Preventing Youth Violence

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Violence is a learned behavior that can be changed. Parents, students, and school officials can take steps toward reducing violence in schools by responding to children's emotional and psychological needs and by implementing violence prevention programs.

Saftey Tips

To help prevent violence in schools, follow these tips adapted from the American Psychological Association's Teach Children to Resist Violence and from the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice's A Guide for Safe Schools: Early Warning, Timely Response.

• Give your children consistent love and attention. Every child needs a strong, loving, relationship with a parent or other adult to feel safe and secure and to develop a sense of trust.
• Children learn by example, so show your children appropriate behavior by the way you act. Settle arguments with calm words, not with yelling, hitting, slapping, or spanking. If you punish children by hitting, slapping, or spanking them, you are showing them that it is okay to hit others.
• Talk with your children about the violence they see on TV, in video games, at school, at home, or in the neighborhood. Discuss why violence exists in these contexts and what the consequences of this violence are.
• Try to keep your children from seeing too much violence: limit their TV time, and screen the programs they watch. Seeing a lot of violence can lead children to behave aggressively.
• Make sure your children do not have access to guns. If you own firearms or other weapons, unload them and lock them up separately from the bullets. Never store firearms where children can find them, even if unloaded. Also, talk with your children about how dangerous weapons can be.
• Involve your children in setting rules for appropriate behavior at home; this will help them understand why the rules should be followed. Also ask your children what they think an appropriate punishment would be if a rule were broken.
• Teach your children nonaggressive ways to solve problems by discussing problems with them, asking them to consider what might happen if they use violence to solve problems, and talking about what might happen if they solve problems without violence.
• Listen to your children and respect them. They will be more likely to listen and respect others if they are listened to and treated with respect.
• Note any disturbing behaviors in your child such as angry outbursts, excessive fighting, cruelty to animals, fire-setting, lack of friends, or alcohol/drug use. These can be signs of serious problems. Don't be afraid to get help for your child if such behaviors exist, and talk with a trusted professional in the community.

To help prevent violence in schools, follow these tips adapted from the American Psychological Association and MTV's Fight for Your Rights: take a stand against violence; the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice's A Guide for Safe Schools: Early Warning, Timely Response; and the American Journal of Preventive Medicine: Youth Violence Prevention, Descriptions and Baseline Data from 13 Evaluation Projects (Vol. 12, Number 5, Sep/Oct 1996).

• Be a role model by never physically or verbally harming, bullying, teasing, or intimidating others.
• If your friends tell you about troubling feelings or thoughts, listen well and let them know you care. Encourage them to get help from a trusted adult. If you are very concerned, talk to an adult you trust.
• When you are angry, take a few deep breaths and imagine yourself on a lake or at the beach or anywhere that makes you feel peaceful. After you are more calm, identify what is making you upset. Decide on your options for handling the problem, such as talking the problem out calmly with the people involved, avoiding the problem by staying away from certain people, or diffusing the problem by resolving to take it less seriously. After you decide what to do (or not do) and act on your decision, be sure to look back and decide if what you did helped the situation.
• Work with your school to create a process for students to safely report threats, intimidation, weapon possession, drug selling, gang activity, and vandalism.
• Help develop and participate in activities to promote understanding and respecting differences.
• Volunteer to be a mentor for younger students and/or provide tutoring for your peers.
• If you feel intensely angry, fearful, anxious, or depressed, talk about it with an adult you trust.
• Get involved in your school's violence prevention and response plan. If a plan does not exist, suggest starting one.

• Develop a comprehensive violence prevention plan that does not label or stigmatize children. Involve staff, parents, students, and members of the community in the creation and implementation of this plan.
• Create a school environment that is safe and responsive to all children. Students should be able to share their needs, fears, concerns, and anxieties, and also safely report threats.
• Ensure that opportunities exist for adults to spend quality personal time with children. A positive relationship with an adult who is available to provide support is one of the most critical factors in preventing school violence.
• Discuss safety issues openly. Schools can reduce the risk of violence by teaching children about the dangers of firearms as well as appropriate ways to resolve conflicts and express anger.
• Offer supervised, school-based before- and after-school programs that provide children with support and a range of options, such as counseling, tutoring, clubs, community service, and help with homework.
• Be prepared for a crisis or violent act. Provide in-service training for all faculty and staff to explain what to do in a crisis, including the evacuation procedure, communication plan, and how to contact help.

