NCJ Number
146768
Date Published
1993
Length
43 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes research regarding effective and ineffective approaches for achieving the sixth National Educational Goal, which states that by the year 2000, every school in the United States will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning.
Abstract
Surveys within the last 5 years reveal that although alcohol and other drug use has declined among youth, it is unacceptably high. In addition, violence, misbehavior, and a lack of engagement in learning seriously interfere with the education process in a large percentage of schools. Maintaining a disciplined environment requires principals and teachers to work together to create an atmosphere in which students and teachers are engaged in learning, where problem behavior is handled quickly and fairly, and where an ethic of caring shapes student-staff relationships. Research reveals that many of the risk factors for drug abuse and the protective factors against drug abuse are related and that prevention programs must begin in elementary schools. Successful drug prevention programs combine the teaching of resistance skills with correcting students' often-erroneous perceptions about the prevalence and acceptability of peer drug use. The most promising strategy is comprehensive and involves peer groups, families, schools, media, and community organizations and use a wide variety of approaches that provide information, develop life skills, use peer facilitators, and change community policies and norms. Coordinated school and community efforts appear promising for violence prevention. Lists of resource organizations and suggested readings