School Safety by Management and Design Videoconference

• NCJ Number: 191278
• Date Published: October 2001
• Length: 0 pages
• Publication Series: OJJDP Teleconference Videotapes
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This video conference discusses and describes, through a panel of experts the work being done under the Hamilton Fish Institute and its comprehensive program for school violence prevention.

Abstract

The Hamilton Fish Institute, a George Washington University project is a community-university partnership. Seven universities established partnerships with the Institute to formulate strategies to reduce violence in schools. The Institute is a national resource on school violence, determining the validity of school violence programs. Through a panel of experts, this video conference discusses and reviews the work that the Institute and its partnerships are undertaking in school safety, as well as evaluations of some of these projects. The goal of the video conference was to see what could and what was being done to make schools safer for learning. The Hamilton Fish Institute recommends a whole school approach in reducing violence. It recommends incorporating the administration, staff, parents and students, as well as the corporate community. It recommends raising self-esteem and lowering acts of aggression, intensifying behavioral intervention and establishing a collaborative plan in which they can use. A national evaluation conducted by one of the seven partnerships, the Morehouse School of Medicine Project in Atlanta, GA showed a significant reduction in the motivation to fight and an unexpected result in their becoming victims of violence/aggression. Other partnership projects in collaboration with the Institute reviewed and discussed included: Eastern Kentucky University Project, the Safer Schools Project, and the Schools without Walls Project in Washington, DC. The absolute first step that must be undertaken before beginning the development of a school safety program or intervention was identified as the “school risk or threat assessment.” However, it was pointed out that these assessments must be tailored to each school and its individual environment.