Reflection on School Violence as a Social Issue in Germany

This article reflects on the issue of school violence in Germany, particularly in elementary schools. It discusses the contributing factors, government strategies, and the role of non-governmental organizations in addressing the issue. The article also explores the psychological and social mechanisms underlying school violence and bullying, and the importance of positive reinforcement and counselling in improving children's behaviour. The author concludes by emphasizing the need for promoting social equity, human equality, and social diversity among school children.

RUNNING HEAD: REFLECTION ON SOCIAL ISSUE
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Name of Student
Name of University
Author note

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School Violence is a major social issue Germany and is an on-going problem. It
happens greatly in the elementary German schools (Cornell, 2017). It has risen to such a level
that even the teachers has started to write to the Senate asking whether the school can be shut
down. Violence in any era, age group and sect of society is considered dangerous and
extremely unethical and it does no good to the society or to the individuals directly involved
in it. Bullying, victim-ism of these children is a great concern and it often reflects the mental
processes of the children in an early age. Eastern part of Germany has come up with more
issues, incidentally. Various previous researches have emphasized on environment
(Benbenisht et al., 2016), neighbourhood and even parenting (Georgiou, Ioannou &
Stavrinides, 2017) as contributing factors to the same. The German government have come
up with strategies and plans to stop this hazardous social issue – that is - elementary school
violence and very high levels of school dropouts (Adekeye et al., 2016). It is difficult to stop
the same because of the exceedingly high number of students taking part in both of issues.
Children are affected by bullying and they consequently get out of the situation by dropping
out. The social and the household problems in Eastern Germany still persists as the children
growing in these parts are economically weaker compared to children living in the West and
reunification play a huge role in it. Other than government taking new steps and very
innovative ones too, in stoppage of the school violence incidences and consequent school
dropouts, the non-governmental organisations has come up in numbers as well in order to
help the cause. These organisations help the children realize the importance of courage, self-
esteem and that dropping out is never an answer. They organisation provide services to stop
the middle and the elementary school violence. My research aims to understand the social
and psychological mechanisms underlying the school violence in form of bullying and others.
Before starting the research, I performed a bit of background study where i learned
about the functioning of these organisations. These institutions hold meetings and activities

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with kids, their teachers, their parents and even sometimes with the state government to help
implement their methods in reduction of school violence. While researching and collecting
data, I came to know that these bullying and violence is linked to observational learning and
has a lot to do with how they see their elders and parents behave at home. While trying to
comprehend how these organization works, I came across different positive methods in
improvement of social interaction as the strategies used. They encourage children to think of
others as their equal irrespective of race, age, gender and background etc. The organisation
attempts safe environments for the children in the school and home alike and this takes great
assistance from the teachers as well from the parents. They eliminate any chances of negative
interactions and factors prevalent in the children environment. To my interest, I found out
that these organisations function at their best when bring in societal change interventions with
behavioural reinforcement strategies in it. They reward the children with valuable things
which are of great interest to the children (Tran, 2016). While analysing the data which I
received through qualitative method by conducting interviews with the teachers, students and
children in various sessions – I interpreted that positive reinforcement actually play a great
deal in improvement of the children behaviours. Identifying the factors – both primary (which
I considered as individualistic) and secondary (which is societal) is an important step in
planning the right intervention and so far, the successful campaign has been successful
because they did the same in the very right way and synchronised manner. Interpreting the
above mentioned factors – I would like to elucidate my personal learning during the research
process that these ‘individualistic factors’ that I consider as ‘primary’ refers the child’s innate
behavioural traits and personality traits and which are least influenced by the environment but
more by the child’s nature and personal development. The secondary factor encompasses the
societal factors and these I regard as ‘secondary’ for they impact the already present ‘primary
factors’ and collective behaviours of a children group in an unique way. Collective behaviour

