Although student school shootings of students have recently gained significant national attention, more routine forms of student violence (e.g. homicide, rape, aggravated assault, etc.) continue to plague our nation's schools and streets. These less sensational but equally harmful violent behaviors warrant appropriate response. This digest…

This digest reviews effective strategies currently used by schools to combat sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is considered any unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that interferes with the life of the target individual. Experts agree that sexual harassment is about power, not sex. A serious effort to keep a school free of sexual harassment…

This digest in Spanish describes the key elements of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). CPTED is based on the recognition that the physical environment influences human behavior. It is different from conventional security measures, which many times are based on prohibitions, in that it focuses on desired behaviors and attempts…

This digest describes the key elements of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED). CPTED is based on the recognition that the physical environment influences human behavior. It is different from conventional security measures, which many times are based on prohibitions, in that it focuses on desired behaviors and attempts to solve…

Tactics to deal with growing violence in schools have usually relied on removal of the offender by suspension or placement outside of the mainstream classroom. However, educators and psychologists are considering the prevention of violent behavior as both a more humane and cost-effective response to the problem. The relationship between school…

Tactics to deal with growing violence in schools have usually relied on removal of the offender by suspension or placement outside of the mainstream classroom. However, educators and psychologists are considering the prevention of violent behavior as both a more humane and cost-effective response to the problem. The relationship between school…

Elementary school principals are in a key position to prevent school violence. This document reviews five publications that feature strategies administrators and teachers can use to create a safe school. In "Creating Safe Environments for Learning in North Carolina's Public Schools," Tanya M. Suarez reviews the literature on school safety and…

This brief paper summarizes the current literature concerning youth aggression and violence especially risk, resilience, and prevention. It summarizes risk factors for aggression and violence including child characteristics (e.g., hyperactivity, risk-taking, emotional disturbance), home conditions (e.g., harsh and ineffective parental discipline,…

The primary cause of anxiety for many parents today is protecting their children from acts of violence at school. This brochure discusses what steps parents and school administrators can take to make schools safer. First, the brochure discusses what is being done to ensure children's safety in school, such as teaching prevention skills, providing…

This digest explores several key factors that contribute to the academic persistence and achievement of migrant high school students. The discussion draws from research on one California high school and from the literature on promoting educational success for working-class minority youth. National studies have estimated that only about half of…

Nearly 160,000 students skip school each day because of intimidation by their peers. Bullying has been a persistent problem that, with the heightened attention to school violence, has been recently recognized as a pervasive issue needing attention. Bullying can take many forms; racial discrimination and sexual harassment are examples of abuse…

Many stay-in-school programs support some individuals but do not serve the larger school population. This digest describes a project that would integrate an array of interventions for "at-risk" youth with planned organizational and curricular re-structuring activities. The project consists of 8 groups of 55 to 60 students. While the…

This digest discusses the need for troubled students to receive habilitative services instead of haphazard punishment, then outlines sources of frustration for aggressive students and stages of frustration (anxiety, stress, defensiveness, physical aggression, and tension reduction), and appropriate responses. Teachers are advised to prevent…

This monograph is written to help school administrators and policy makers, in addressing the question of safe schools, separate analytically what is "school" and what is "society" in order to better understand the real span of the school's control. The central question is: what are the characteristics of safe and effective…

In this annotated bibliography of 11 publications, 4 concern student suicide: (1) the role of the school in dealing with adolescent suicide; (2) a handbook for preventing suicide that includes warning signs and suggestions to help with the grieving process when a student suicide occurs; (3) guidelines for high school suicide prevention programs;…