Text 12. School Violence

During the past decade, a number of highly publicized incidents of school violence in West Paducah, Kentucky, Jonesboro, Arkansas, Springfield, Oregon, Littleton, Colorado, and Red Lake, Minnesota, occurred, in which guns have been brought into schools and students and teachers have been killed. These incidents have left many parents, teachers, and students feeling vulnerable and concerned about school safety. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice, 12 percent of students reported carrying weapons to school for protection, 28 percent sometimes or never felt safe while at school, and 11 percent have stayed home from school or cut classes because of the fear of violence (Yell & Rozalski, 2000). Concern about the danger of weapons on school campuses has resulted in establishing zero- tolerance disciplinary policies associated with bringing weapons to school and with acts of violence. These guidelines grew out of the drug enforcement policies of the 1980s (Morrison & D’Incau, 1997). Critics of zero- tolerance policy recommend the use of a proactive approach to violence prevention instead of the current focus on punishment of offenders. Although advocates who propose the use of proactive approaches recognize a need for zero- tolerance policy for offenders who bring weapons into the schools, they stress the need to adopt other prevention programs simultaneously. Such prevention strategies may involve a three- tiered model (primary, secondary, and tertiary), with the intensity of prevention and intervention strategies increasing at each level (Dwyer, Osher, & Hoffman, 2000).

At the primary prevention level, efforts to decrease violence and aggression should target all students schoolwide and should be implemented beginning in early elementary school. One of the first steps in implementing a primary prevention program is to address the physical condition of the school building (Dwyer et al., 2000). Physical conditions associated with safety can be addressed by supervising access to the building and grounds, minimizing time in hallways, providing supervision during transition times, and working with local law enforcement to ensure that routes to and from school are safe (Dwyer et al., 2000). Effective instruction of academic material is another crucial component to any violence prevention program (Scott, Nelson, & Liaupsin, 2001). Adequate curriculum contributes to a decrease in physical, relational, and verbal aggression. For example, identification and interventions for students with learning difficulties decreases the likelihood that such students will engage in disruptive behaviors. Teaching social skills to all members of a school community is another primary prevention effort. The creation of a sense of belonging in a school community decreases risks of violence and aggression (Perry, 1999). The creation of a sense of belonging requires teachers to be trained and encouraged to show warmth and support to students, and for students to display cooperation and prosocial values. In addition, teachers should be trained to supplement strategies that decrease disruptive behaviors in the classroom, so that such behaviors do not escalate into classroom and school crises (Skiba & Peterson, 2000). Students should be taught specific social skills that involve the inclusion of others, ethical values such as fairness, respect, caring, responsibility, and citizenship, as well as conflict resolution and peer mediation skills (Perry, 1999).

At the secondary level of violence prevention, programs should be targeted toward students who are at risk for violent and antisocial behavior. At- risk students are identified through the implementation of early screening measures. Multiple gating approaches (i.e., the use of multiple screening techniques to minimize false positives and negatives) may be used to identify at- risk students (Sprague & Walker, 2000). The three gates to be screened are: teacher nominations and referrals of students exhibiting antisocial behaviors; teacher ratings of student academic and behavior skills; and a search of school, public safety, and corrections records. All school faculty members should be taught the early warning signs for violent and antisocial behavior (Dwyer et al., 2000). Students who are troubled often exhibit multiple early warning signs that, if recognized early, can help school faculty identify maladaptive behaviors and immediately design and implement interventions for them. Some warning signs include social withdrawal, low school interest and academic performance, expression of violence in writing and drawings, bullying, a history of discipline problems, and excessive anger. After a student has been identified as being at risk for violent and antisocial behavior, comprehensive early interventions that involve both school and family need to be immediately implemented. The display of potential antisocial behaviors warrants interventions designed to target them. Professionals need to be knowledgeable of empirically supported interventions for antisocial behavior. Finally, adequate early response programs should involve a tertiary tier of interventions, which are implemented when students engage in violent and antisocial behavior. All schools should have a program in place that can be implemented quickly and effectively during a time of crisis (Dwyer et al., 2000). Tertiary levels of early response should also include a zero- tolerance policy, especially when violent behavior and the risk for student safety are unable to be prevented or controlled with the aforementioned methods.

(Source: Encyclopedia of Special Education, THIRD EDITION Cecil R. Reynolds and Elaine Fletcher-Janzen, Editors, 2007)

1. Read the text.

2. Pick up the key words.

3. Divide the text into logical parts.

4. Make up an outline of the text.

5. Find the main idea in each part of the text.

6. Express the main idea of each part in one sentence.

7. Find supporting details in each part of the text.

8. Compress the text excluding the supporting details.

9. Express the main idea of the text in one sentence.

10. Write an annotation/a summary of the text using words and word combinations from your active vocabulary and sample summaries.