How education has changed through the years Essay

How education has changed through the years - Essay Example 131). Violence has had a considerable influence on the national agenda and as such has influenced changes in education in US schools. Previously, there was a perception that even when the community was unsafe, schools offered a safe haven for children. However, since the 1990s, these perceptions have changed and schools can no longer be perceived as â€Å"islands of safety† (Elliott, Hamburg and Williams 1998, p. 254). Violence in schools was once perceived as a purely urban problem and the source of the problem was violence directed at teachers. The 1955 film Blackboard Jungle is demonstrative of this perception. In Blackboard Jungle (1955) the violence was perpetuated by juvenile delinquents in an all-male school where teachers appeared to be passive, permissive and unmotivated. The suggestion is therefore that violence in school was specific to problem boys where discipline was lacking. Therefore, violence in schools was not only predictable but could be resolved by committ ed and serious teaching and administrative staff. Moreover, school violence was geographical in nature and could easily be tempered by identifying the juveniles and expelling them from the school.