Example 1 - School Violence
- In Benson County, the lives of teenagers are being disrupted by violence in their schools and homes, which prevents them from developing into healthy, productive adults. Across the U.S., schools are choosing to place security guards and metal detectors at the entrance of their buildings in order to protect children from those who would bring guns and knives into the classroom as a way to solve disputes and end escalating rivalries. We, as a community, do not think violence belongs in the schools. Our children should not fear for their safety in the classroom. It is essential that communities, businesses, parents, and students work together to develop an environment that is conducive to learning and free of violence.
Our vision of an education-friendly, violence-free environment includes a campus with no weapons, where teachers and students do not fear for their safety in the classroom, around the school grounds, or at school sponsored events. We see an environment of tolerance and appreciation of differences, the existence of multiple out-of-school programs in which youths and adults can engage, and support for those experiencing violence in their homes or neighborhoods. Our vision includes the involvement and support of school administrators and teachers, parents, youth, law enforcement, and other community members. Changes to the school grounds, such as additional lighting for longer hours and availability of escort services after hours, may need to be established. Community members may be recruited to act as hall monitors and conflict intervention specialists during and after school hours. Business members may be recruited to talk about leadership and success at school sponsored events and they may be encouraged to provide employment and training opportunities for appropriate students. The whole community, including social service and medical agencies, the business district, faith organizations, and civic groups, would be asked to contribute ideas about how violence could be eliminated in schools and how they, as a group, could help make that happen. We envision a school environment where youth and teachers feel safe, those experiencing violence in other contexts feel supported, and conflict can be resolved constructively. - Prior to designing an intervention to address the problem of violence in our schools, we measured the level of current violence in and around the schools and surveyed youth, teachers, and parents about their experiences of violence and feelings of safety in the school environment. The Benson County school system consists of three high schools with approximately 2600 students. We used the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), a school-based survey of risk behaviors among students in grades 9-12, as our measurement so that we could compare our results to nationwide survey results. 8% of students in our county (208 youth) reported missing 1 or more days of school during the 30 days preceding the survey because they felt unsafe at school or when traveling to or from school, which is twice the nationwide average. 12.5% of local high school students (325 youth) reported carrying some sort of weapon (e.g., gun, knife, or club) on school property during the 30 days preceding our survey, which is 50% greater than the nationwide average in 1997. 18% of students (468 youth) reported being in a physical fight on school property one or more times during the 12 months preceding the survey, as compared to the nationwide average of 14.8%. A review of police records suggests that very few incidents were reported to the police - only two violent acts were recorded in police records in the 1998-1999 school year, suggesting that violent incidents were handled within the school system, that police did not file reports or prosecute incidents, and/or that acts of violence were not brought to the attention of school officials. Both violent acts recorded by police involved teachers, one of a threatening nature and the other destruction of personal property. Open discussions at parent-teacher organizations revealed deep concern for the perceived level of violence on school grounds. Several teachers stated that they had difficulty handling conflict among students in their classrooms and had had to break up physical fights on school grounds in the past 30 days. Parents came forward to report bruising and cuts on their children from violence at school, in addition to intimidation and damage to property (e.g. slashed tires, stolen books and mobile phones)while on school property. Because of recent nationally televised incidents of gun violence in schools, many parents and teachers expressed a desire to take steps locally to prevent such incidents from happening in their communities.
- The intervention should primarily benefit the youth and teachers at our three high schools. Their safety and opportunity for educational and professional growth are our primary focus. However, other people in the community will indirectly benefit. If we are able to reduce the amount of violence in our schools and subsequently our youth and teachers are better able to focus on educational goals, parents will not have to worry about their children's safety at schools. Police will be able to attend to other duties in the community. Businesses will not have to be concerned with altercations from school overflowing into their stores and will benefit from a better educated workforce. And, hopefully, the conflict resolution skills learned and utilized by youth and teachers will spread to the greater community and it will benefit it as a whole. All of those who will benefit can be agents of change in the intervention. For example,youth could provide peer counseling and support groups and learn nonviolent conflict resolution skills. Community members and teachers can participate in out-of-school activities with local youth. Business leaders could provide training and employment opportunities to build skills and self-esteem.
