Week 2: BLOG #3 Social Capital and Youth Violence in Schools

TRIANGLE
Many of the educators as well as students do not feel that school is the safest place, due to the acts of violence that has occurred in the past several years. In the video, Students Threats of Violence, the most important points that were discussed were fear, violence and improvement. Fear is caused when something negative has occurred that has shocked the nation. For instance, school shootings that have occurred make an individual feel unsafe in any given moment. Fear could also occur when there is fear vs. facts. This occurs when Facts become false based on surveys that have been taken. Violence has declined in schools within the years, but it is difficult to predict the future. Many teachers are finding a way to solve a problem before it escalates to a greater issue. Some of the students could feel safe when some issues are resolved, without future violence. There have been major improvements within the school system. This could be seen thru the education process in which new programs are developed to implement education. There have also been more improvements towards teachers and students communication that has leaded some students to build trust and confidence to some of the teachers. The zero tolerance approach has become very effective; this approach has no tolerance for fire arms including toy guns. When there are treats it is important to take them seriously because they could become an issue. Schools have good expectations for their students at the same time they want their students to achieve their goals.

SQUARE
In the reading social capital, I believe that the observations that were made are accurate because it was all based on the social life of an adolescent. I also agree that conflict resolution programs or classes could emphasize the importance of evading physically threatening situations need to be established. In the reading social capital, the authors identified social capital as social structures and relationship. Social capital is external to the individual; it has to do with their surroundings. There were several types of social capital that were identified. There was family social capital, school social capital and neighborhood social capital. From these specific capitals the authors believed that family social capital is the most important because this is where parents have an opportunity to communicate with their children and have different communication with them as well. It is important for parents to know what is going around in their child’s life, but if they don’t care, peer pressure will always become an issue. The data showed that adolescents that have a close relationship to their parents commit less violent acts because they have constant attention as well as communication.

CIRCLE
From the reading on social capital, it is important to understand that social capital does not have positive consequences in an adolescent. Adolescents who are repeatedly victimized may be prone to impulsiveness and violence toward younger children. It is important to take some of the family life factors into consideration when talking about violence, so that we can understand what is going on around teenagers and their social life. What causes an adolescent to commit violent acts towards others?