School. A place of learning, of friendship, and of joy. A place where I enjoy being and where I feel safe. This is one of the most simple equations I know; school+me=happiness. This all changes when an unknown variable is added. This variable is violence.
Starting young with violence is one of the worst things that can happen in a life. It starts a chain reaction on those around you. Making others feel that if you are allowed to do it, they can too. It is true that violence is not the answer, as I have heard so many times in my life. I made the mistake of not taking this seriously, and am ashamed of it. It has impacted not only me and my family, but also another and her family.
When in school, time is meant to be used learning, and gaining life knowledge, but when violence is introduced it makes this hard to accomplish. Not only does it make it difficult for the one person to learn, but it creates a distraction for everyone else. Being in middle school, where rumors and gossip are always flowing, stories of violence travels quickly and creates a disturbance in the intake of knowledge for all.
As adolescents, we are at an impressionable age. With violence filling the news, television shows, and books, it gives us the feeling that doing these things will have little to no consequence because of how often they occur. This is a false impression and can lead to much harm being done on others. A domino effect is created when younger children that may look up to you witness your behavior and find it suitable for them to do.
Violence is something that should definitely not be happening at school. School is needed to prepare you for life. Violence just has no place in it.