Ayaz Ali - Assignment 7A

Assignment 7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

1. Safety in schools should be made more of an emphasis throughout the country.

2.

• Who: School workers and students
• What: School safety has became a big problem in the country.
• Why: Many people have been bringing in weapons and causing problems with ease into                      schools and something has to be done.

3.

• Testing the who: I believe everyone in my current 'who' share the need.
• Testing the what:  What are common safety issues in schools? Who is mainly affected by school safety? Why has nothing been done yet?
• Testing the why: Do you agree with my hypothesis? Are schools really that dangerous? Who is to blame for this issue?

4. 

• 1st Interview: My first interview was my roommate Ronny. I asked him the original questions starting with: 
• Question: Do you believe this issue exists?
• Response: "Yes, I believe this is a big problem in our country today. It seems every day on the news we are hearing about some fight, shooting, or criminal act in our schools. Something should be done."
• Question: Why do you believe this issue exists? 
• Response: "I believe this issue exists because people can easily do what they want in schools it seems like. Someone walks in with a gun and can open fire, while another student can go in and start a fight with another student and possibly seriously injure someone. "
• Question: Who do you think can make a change:
• Response: "Administrators as well as school security guards can do a better job of being more aware around campus as well as having checks for security reasons."
• 2nd Interview: Second, I interviewed my neighbor, Will. The interview went as followed:
• Question: Do you believe this issue exists? 
• Response: "Absolutely, school violence is becoming scary and someone has to do something. It should start with the banning of firearms."
• Question: What do you believe is the biggest issue regarding school safety?
• Response: "Guns. School fights and other issues happen, but there is only so much people can do to stop these things. Guns are one thing that should not even be close to any school campuses."
• Question: Could this issue get worse?
• Response: "Yes of course. We are losing lives every day in schools. How can we send our family members to get an education while their lives are at risk. Every year it seems violence in schools gets worse and worse, and unless something is done, it will only get more terrible."
• 3rd Interview: My third interview was with my mom, who is a school teacher.
• Question: Do you feel safe at school?
• Response: "For the most part, yes. You would never think it could happen to you, but it could. I see how light my school security takes their jobs at times and it is scary. Sometimes they do not even lift their heads up when people are walking in, and one of these days a criminal could just walk in."
• Question: What do you think should be changed first?
• Response: "Students should get stricter punishments for fighting and doing bad things. Many realize they will get suspended for a few days and be right back in causing issues."
• Question: How many fights have you witnessed?
• Response: "In my 6 years of teaching, I have witnessed about 20 fights. It is unbelievable that students can be so ruthless with each other and fight over such little things. Of course they are young, but they must learn how to act.
• 4th Interview: The fourth interview I conducted was with my friend, Zak. 
• Question: Do you believe school violence is as big as I am making it sound?
• Response:"Yes and no. Personally I see why everyone is concerned about it, and it is becoming a huge issue. Personally, I have not witnessed anything crazy in my school years, so honestly I am split about the topic."
• Question: Would it make you feel different if it happened to your school?
• Response: "Of course it would. Knowing that my best friends and of course myself could be losing our lives at school is scary, very scary. Luckily, I have not witnessed or been apart of any of these things. It would completely change my mindset on the topic if it happened to me or someone I knew."
• 5th Interview: The last interview was conducted with another friend Nico.
• Question: Do you believe school violence exists? If so, how largely should the topic be talked about?
• Response: "I definitely believe school violence exists. In middle school I saw a school bully pick up and slam another student in the concrete 6 times. Why did he do it? Nobody knows. The fact that these kids can be so dangerous is crazy. In that case, security did not even show up for about 10 minutes." It is such a huge issue and it is sad to imagine you own kids going to school and not feeling safe or comfortable in their learning environment."
• Question: How can improvements be made?
• Response: "Students should be punished harsher for sure, and security guards and administrators have to do a better job of stopping issues like fights. We need students to feel safe at school."
• Question: Who do you think is responsible for school violence?
• "Many students tend to pick on the quiet kids in order to feel dominant. It seems many bullies try to make it known that they are mean and are not afraid of anyone including older teachers or guards."

5. Before interviewing any of these people, I was expecting to hear many responses based on school shootings. While a few did bring up the issue of school shootings, many brought up the issue of fighting in schools. I did not really think about it, but I myself have witnessed many school fights and many of the kids in schools have been injured. I cannot imagine as a parent hearing about your kid getting jumped or beat up in a fight, and it makes it scary knowing the environment of school nowadays. I guess there are many things that must be fixed in regards to school safety, but maybe it starts with not shootings, but issues within the schools like fighting or children causing havoc and bringing other weapons. The point is that something has to change very soon.