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How many students are impacted by family violence?
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and also includes Freedom from Bullies Week. According to the 2000 National Crime Victimization Survey, almost 700,000 incidents of violence between partners were documented in the U.S., and thousands more went unreported.
In the past quarter century, almost 57,000 Americans were murdered by a partner. Children who witness domestic violence often grow up believing that physical cruelty in relationships is acceptable behavior, and thus they may tend to perpetuate a cycle of violence in society through bullying.
Increasingly domestic violence has become a key factor in interfering with many students' ability to learn. Concentrating on learning is difficult when a student's attention is about the violence that just happened at home, or that may happen when they come home from school.
Research has shown that many students who are victims of domestic violence often become bullies in school, thereby impacting on the learning of other students who come from nonviolent families.
How many of your students have this problem? What can you do to help them through curriculum activities?
Activity: Knowledge about domestic violence gained through a research activity can help students affected directly or indirectly to cope. This knowledge can also motivate students to join community activities designed to help reduce domestic violence.
Assign students to present a two-minute oral report that includes at least two resources from SIRS Discoverer. This could be a PowerPoint presentation where appropriate. Oral reports give students an opportunity to develop essential language arts and standards-based skills. Oral reports also promote the sharing of ideas and information, possibly leading to post-report discussion activities.
Pathfinder for resources: Click "Social Issues" icon > "Violence and Crime." Students will find two subtopics that will provide the articles and/or websites to use for this issue: "family violence" and "school violence."
Assign different types of domestic violence to each student or group of students. Here are some examples: bullying in school; bullying after school; child abuse; prevention of violence; and domestic violence against women/mothers. Use the following essential questions to guide students in selecting resources and information from these resources for their reports:
- What is this form of domestic violence and who does it affect?
- What are some causes of this violence?
- What are some ways that the school and community can help to prevent or stop this?
- What can you do to help in this effort and why?
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