Web Sites by Topic

Safe Schools and Youth Violence

Students learn best and achieve their full academic potential in a safe environment.  Statistically, schools continue to be one of the most secure places for children (www.nea.org/schoolsafety/index.html).

Violence in school ranges from verbal comments and threats to homicide.  Homicide is the second leading cause of death for persons 15 to 34 years of age and is the leading cause of death for African Americans in this age group.  In 2001, there were 29,573 firearm-related deaths and more than 2 million non-fatal, violence-related injuries (CDC 2003).  The root causes of violence among students must be addressed and effective strategies to prevent or reduce violence must be encouraged.  

FEMA for Kids teaches children how to be prepared for various types of natural other disasters.  It maintains resources for teachers and parents to assist children to be responsible citizens in school-, home-, and community-related disasters   (http://www.fema.gov/kids/teacher.htm).   

American Psychological Association (APA) describes the warning signs of youth violence at the APA Help Center (http://www.apahelpcenter.org/featuredtopics/feature.php?id=38) and the Help Center also offers information on managing traumatic stress and how to become resilient in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, and threats (http://www.apahelpcenter.org/).   

University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ (UMDNJ), University Behavioral Health Center, Office of Prevention Services and Research offers a wide variety of training sessions and training kits that promote a violence-free culture in schools.  Training sessions range from 1-day to 7-days and include anger management, adult and peer mediation, youth violence, sexually transmitted diseases, supporting LGBT students, conflict resolution, promoting resiliency in students impacted by individual or community acts of violence, and bullying prevention strategies at the individual, classroom, and school levels.  Some sessions are multicultural (e.g., Project SANKOFA) and other training sessions are designed for parents (e.g., Bye, Bye Bullying) and youth (e.g., Making Better Choices)  (http://ubhc.umdnj.edu/OPSR/programs/index.htm). 

Violence Institute conducts research into the causes, prevention, and reduction of violence and disseminates its resources.  Free publications such as Identifying and Responding to Adolescents Who May Harm Others and publications for purchase such as Sourcebook of Drug and Violence Prevention Programs for Children and Adolescents are available (http://www.umdnj.edu/vinjweb).

Center for Mental Health in Schools, UCLA, School Mental Health Project offers technical assistance, training, and a “Quick Find Online Clearinghouse” for topics such as school safety, bullying, hate crimes, resiliency, domestic violence, child abuse, and crisis management (http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu).

Preventing Violence through Education, Networking, and Technical Assistance (PREVENT) is a national training program for violence prevention and is operated by the Univ. of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center and North Carolina Institute for Public Health.  It assists individuals and organizations to build skills, develop and implement prevention programs, measure success, and sustain programs.  Training is available through regional workshops and distance learning (http://www.prevent.unc.edu).

Stories for a Culture of Peace is a multilingual and international collection of stories for children and youth in schools, youth groups, faith-based groups to talk with children about the issues of war and peace.  A discussion forum enables readers to communicate with others about the stories and general issues of a culture of peace (http://www.martinauer.net/KINDER/krieg-us/index.htm).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Violence Prevention-National Center for Injury Prevention and Control offers a fact sheet on how to prevent youth violence (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/yvfacts.htm).

U.S. Dept. of Education offers many resources on emergency and crisis planning (www.ed.gov/teachers/dev/safety/edpicks.jhtml?src=rt).  

U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools provides assistance for drug and violence prevention.  Its documents Keep My Class Safe and Drug Free (http://www.ed.gov/teachers/dev/safety/edpicks.jhtml?src=rt) and Safe and Drug Free Schools (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/edpicks.jhtml?src=rt) are available.  Spanish language resources are available.

National Education Association (NEA) has compiled programs, policies, and resources from many state affiliates to promote school safety.  A teacher’s guide in PDF is available to help students promote positive reflections and discussions about the Showtime original movie, Bang Bang You're Dead that confronts school violence (http://www.nea.org/schoolsafety/resources-schoolsafety.html).

Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) offers technical program assistance, fact sheets, and documents to prevent violence, particularly adolescent violence.  CSPV employs a multi-disciplinary approach, offering (1) the “Information House”, a collection of research literature and resources on the causes and prevention of violence, (2) technical assistance for the evaluation and development of violence prevention programs, and (3) data analysis on the causes of violence and the effectiveness of prevention and intervention programs (http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/index.html).

Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence provides information, research, and resources to make schools safe, including The Safe Schools/Health Students (SS/HS) Initiative, a comprehensive approach to youth violence prevention  (http://hamfish.org/).

Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA), University of Minnesota, School of Social Work provides research, education, and access to over 3,000 violence-related resources through its electronic clearinghouse.  Training material and streaming videos review youth violence, dating violence, and child abuse (www.mincava.umn.edu).

ACT (Adults and Children Together) Against Violence is a violence prevention project that focuses on adults who raise, care for, and teach children ages 0 to 8 years. It is designed to prevent violence by providing young children with positive role models and environments that teach nonviolent problem-solving. The project includes a wide variety of multimedia materials and training opportunities for educators stressing managing anger, resolving conflicts, preventing school bullying, and early violence prevention (http://www.actagainstviolence.org).

SERVE collaborates with other educational organizations to promote school safety as well as offers literature such as Reducing School Violence: Building a Framework of School Safety and conducts trainings (including online trainings) and evaluation services to school districts (http://www.serve.org/Syc/proarfeb01.htm).

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a criminal justice site that contains resources on reducing child abuse, bullying, and school/youth violence.  Resources include in-home parent coaching and the “Youth Violence Prevention Plan” (www.fightcrime.org). 

Educators for Social Responsibility assists educators in talking with children about war and violence, resolving crises, and countering discrimination.  Its Making a Difference resources are age-specific from early childhood through high school.  Its “Online Teacher Center” provides teaching resources on a range of issues related to international security, conflict resolution, peacemaking, violence prevention, and social responsibility. An e-newsletter is available (http://www.esrnational.org/otc/).

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Street Smart Prevention Program offers teachers and students about the effects of a wide variety of dugs used abusively (http://www.justthinktwice.com).

Conflict Resolution/Peer Mediation Project: Prevention Strategies That Work offers training in conflict resolution and peer mediation (http://www.air.org/cecp/preventionstrategies/conflict.htm).

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provides information on talking about safe schools, disasters, substance abuse, and HIV prevention (http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/schoolviolence/safeschools.asp). 

National Youth Violence Prevention Campaign focuses on teachers, counselors, students, and parents to prevent or reduce youth violence.  It offers action kits, videos, activity books, and classroom games (www.violencepreventionweek.org). 

Guidance Channel provides resources for counseling and prevention to safeguard schools and create violence-free schools (www.guidancechannel.org).

Center for the Prevention of School Violence offers a creative and comprehensive “floor plan” for whole school involvement in preventing school violence (www.ncdjjdp.org/cpsv).

SERAPH is a comprehensive resource center for security training, threat management, school safety, and security consulting needs.  It provides school safety training and consulting and research on school safety and child violence.  Its report, The State of School Safety in American Schools, was featured in the July 2005 issue of the American Counseling Association’s Counseling Today.  The report covers all aspects of school safety in the U. S., provides information on the complexity of school safety, and concludes with offering solutions to these problems (http://www.seraph.net/school_safe_report.html).