Several experts shared their perspectives with The Epoch Times about the nationwide surge of violence among children in schools and the legal challenges of prosecuting minors who commit violent crimes.
Simultaneously, the number of videos popping up on social media showing students brutally attacking other students at school and on school buses seems to be increasing at a rapid pace.
Some argue that there is no increase in school violence and that it’s only being shared more often online, but there is the data showing that a large number of incidents go unreported.
The NCES report confirmed that while “some 77 percent of public schools recorded that one or more incidents of crime had taken place” during the 2019–2020 school year, “47 percent of schools reported one or more incidents of crime to sworn law enforcement.”
Of particular concern is the number of times a weapons possession incident goes unreported, as required. For example, one weapon brought to Challenger Middle School, one weapon brought to Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School, and five weapons brought to Fort Myers Middle Academy in Lee County went unreported in the 2021–2022 school year, and this was just a small number of similar unreported weapons possession incidents in the reports for the past three school years.
Student Violence and the Teacher Shortage
Cases of students assaulting teachers have also become more common.In a 2022 report by the American Psychological Association (APA), almost half of the 15,000 teachers, school psychologists, school social workers, and administrators surveyed wanted to quit or transfer jobs. More telling, the majority cited “reports of verbal or threatening victimization” and the fear of “physical violence from students” as the primary reason for that decision.
Violent Children and the Law
Wendy Patrick believes school violence has always been a significant challenge. Another challenge is how to handle minors who commit acts of violence from a legal perspective.Patrick is a San Diego County deputy district attorney who has completed over 150 trials ranging from hate crimes to first-degree murder.
“What happens on campus often ends up in court,” Patrick told The Epoch Times. “Prosecuting juveniles as adults is approached differently in different jurisdictions, but always requires an analysis of age and conduct.”
She said prosecutors must also balance whether potential penalties in adult court will appropriately reflect the seriousness of the conduct with a child’s potential for rehabilitation.
“Many of the hearings in this arena involve a battle of mental health experts discussing the fitness of the minor to be tried as an adult,” Patrick said.
California, Massachusetts, and Utah have the highest minimum age requirement, which is 12 years.
There are 23 states that have no set minimum age for which a child offender can be transferred from juvenile to adult court. Iowa and Wisconsin have the lowest set age minimum at 10 years. California’s minimum, set at 16 years, is the highest.
Greg Woods, a senior lecturer in criminology, criminal justice, and legal studies at San José State University in California, says it’s rare that a juvenile will be tried as an adult.
“Our justice system presumes juveniles are inherently salvageable,” Woods told The Epoch Times. “Therefore, if the source of school violence is a person below the age of 16, they will not likely be charged as an adult.”
What Is Causing School Violence?
Larry Dershem, an attorney and co-host of the radio program “Today with Dr. Wendy” with Patrick, says part of the reason for increased violence in schools is the breakdown of the family.Dershem—who is also practice lead at Policy Management and Consulting Group—believes another contributing factor to school violence is the teaching of critical race theory.
“I’ve studied this,” Dershem told The Epoch Times, explaining that similar efforts to divide the country were made during the ‘60s. He then noted how the tremendous strides that had been made during the civil rights movement are being systematically and intentionally dismantled.
“Every time those wounds begin to heal they reopen the wound to keep the division going and to keep us fighting,” Dershem asserted, suggesting that “critical race theory is nothing but communism and Marxism” propaganda that “should be kicked out of every school.”
Rebecca Engle is a teacher in Uvalde, Texas. On May 24, 2022, 19 children and two adults were shot and killed by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Engle, who is also part of the Uvalde Foundation for Kids and director of the Student Advisory Board, says school violence is a “nationally occurring tragedy” that is on the rise.
“This year alone we have seen a ridiculous amount of bullying incidents and school shootings,” Engle told The Epoch Times, adding that “there is a giant, emotional behavior factor missing” in the education of children these days, which she believes started during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“Kids weren’t taught how to regulate themselves emotionally for two years and they had no social communication among their peers, except for the internet,” she said. “We took their entire social life and pushed it to the side, so for two years they weren’t socialized or learning how to act in class.”
Engle said she can “see why teachers would be afraid to go back.”
Just as incidents of violence go unreported at schools, Tracy Lince is convinced that the secrecy of a child’s violent history—whether intentionally kept hidden or not—is also contributing to the escalation of school violence.
Lince said the boys that attacked her sons had been kicked out of a school in Orange County for similar conduct just three months before being transferred to her sons’ school. The attackers, held back multiple times, were much older and much bigger than her 12-year-old boys. However, she said that the school records for these boys from Orange County never transferred with them to Coconut Palm K–8 Academy in Homestead because the Orange County school “was also having issues getting the records” from a previous school.
“They obviously had issues at the prior school and prior disciplinary issues,” Lince said. “They had prior disciplinary issues with them at the other school. Of course, they don’t provide that information so I don’t know what those issues were. The principal simply told us that their prior record was ‘atrocious.’”
“Even the bus driver had issues with these boys and couldn’t keep them under control,” Lince said. “We feel this could have been prevented.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Coconut Palm K–8 Academy and Charlotte County School District Superintendent Steve Dionisio for comment.