NCJ Number
163296
Journal
School Safety Dated: (Spring 1995) Pages: 24-28
Date Published
1995
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Law-related education (LRE) trains students to think critically, to solve problems, and to understand legal rights and responsibility, along with ways to mitigate violence.
Abstract
Most violence-prevention experts agree that there are multiple factors that lead to violent behavior in certain individuals. This article focuses on three of these factors: a lack of association with school, a failure to form meaningful attachments to other prosocial institutions or bonds with positive role models, and poor interpersonal problemsolving skills. LRE is being touted as one means of addressing these factors. A definition of LRE developed and used in Virginia by the Virginia Institute for Law and Citizenship Studies states that "LRE is instruction about rules, laws, and the legal system which actively involves students in that instruction in order to prepare students for responsible citizenship. It is instruction that teaches about legal rights, responsibilities, and the role of the citizen and requires students to practice application of that teaching to potential real-life situations." The regular inclusion of LRE in the course of instruction at various age levels will provide continuing opportunities for students to develop and practice the information-processing steps that Slaby and Guerra say that aggressive children must develop if they are to acquire nonaggressive social problemsolving skills. Further, the conflicts that characteristically surround rules and laws offer good practice in content that is hypothetical in nature, yet directly related to students' lives. This article also describes how Virginia planned and developed LRE programs for schools in the State. 18 notes