School-associated violence is a major concern for most Americans. Such violence not only affects the individuals involved, but also has an enormous impact on their families, the entire school population, and the community at large. School-associated violence includes nonfatal events, such as fighting, as well as deaths.

Of high school students nationwide in 1997:

• 15.0% were in one or more physical fights on school property.
• 3.5% were treated by a doctor or a nurse for injuries sustained in a fight.
• 4.0% had missed one or more days of school in the past month because they felt unsafe traveling to or from school.

From an ongoing study of school-associated violent deaths (a school-associated death is one that occurs on school property, at a school-sponsored event, or on the way to or from a school-sponsored event):

58 school-associated deaths occurred during the 1997-98 school year.

The average number of school-associated violent events with multiple victims has increased from one event per school year in 1992 to five events per year in 1998.

A Guide to Safe Schools & Creating Safe and Drug Free Schools Call the U.S. Department of Education, 1-800-USA-LEARN.

A Guide to Safe Schools
Research-based practices designed to assist school communities identify warning signs early and develop prevention, intervention and crisis response plans. Available on the web at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/earlywrn.html.

Creating Safe and Drug Free Schools
The Department of Education's action guide for creating safe, orderly, drug-free schools. Available at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/actguid/index.html.

American Psychological Association (APA)
To help youth proactively address the problem of violence, APA and MTV have teamed up to provide youth with information about identifying the warning signs of violent behavior and how to get help if they recognize these signs in themselves or their peers. Call 1-800-964-2000 or visit http://helping.apa.org/warningsigns/index.html.

Blueprints for Violence Prevention The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence
Researchers at the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSVP), supported in part by the U.S. Department of Justice and CDC, have generated descriptions of programs that met evaluation criteria for youth-violence prevention. In addition, the center provides technical assistance with these programs. Their Information House collects research literature on the causes and prevention of violence and offers topical bibliographic searches. The center offers a variety of resources from facts and statistics on youth violence to database searches on youth violence. Call 303-492-8465 or visit

Boys and Girls Clubs of America
Boys & Girls Clubs, neighborhood-based facilities designed solely for youth programs and activities, are open every day after school and on weekends when kids have free time and need positive, productive outlets. Every Club has full-time, trained youth development professionals who act as positive role models and mentors. Volunteers provide key supplementary support. The phone number for their national headquarters, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is 404-815-5700. Or visit them on the web at http://www.bgca.org

Boys Town
Boys Town is an organization that cares for troubled children-both boys and girls-and for families in crisis. The hotline staff is trained to handle calls and questions about violence and suicide. For more information, call 1-800-545-5771 or visit http://www.boystown.org. To reach their crisis hotline, call 1-800-448-3000.

Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice The Office of Justice Programs
Provides summary findings about criminal victimization, victim characteristics, and characteristics of crime. Call 202-307-0703 or go to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs.
Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice
Their web site provides on-line information, electronic interactive discussions, lists of individuals and organizations with expertise in school safety and violence prevention, and links to many resources important to developing safe schools and communities. You can reach them at 202-944-5400 or 1-888-457-1551. Their web address is http://www.air.org/cecp/default.htm

When Teens Turn Violent National Safety Council
Provides information on recognizing the signs before it is too late. Call 603-205-1121 or go to http://www.nsc.org/pubs/fsh/archive/fall99/teens.htm
Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Offers basic mental health information, details on services, and information from the Emergency Services and Disaster Relief Branch; the Child, Adolescent, and Family Branch; and the School Violence Prevention Initiative. Call 1-800-789-CMHS (2647). On the web, visit http://www.mentalhealth.org/specials/schoolviolence/index.htm or http://www.samhsa.gov/cmhs/cmhs.htm

Child Welfare League of America (CWLA)
CWLA is an association of nearly 1,000 public and not-for-profit agencies devoted to improving the lives of more than 2.5 million at-risk children and youths and their families. Member agencies are involved with prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect, and they provide various services in addition to child protection. Their phone number is 202-638-2952, and their web address is http://www.cwla.org.

Children's Defense Fund
The Children's Defense Fund provides a strong and effective voice for all children in the U.S. Their goal is to educate the nation about the needs of children and encourage investment in children before they get sick, drop out of school, suffer family breakdown, or get into trouble. Call them at 202-628-8787 or visit http://www.childrensdefense.org/index.html

Children's Safety Network (CSN) National Injury and Violence Prevention Resource Center
The CSN National Injury and Violence Prevention Resource Center provides resources and technical assistance to maternal and child health agencies and other organizations seeking to reduce unintentional injuries and violence among children and adolescents. Their phone number is 617-969-7101, ext. 2207 or visit http://www.edc.org/HHD/csn.

Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH)
Part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this division provides information on the following: adolescent health risk behaviors, including violence and unintentional injury; school health policies and programs; CDC-funded programs and research activities; funding opportunities; publications; and links to other school health sites. Visit their web site at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash. Or call 770-488-3254.

Drug Strategies
Drug Strategies is a non-profit research institute that promotes more effective approaches to the nation's drug problems and supports private and public initiatives to reduce the demand for drugs through prevention, treatment, and law enforcement. As drugs are often linked with violence, the institute has produced Safe Schools/Safe Students: A Guide to Violence Prevention Strategies, a publication that assesses more than 80 violence prevention programs created for classroom use. For more information, call 202-663-6090 or go to http://www.drugabuseprevention.com/ds.

Guide to Violence Prevention Programs ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education
Informs communities about existing violence prevention programs, including school and community programs, while also encouraging the importance of home training. Call 1-800-601-4868 or visit http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/guides/pg9.html.
Justice Information Center National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)
This service offers extensive information on criminal and juvenile justice, providing a collection of clearinghouses supporting all bureaus of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Office for Victims of Crime Resource Center. It provides information on corrections, courts, crime prevention, criminal justice, statistics, drugs and crime, international resources, juvenile justice, law enforcement, research and evaluation, and victims. For more information, call 1-800-851-3420 or 301-519-5500. TTY service for the hearing impaired is available: 1-877-712-9279 or 301-947-8374. Also visit their web site at http://www.ncjrs.org.

Keep Schools Safe
This project of the National Association of Attorneys General and the National School Boards Association provides up-to-date information on successful programs, assists communities in developing safe school plans, and provides other resources. Their web address is http://www.keepschoolssafe.org.

National Alliance for Safe Schools
Their web site, http://www.safeschools.org, promotes school safety and orderly educational environments. Their phone number is 301-935-6063.
National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect Clearinghouse
This clearinghouse is a national resource for professionals seeking information on the prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect and related child welfare issues. Call 1-800-394-3366 or 703-385-7565. Their web address is http://www.calib.com/nccanch/services/stats.htm

The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
NCIPC's web site, http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc, provides data on injury and violence epidemiology and prevention, CDC-funded programs and prevention research, funding opportunities, and links to other injury-related sites. Call NCIPC at 770-488-1506.

National Conference of State Legislatures School Health Finance Project This project provides comprehensive funding information on coordinated school health programs, including programs to address teen pregnancy, under-age alcohol use, school violence, preventive health care, HIV/AIDS education, substance abuse and mental health issues. To reach their Denver office, call 303-830-2200. For the Washington, D.C., office, call 202-624-5400. On the web, go to http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/pp/schlfund.htm

National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC)
NCPC is a private, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization whose mission is to prevent crime and build safer, more caring communities. Call 202-466-6272 or visit http://www.ncpc.org/about.htm.
National Governors' Association
Features programs on making schools safe and preparing kids for success. Their phone number is 202-624-5300; their web address is http://www.nga.org.
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
NIMH carries out educational activities and publishes and distributes research reports, press releases, fact sheets, and publications intended for researchers, health care providers, and the general public. Call 301-443-4513 or visit www.nimh.nih.gov.

National Mental Health and Education Center for Children and Families
A public service of the National Association of School Psychologists, this center provides resources for safe school programs and crisis response, and information on current issues and programs. Call 301-657-0270 or visit them on the web at http://www.naspweb.org/center/safe_schools/safeschools_resources.html.

National PTA
The National PTA helps identify effective school violence problems, find solutions, and develop action plans. Among their materials is a community violence prevention kit. Call toll-free 1-800-307-4PTA (4782) or visit http://www.pta.org/events/violprev.

National School Safety Center
Resource for information and training on school safety and violence prevention. Their phone number is 805-373-9977, and their web address is http://www.nssc1.org.
Partnership Against Violence (PAVNET)
Part of the U.S. Department of Justice, PAVNET On-line is an interagency, electronic resource that provides information about effective violence prevention initiatives. Go to http://www.pavnet.org.

SPARTA
A project of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and of CDC, SPARTA provides technical assistance and training to communities, housing authorities, law enforcement agencies, youth services organizations, and other groups. Visit this project on the web at http://www.spartasolutions.net/consulting/programs/youth.htm.

U.S. Department of Justice
Their web site, http://www.usdoj.gov, provides fact sheets and other information.