Obviously working in a school system, I think this is one of those issues that needs to be addressed in the home. Many times the parents send them to school expecting us to "fix them", but if none of that is reinforced in the home, it doesn't matter. I remember it used to be maybe once per year there would be a fight at school. Now it is weekly if not daily. Of course back then people didn't have so many distractions and for the majority of people being a parent was something that actually took priority over finding your next partner or having a good time on a Friday night.
Yes it does for sure. The problem is, the "home" is no longer a place for real nurture it seems - just another space to sit and be entertained.
We see images of metal detectors at schools - is that common?
We don't have them at our school, but we are a pretty small country district. That being said, we have had one or two instances where a gun was brought to school. The problem with metal detectors is you spend a bunch of money to give a false sense of security. They aren't fool proof. I think in bigger city districts they probably catch a lot of stuff.