Strategies for Reducing Violence on the School Campus

• NCJ Number: 81581
• Author(s): B D Brooks
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 26 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Los Angeles Cty; Biola College
• Corporate Author: Biola Youth Services Project
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This handbook provides concise guidelines on strategies school administrators can use to prevent gang activity and violence on school campuses.

Abstract

The guidelines assume that educators are generally trained in the psychological viewpoint associated with the helping professions and need added guidance on security consciousness and crime prevention. Schools cannot be considered islands which lie outside the problems which confront communities. Schools in urban, suburban, and rural communities are susceptible to such problems as gang activities, gun running, drug trafficking, and other illegal activities. Educators need to be aware of the signals that precede disruption and need techniques to prevent outbreaks of violence. Among preliminary signs of the potential for violence are a sudden shift in the usual clusterings of students, student groups' attendance at school events that they do not normally attend, isolated racial fights, the sudden appearance of organized demands by students, and a disproportionate number of disciplinary actions. Further indicators of potential violence are increased incidents on buses or bus routes, warnings to administrators from nonteaching staff, parents' withdrawals of their children from school, and an increase in graffiti. Techniques which can reduce violent incidents and develop a safe school atmosphere are a parent watch along the route home, bringing parents of disruptive students to campus to help supervise, strictly enforcing rules, dealing with threats as though they were acts of violence, and getting written statements from witnesses of incidents. When a conflict is imminent or has just occurred, administrators should meet with the staff before and after school, bring school and community leadership together, try to solve the problem rather than find blame, identify the leaders, and identify outside influences. Additional recommendations and an appendix presenting a discussion of youth gang violence are provided.