How Can School Fights Affect Children?

Deaths and Injuries

• Deaths and injuries are among the most devastating effects of school fights. According to the NCES, 19 homicides of youth ages 5 to18 occurred at school during the school year spanning 2009 and 2010. The following year 11 more children were victims of homicide at school. Many more students were victims of nonfatal violence at school. According to the CDC, these injuries run the gamut from minor cuts and bruises to broken bones to serious injuries that could lead to permanent disability, such as gunshot wounds and head trauma. The NCES reports that a staggering 597,500 students between the ages 12 and18 were victims of nonfatal violence at school in 2011. Some of these nonfatal injuries were inflicted with weapons. The NCES indicates that 7 percent of students in grades seven to 12 reported being threatened or injured with a weapon, such as a gun, knife or club, on school property in 2011.

Disciplinary Action

• Children who fight in school face the prospect of serious disciplinary action. According to the NCES, schools undertook 433,800 serious disciplinary actions in the 2009 to 2010 year. Of those, 74 percent were suspensions for five days or more, 20 percent were transfers to specialized schools, and 6 percent were removals with no services for the remainder of the school year. School fights can cause children to acquire a reputation for being a discipline problem, something that can prevent them from getting admitted to good schools and colleges, make them ineligible for scholarships, disqualify them from participating in competitive sports and even prevent them from getting certain jobs. They can also cause children to develop mental, emotional and behavioral problems. According to the CDC, exposure to school violence can lead to alcohol and drug use, depression, anxiety and suicide.

Negative School Climate

• Fighting can make school an unpleasant place for students who avoid fights as well as for students who get into them. It can create a climate that makes students fearful of being attacked at school, on the way to or from school, at school-sponsored events and on the way to or from school-sponsored events. According to the NCES, 4 percent of students ages 12 to 18 reported that they were afraid or being attacked or harmed at school in 2011. That same year, 2 percent of students avoided at least one school and 5 percent avoided one or more places in school due to fear of being attacked. Avoiding school because of fights can lead to truancy, poor performance and bad grades.

Lost Learning Time

• Fighting can cost children to lose precious learning time by creating an atmosphere that is not conducive to learning, causing them to cut classes and forcing teachers to spend instructional time dealing with discipline problems. According to NCES data, 34 percent of teachers polled in the 2007 to 2008 school year agreed or strongly agreed that student misbehavior interfered with their teaching. These lost learning opportunities can never be recouped.