NCJ Number
188158
Journal
Juvenile Justice Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 1-40
Editor(s)
Eileen M. Garry
Date Published
June 2001
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This journal presents three articles that examine the extent and nature of school violence and review promising approaches to creating safe schools and resolving conflicts peacefully; the journal also describes other resources related to these issues.
Abstract
An overview of school violence notes that assessing school safety involves many factors and uses data from several studies to discuss how much crime and what kinds of crimes are occurring in the country’s schools. The analysis also considers whether schools are more or less safe than in the past and whether students feel safe at school. An article on ways to create safe schools emphasizes that safe schools require board-based efforts on the part of the entire community, including educators, students, parents, law enforcement agencies, businesses, and faith-based organizations. It lists 10 essential components of safe school planning, including creating schoolwide prevention and intervention strategies, developing emergency response planning, developing school policies and understanding of legal considerations, and creating a positive school climate. It concludes that comprehensive safe school planning will not eliminate all campus violence, but it will promote a safer setting for students and teachers if properly conceived and implemented. A discussion of education on conflict resolution explains four approaches to this form of education: process curriculum, mediation program, peaceable classroom, and peaceable school. Figures, tables, photographs, chapter reference lists, list of publications from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and descriptions of publication and other resources designed to help prevent school violence and promote safe schools