school have experienced some kind of violence in school.The Children Against Violence

campaign was created to give you a voice in experiences of abuse and violence in schools. Forms of violence that you may experience

from peers or classmates include bullying or being tough (pagiging astig/ siga), hurting others (pananakit),and being ganged up

on (pinagkaisahan). Sometimes the abusive acts may be done by a teacher, like being beated up or mauled(pagbugb

og), being humiliated in public (ipinahiya sa publiko), or being shouted at andcursed (sinisigawan at minumura). When you feel

shame or humiliation, the act is consideredas abusive. If you have experienced violencewhether physical or inner painyou have a rightto seek safety

and change the situation.The survey of high school students by UNICEF and Plan International (2010), found that theythink: violence is part of

school life, when it happens it is their fault, violence makes them unhappy, violence makes them dislike going to school, they

prefer being talked to as a form of reprimand.Viol ence against children includes corporal punishment, bullying, sexual

harassment, emotionalabuse, peer-to-peer violence, and harassment on their way to and from schools. Verbal abuse,including

ridicule, teasing, being shouted at or cursed "is the most prevalent form of violence atall levels with male children more likely to experience

physical violence, the study said.The victims' peers, more than adults, are the perpetrators, it said. Most incidents go unreporteddue to

fear of retribution, it added. The reports also indicates that these children generally prefer a more positive form of discipline like being talked to or

corrected guided and counseled.Another study reveals that about four in 10 Filipino schoolchildren in Grades 1 to 3, and sevenout of 10

kids both in Grades 4 to 6 and high school expressed that they have experienced somekind of violence in school, in a 106page study titled

Towards a ChildFriendly EducationEnviron ment: A Baseline Study on Violence against Children in Public Schools offers abaseline

study on violence against children in the public school settings and gives insightand evidence-based information to aid legislators, media

practitioners, and the public on thesensitive topic of violence against children (VAC). The study was conducted among 6,931 childrespondents in 173

public schools nationwide. The study was also part of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the

Rights of the Child. UNICEFdefined violence against children as any act that violates childrens rights, particularly their right to

physical and mental health, security and bodily integrity.It was shown in the study that all forms of violence are happening in schools, while

acts of violence experienced by children increase in frequency as child moves up to higher grade levels.It said verbal abuse is the most prevalent

form of violence experienced by children at all schoollevels, which includes being shouted at and being cursed, ridiculed, teased, or humiliated. It

alsosaid male children are more likely to experience physical violence than female children. One of the goals of a child-friendly

school is to ensure that children are safe and healthy. As thisreport shows, many children do not feel that way. More than half of the children in the

surveyhad experienced some form of violence in school, according to former UNICEFcountry representative Vanessa Tobin.

Based on study, aside from physical violence that result ininjury, there are other violent acts such as spanking, beating, pinching or slapping, that

have beentolerated or socialized as acceptable ways to discipline childrenFormer Social Welfare and Development Secretary Dinky Soliman

reiterated the need for schools to serve as sanctuary that should provide for the integral development in a childssocializatio n process. It is in

schools where memories are made and dreams are built, she saidhowever different forms of violence have become one of the factors for

dropping out. We mustwork for a violent-free society for our children, Soliman said. They have no way to report or ask for help.

One of the most important aspects of school is to encourage children to imagine andto dream that will shape their future; but it will not happen in an

environment of fear andviolence, she added.Although our culture expects the family to deal with childhood problems, contemporary

societymakes it difficult for parents to meet all their children's needs. The current economy, for example, often demands that both parents

work; more children are raised by single parentsincluding teenage mothers; and some children are subjected by their parents to neglect

or physical, sexual, and substance abuse.Ideally, parents nurture and reinforce positive behavior. When parents fail to do so, children

maydevelop negative--and often violent-behavior patterns. In addition, neglectful or abusive familyenvironment s can inhibit the

development of communication skills; self-esteem can be seriouslydamaged. In homes where positive behavior is not the norm, exposure to

violence throughpopular culture may have a more profound impact.What all of this means is that efforts that prevent school violence must

focus on a broader definition and understanding of what constitutes school violence. Trying to prevent school

violence in terms of physical measures such as keeping guns and other weapons out of school isnot enough. Although such measures have their place,

to prevent school violence from ever occurring, a whole range of measures must be employed to address a whole range of behaviorsthat may

violate schools educational mission and climate of respect. With such approach theproblem of school violence is

likely less to linger. Summary School violence do not only pertain to a person being injured or killed inside a school premisesbut it also

includes behavior that violates the schools mission, verbal assault such humiliation,being shouted at or being cursed and being mauled or beaten

up by a teacher.Understan ding the causes of school violence is the best start in working to prevent it. While notevery incident of school violence can

necessarily be pinpointed down to one cause, there aremany preventable factors at play that lead up to these incidents. In any traumatic incident there

isalways finger pointing that goes on, but before pointing fingers and laying blame its importantto understand all of the potential causes

involved.School violence if not apprehended correctly may result from children developing major depressions, anxiety, not

attending classes thus affect their ability to learn and hone their skills,develop the students full potential and the security and safety

of the students is at stake. Conclusion I therefore conclude that, one of the causes of school violence in the Philippines find its roots onthe

Filipino value of pakikisama therefore, students must be educated at an early age that