History says school violence was much higher in past

An article in today's (October 14, 2009) Philadelphia

Inquirer reports that in 1870 four boys assaulted a

teacher so badly with rocks that she died a few days

later.

Apparently, according to the article, hard though it is

to believe, it was common for older boys to face off

against their teachers who then used sticks, rulers,

and paddles and often drew blood and, even on

occasion, permanent injury. There are numerous

reports of students fighting back when the teachers

were violent, drunk, or power hungry perhaps.

But what is even more interesting is that as the

one-room school disappeared and larger schools

became common, a new phenomenon arose: gangs.

In the 1950s, gangs roamed the hallways and

attacked other students or other gang members.

School violence jumped upwards in the 1960s and

1970s. In the early 1990s a third of students

reported carrying weapons within the last 30 days.

Most forms of violence in schools has dropped

considerably. While not mentioned in the article,

weapon detectors and zero tolerance policies have

probably been responsible for a portion of that drop.

Most of the students who die at or near school today

are killed with guns.

But the bottom line is that the "Good old days"

were nowhere near what we thought they were.