NCJ Number
185500
Date Published
2000
Length
15 pages
Annotation
It is essential that school administrators, teachers, parents, and community members work together to prevent school violence; specific interventions to reduce violence in American schools are noted.
Abstract
Violence continues to be the most difficult problem facing American schools today. School violence is relatively widespread and affects every segment of society since schools are intimately connected with their local communities. School violence is preventable, but no single program, person, or approach can prevent such violence because no single factor is the sole cause. Both students and teachers are victims of school violence, and students in elementary school are much more likely to be victims of violence than students in middle and high school. School violence is explained in terms of discipline problems, and consideration is paid to the impact of school violence, the prediction of school violence, perceptions of school violence, and practical interventions. The practical interventions include administrative, teacher, curriculum, community, legal, physical, security personnel, student, and parent interventions. Suggestions for school counselors are offered that emphasize individual, small and large group counseling, peer facilitator training, consultation, and coordination of counseling services. Three recommendations are offered to help school counselors prevent violence: (1) Identify the school principal's priorities; (2) Develop a comprehensive developmental counseling plan; and (3) Involve as many teachers, students, parents, community members, and school administrators as possible in developing a guidance committee. 16 references and 2 tables