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rises from a fellow feeling, harmony, sharing of common ideas and values and it has be both
positive under correct circumstances and ‘aggravating’ in the adverse situations.
During the research, I understood that - as children, in their cognitive and
developmental stages, lack the sense of moral or the true meaning of ethically correct social
behaviours – it is very easy to influence them or for them to be influenced, conversely. This
can be taken into account which strategizing social care plans to minimize and eliminate the
incidences of school bullying and other forms of violence. Behavioural aggression
(Sukhodolsky et al., 2016), the proper balance between student centred and teacher centred
learning/teaching is crucial for sustenance of positive school behavioural environment
(Baeten et al., 2016). On the other hand, the second but equally vital aspect of the scenario is
how to treat or counsel the children who are being affected by these school violence
incidences such as bullying. Very importantly, I deduced from by my analysis that this
bullying has to be identified as a central problem in educational setups and as the cardinal
reason that lead to school dropouts in increasingly high numbers. Regular weekly counselling
(Sawyerr & Bagley, 2017), observation and monitoring of disruptive behaviours (Shannon &
Klassen, 2016), group mechanisms and group dynamics (Shechtman, 2017). amongst the
school children has to be undertaken seriously before the reduction strategies begin.
Throughout the period of these research, I was involved with children of different
backgrounds and realized how cultural values, family values play a critical role in cognitive
development of children and how they react and respond to the environment and societal
trigger points. Being a social psychologist, as the timeline in my research progressed forward,
I learned more implicitly about child psychology, parent psychology and interesting factors
associated with school teaching and learning. These factors can be enablers, barriers,
contributors to the social reformation that everyone is trying to foster, pertinently.

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After the research, I realized that school violence, in its very core rises from conflicts
with self-perception, self-identity and social delusions and it becomes imperative for the
teachers and the elders and everyone working towards elimination of this social issue – to
promote the understanding of social equity, human equality and social diversity amongst the
school children. School activities, academic lessons and societal campaigns should be
targeted towards the same and the basics of child caring should be taken into high
consideration and practice by the teachers and parents. I would like to incorporate the same
above mentioned points and perspectives into my practice so that I can help the similar issues
in a more effective way.
It can be concluded saying that even if we have a societal differences leading to
school violence and school dropouts so what, as we can always bridge the gaps if we work
towards the common goals in an astute manner. The research done in WRTG112 was a
worthwhile activity as it helped me reflect very insightfully about the implications of this
kind of research and underpinning of the social problems and social reforms associated with
the social issue.

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References:
Adekeye, O. A., Alao, A. A., Chenube, O. O., Adeusi, S. O., Agoha, B. E., Igbokwe, D.
O., ... & Ezinne, M. (2016). Bullying Behaviour among High School Students:
Analysis of Prevalence and Gender Differences.
Baeten, M., Dochy, F., Struyven, K., Parmentier, E., & Vanderbruggen, A. (2016). Student-
centred learning environments: an investigation into student teachers’ instructional
preferences and approaches to learning. Learning Environments Research, 19(1), 43-
62.
Benbenishty, R., Astor, R. A., Roziner, I., & Wrabel, S. L. (2016). Testing the causal links
between school climate, school violence, and school academic performance: A cross-
lagged panel autoregressive model. Educational Researcher, 45(3), 197-206.
Cornell, D. G. (2017). School violence: Fears versus facts. Routledge.
Georgiou, S. N., Ioannou, M., & Stavrinides, P. (2017). Parenting styles and bullying at
school: The mediating role of locus of control. International Journal of School &
Educational Psychology, 5(4), 226-242.
Sawyerr, A., & Bagley, C. (2017). Child sexual abuse and adolescent and adult adjustment: A
review of British and world evidence, with implications for social work, and mental
health and school counselling. Advances in applied sociology, 7(1), 1-15.
Shannon, L., & Klassen, J. (2016). Emerging mental health diagnoses and school disruption:
An examination among clinically referred children and youth. Exceptionality
Education International, 26(2), 5-20.

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Shechtman, Z. (2017). Group counseling and psychotherapy with children and adolescents:
Theory, research, and practice. Routledge.
Sukhodolsky, D. G., Smith, S. D., McCauley, S. A., Ibrahim, K., & Piasecka, J. B. (2016).
Behavioral interventions for anger, irritability, and aggression in children and
adolescents. Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology, 26(1), 58-64.
Tran, V. D. (2016). Coping Styles with Student Misbehavior as Mediators of Teachers'
Classroom Management Strategies. International Journal of Higher Education, 5(1),
1-10.