Knowing the types of activity, behavior and action that falls under the heading of "school violence" builds a clear framework for a deeper understanding of the subject. School violence ranges from oral and physical bullying to fighting, homicide and suicide. While these latter types may seem more important, bullying and social rejection sometimes lead to more serious instances of school violence, as is illustrated by the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, when Seung-Hui shot and killed 32 people. PBS reveals that prior to the shootings, the troubled gunman wrote "Kill yourselves, or you will never know how the dorky kid that you publicly humiliated and spat on will come behind you and slash your throats. Kill yourselves or you will never know the hour the little kid will come in with hundreds of ammunition on his back to shoot you down."
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there were 38 cases of violent school-related deaths in students age 5 through 18 in the 2008-2009 school year. The center classified the cases as 14 suicides and 24 homicides. Similarly, the center calculates there were roughly 1.2 million nonfatal crimes committed among 12- to 18-year-old students within the same school year. Of that 1.2 million, 629,800 were violent crimes, while 619,000 cases were theft, which could possibly lead to further violence. Twenty-five percent of public schools reported regular student bullying taking place in the 2007-2008 school year.
Unfortunately, it's difficult to classify and determine exactly what causes the various forms of school violence since it affects such a wide range of students. While home and school environment play large roles, so do social circumstances like popularity and bullying. School shootings are often committed by clearly mentally troubled individuals. For example, before Kip Kinkel of Springfield, Oregon ,killed two fellow students and wounded 22 others, he wrote, "I will hunt you down and put a hole in your hed. With Explosives....RIP. You must DIE" on a worksheet in Spanish class. Similarly, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine shooters, created a video for a school project about wanting to murder fellow students. Kids Health reports that students capable of school violence often bully and threaten others, obsess over violent movies and games and brag about violent acts they've either committed or want to commit.
Understanding and identifying the various causes is perhaps the best prevention method. Teachers and parents playing an active role in the students' mental development and well-being may be able to spot such violent feelings and thoughts and talk to the child or get him the help on an individual basis to improve mental stability. To help prevent violence involving weapons, some schools use metal detectors to screen students upon entry, with strict penalties for students with weapons.