This school year there have been more than 20 fights at my school. To try and fix the problem, my school decided to take away cell phones for all students because so many recorded the fights. The violence stopped for a while, as students were in disbelief our school would do this, but it has slowly started to creep back up. Like other schools, we face many of the same problems such as, fights, vandalism, drug and alcohol abuse, and bullying. These problems continue in a cycle that work against the teachers and the students. So how can schools stop this cycle? Schools should be able to expel students easier after repeating misbehaviors. Three strikes for the same problem and they should be taken out of school.

3,900 kids under the age of 18 try their first cigarette every day in the US. It’s common for teens to experiment with drugs and alcohol in high school. Though schools offer programs like D.A.R.E to try and deter students away from drugs and alcohol not all students will listen. Peer pressure or influences from home make it hard to say no. Drugs and alcohol will not benefit the student nor the school, especially when the student becomes addicted. So what should schools do? If rehabilitation fails for the student and they are repeatedly caught with drugs and alcohol, the school should be able to remove the student before they start a chain effect.

Out of every five students more than one (20.8%) report being bullied. Bullying is one of the worst issues teenagers have to face in high school. Only 36% of kids report bullying while the rest don’t. People who are bullied are 2-9 times more likely to consider suicide than those who aren’t. Bullying is a serious problem in school and should not be taken lightly. Counseling between both the victim and the bully is definitely a step in the right direction but not a certainty in stopping it. If the bully is constantly a threat to the victim or even other students then they should be dismissed from school.

In a 2015 survey 22.6% of teens (grades 9-12) reported being in a physical fight in the past 12 months before the survey. School fights can be described as terrifying or even exciting to some students, but are absolutely unacceptable in schools. After tension builds up between two or more students over time someone breaks and succumbs to trying to damage the other person. No matter what their reasons were, they lose in the end and can only face the consequences. There are many factors that can apply to deciding what the punishments for the attacker and even the victim should be. Violence is not the answer, especially if it happens more than once by the same student.

The Zero Tolerance Policy in school would be a good system if it considered the characteristics of every student. Teens who have special needs or issues might be prone to causing trouble. Some actions are an accident or are as innocent as they look and aren’t meant to be taken seriously. The right to education is a human right everyone gets because they are human. Suspensions and expulsions should be the last act for schools if they are dealing with a troublesome student. Helping students learn are the main priority for schools, whether it be a math problem or making a difficult decision. Every student should get the chance to attain their education and learn from their mistakes, but those who try to take away their chance must learn the hard way.