offenders take place in the violent incidents to fit into a crowd and do not think about the repercussions (Baker 33). Peer pressure is the fastest growing factor contributing to school violence (Gerson 46). Another factor that has been found to contributing to violence occurring in schools is drugs and alcohol. When investigated, prevention groups found no variation in the convenience for students to access drugs and alcohol (Kipnis 73). Students with different family incomes, location, and different ethnic backgrounds had the same access (Kipnis 74). In the last two years the consumption of alcohol during a school violence incident has increased thirty-nine percent (Futrell 6). Society believes that violence occurs only in bad neighborhoods; this is false (Gerson 39). School violence has been found in all neighborhoods. In rural neighborhoods, school violence occurs ten percent of the time, occurs thirty percent in suburban schools, and occurs sixty percent in urban schools (Kipnis 69). Violence is also occurring at all school levels. It has been found that thirty percent of the violence occurs in elementary schools and seventy percent of the time occurs in secondary schools (Kipnis 70). School violence has also been found to occur more in males than females. Males are the victims of school violence eighty-three percent of the time and are the offenders ninety-four percent (Kipnis 4).With violence in schools rising, teachers and parents need to know what to look for in a violent offender. It has been shown that many violent offenders have the same characteristics and give many warning signs, but they go unnoticed (Baker 41). Characteristics that teachers and parents should look for in children are persistent disregard for or refusal to follow rules, lack of interest in school, absence of age-appropriate anger control skills, depression or mood swings, artwork or writing that is bleak or violent or that depicts isolati...
