NCJ Number
75693
Date Published
1978
Length
7 pages
Annotation
In a 1976 address to a conference for Georgia legislators, the director of an LEAA project on school violence discussed school disruption in the U.S. and solutions to the problem.
Abstract
Interviews conducted with educators across the country as part of the LEAA Research for Better Schools study indicated that major areas for concern were attacks in schools, weapons, gangs, intruders who injure school personnel or property, racial or social intergroup clashes, vandalism, and fear of crime by students and teachers. Both parents and educators have emphasized the school crime problem for years because they are directly involved. Furthermore, statistics demonstrate that juvenile crime is increasing in both rural and urban areas. The LEAA project identified four approaches to combating school crime: security systems, counseling programs, curriculum instruction, and organizational modification. The choice of approach depends on local circumstances and capabilities. In one urban-suburban district of 10,000 to 20,000 students, vandalism was reduced when a security director used college students to monitor buildings in off hours from a single location using the public address system. Special security devices were also installed in vulnerable storage areas. A school with poor internal and community relations established a counseling program to help troubled students who were responsible for crime and vandalism. Another school, with a history of racial disturbances, created a disciplinary review board composed of students, teachers, and parents to hear appeals from students who felt they had been mistreated. In response to educators' complaints about short-term Federal grants, the LEAA study recommended a three-tiered approach. Small grants would be given to individual schools while regional centers would be established to plan programs and coordinate technical assistance. Finally, a central coordination center would identify effective practices and monitor regional and local efforts. Because of the rapid population growth of the South, crime and disorder can be expected to increase. Now is the time for the State government to talk with educators and students and then develop a plan to combat school crime.