NCJ Number
180392
Date Published
2000
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video identifies mental health issues involved in preventing and responding to violence in schools.
Abstract
The video's format consists primarily of instructive comments by school-based mental health professionals, school safety experts, school administrators, teachers, and students regarding mental health issues pertinent to preventing and responding to violence on school grounds. The video emphasizes the importance of a school's developing a broad-based plan for preventing and responding to various types of school crises. All stakeholders should be involved in the plan's development. The video outlines a violence prevention plan that consists of the following key elements: Know early warning signs; cultivate social skills in the school curriculum and extracurricular activities; develop intervention strategies; provide or access mental health services; and deal with imminent warning signs immediately. Aspects of each of these key elements of a prevention plan are examined in detail through insights and guidelines provided by experts in their fields. Commentators emphasize the importance of training teachers and students to be sensitive to early warning signs that a student is troubled. Such students must be approached by teachers and possibly referred with their families to mental health services that can be accessed through the school. The video also focuses on the aftermath of a violent incident at school, such as happened at Columbine High School in Colorado. Suggestions are offered for dealing with the trauma that inevitably occurs in the witnesses and surviving victims of a violent school incident.