NCJ Number
190554
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 70 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 18-23
Editor(s)
John E. Ott
Date Published
August 2001
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article examined the steps communities must take in addressing school violence, prevention, planning, and practice.
Abstract
School violence is unacceptable social behavior ranging from aggression to violence that threatens or harms others, spanning a broad range of antisocial behavior. Historically, individuals who commit school violence fall into one of two groups, “insiders” or students and “outsiders” or visiting students from other schools or former students. Communities must be prepared for potential school violence from either group. However, there is no standard profile of a school violent offender. This article addressed how communities could address school violence through three steps, prevention, planning, and practice. Prevention refers to taking actions to reduce or prevent school violence, planning determines what actions to take if school violence does occur, and practice means rehearsing plans and modifying them when needed. The article concluded with the following recommendations: (1) communities must take a team approach to addressing school violence; (2) remaining well informed represents the best approach in addressing school violence; and (3) communities must take a proactive approach when addressing school violence.