Office of The Surgeon General: Youth Violence

Two teenagers entered a high school in Colorado and opened fire on their classmates. The young gunmen end their lives, but not before taking the lives of fifteen students, and injuring twenty, finalizing the tragedy. In recent years we have experienced a rampage of violence in our schools. Researchers have yet to pinpoint the answer to this plague of violent disorders. The National Institute of Mental Health, and The Office of the Surgeon General have focused their research to the areas of stages of violence development, prevention and intervention, and methods of identifying the most effective treatments.

Studies by the Office of the Surgeon General have concluded that there are two paths for the materialization of youth violence. One is identified at an early age of puberty, the other in the adolescent stage. The research shows that if there is violence demonstrated in the early childhood stage of a child, the degree of violence in the child rises, as the child grows older, concluding in severe violent behavior. The group that is said to be in the early-onset group, or before puberty, is s

· In May 1998, in Onalaska, Washington, a fifteen year-old boy boards a bus with a gun and orders his girlfriend to get off the bus and took her to her home. He then dies from a self-inflicted headshot.

· In May 1998, in Fayetteville, Tennessee, an eighteen year-old honor roll student kills another teenager just days away from graduation. The teenager killed was dating the shooter's ex-girlfriend.

by the regulation of genes by the environment, which not only builds new connections but also may eliminate connections that go unused." There is enough evidence, according to the study made by NIMH, to relate that development in genetic activity should be researched further. It is not to say that the research in place should be abandoned, but that new research should be implemented with current research. Hyman also states that sometimes there is no reasonable explanation for such violent behavior among youths; and that sometimes there is no apparent negative experiences in the past of violent offenders. In these cases the questions of economic and social status, family relationship, peer influence, stability, and family history.

· In December 1997, in West Paducah, Kentucky, a fourteen-year-old is found guilty of shooting students in Heath High School. Three die and five others are wounded. The young offender is sentenced to life in prison.

· In April 1998, in Pomona, California, a fourteen-year-old boy shoots and kills two other teenagers on an elementary school basketball court.

There is much more research needed in the field of youth violence. Students, parents, school staff and the community should have a sense of safety regarding our educational institutions. There must be a reform of research programs in order to combined those programs that are successful with new programs. The government should be more involved with the allocation of funding, and drop the grants from programs that have sown little or no effect on finding an answer to detecting, preventing, and treatment of youth violence. Only then can our kids feel secured in our schools.

· In October 1997, in Pearl, Mississippi, another sixteen year-old shoots nine students, two of them die including the shooter's ex-girlfriend. The shooter's mother is also found shot in her home. The youth is sentence to life in prison, and other students could be found guilty of accessory.

· In May 1998, in St. Charles, Montana, police intervene when information was found on three six-graders that had a "hit list" and plans to kill students on the last day of school during a false fire alarm.

Since 1997, we have experience such an explosion of school violence that parents, teachers, and community leaders are wondering whether or no is safe to send our children to school. The following are accounts of school violence as reported by ABC News:

· In June 1998, in Richmond, Virginia, a teacher and a guidance counselor are shot and wounded in the hallway.

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