- Youth, parents, and teachers will be engaged in the creation and implementation of the intervention. Through forums, surveys, and focus groups, they will be asked what they believe needs to change to promote safety in the school environment, how they might bring about change, and how they see themselves as part of that process. They will be encouraged to be part of planning groups and to provide feedback on proposed actions to reduce violence.
- Through interviews, community forums, and surveys with students, parents and teachers, we identified potential underlying causes of school violence. Additionally, we researched prior work that suggests what type of environments may encourage violent behavior.
- Potential risk factors for violence in school environments were identified by community members and youth in the personal and environmental histories of individuals and the physical environment. Youth who are neglected or physically and/or emotionally abused, have poor social skills, lack anger management and problem solving skills, do not have significant adult relationships, cannot identify future goals, and abuse alcohol and/or drugs are at increased risk for violence, both as perpetrators and victims. School environments in which teachers and administrators lack conflict resolution skills and do not enforce anti-violence policies consistently, where adequate lighting and building access are inconsistent, and few out-of-school activities are available to engage youth constructively contribute to risk for violence. The general attitude that "kids will be kids" and "fist-fights and bullying are a normal part of growing up" perpetuate a culture that accepts violence against and amongst youth.
Subsequently, the behaviors of youth, parents, teachers and administrators, police, and other community members have caused and currently maintain the problem. Violence in the schools is not only immediately detrimental to youth and teachers, but as it interrupts youth's ability to learn and forces teachers to spend a disproportionate amount of time disciplining instead of teaching, the next generation of adults are unable to fully take advantage of their educational opportunities. Law enforcement may feel they do not have the resources to prosecute all violent acts in the schools and city officials may object to increased media attention to violent incidents and rates of violence in or around school grounds, as they feel it will bring bad publicity to the community. Parents may feel uncomfortable acknowledging their own contribution to their children's behavior through modeling force as away to resolve problems or failing to provide discipline. We feel that we need to target the intervention both at the individuals level (e.g., conducting conflict resolution and anger management training with youth and faculty) and at the greater community level (e.g., challenging people's tolerance of violence among youth through public service announcements, establishing support programs among youth and business and religious organizations). - We would consider our intervention successful if the reports of violence dropped dramatically, the incidence of weapons on school grounds decreased, and students and teachers were able to report that they felt safe in and around the school grounds. Key behavioral objectives for the intervention include:
a. By the end of 2001, a school curriculum will be in place to teach conflict resolution to ninth graders.
b. By the end of 2001, teachers will be required to complete a conflict resolution training course.
c. By the end of 2001, a violent incidents report system will be instituted and records will be published in the
school and local newspaper.
d. By the end of 2003, 95% of students and teachers will agree with the statement "I feel safe in school" as
determined by survey.
e. By the end of 2003, 70% of students will have completed conflict resolution training.
- Prior research into reducing school violence suggests several types of anti-violence strategies, including ones implemented at the legislative, community, and school level. Community initiatives frequently concentrate on breaking family cycles of violence through long-term efforts with family services, and creating out-of-school programs to keep youth constructively engaged and provide them with adult role models. They may also help youth find employment opportunities to build their self-esteem and encourage the development of career and personal goals. School sponsored initiatives vary widely, from general educational improvement to targeting specific illegal or antisocial behaviors. Overall school improvement that decreases feelings of frustration and failure and emphasizes engagement, attendance, and performance increases satisfaction. Downsizing schools is another option, as it has been documented that smaller schools have fewer incidences of violence. Both prevention of violence and punishment and rehabilitation of perpetrators are combined to create a safe school environment. School sponsored policies that clearly spell out behavior expectations and implement zero tolerance policies for certain offenses (e.g.,carrying guns or knives, assaulting teachers) which will result in legal prosecution have also been used.
- We have financial support from the local United Way, limited resources from the county school district, and have applied for a grant from the Kauffman Foundation for $50,000 over three years. While we don't have a lot of financial resources to purchase prepackaged curricula, we have many parents, teachers, youth, and business members who have committed their time and energy to accomplishing our goals. Thus, our choices will largely be determined by monetary constraints.Surveying materials prior, during, and following the intervention will need to be paid for, but volunteers will conduct the surveys. Business, faith organization, and other community members will be recruited to volunteer time in out-of-school activities with youth and possibly serve as monitors.
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