Research has established a link between the experience of trauma and school misbehavior and academic failure. Surveys show that as many as a quarter of children in rough Chicago neighborhoods have witnessed a shooting, but helping these children is proving to be difficult. Traumatized students often misbehave in school and fall behind, but many…

"Relational aggression" refers to harm within relationships caused by covert bullying or manipulative behavior. Examples include isolating a youth from his or her group of friends (social exclusion), threatening to stop talking to a friend (the silent treatment), or spreading gossip and rumors by email. This type of bullying tends to be…

Students who engage in physical aggression in school present a serious challenge to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment. Unlike other forms of student aggression, fighting is explicit, is violent, and demands attention. A fight between students in a classroom, hallway, or the lunchroom brings every other activity to a halt and…

This article illustrates how effective a threat assessment program like the Mid-Valley Student Threat Assessment (STAT) program can be in dealing with violent and threatening students. STAT is a a regional system that draws together resources from schools, mental health agencies, law enforcement bureaus, and other youth-serving organizations in…

Significant numbers of students are being pushed out of school as a result of "zero tolerance" school discipline policies. While nobody questions the need to keep schools safe, teachers, students, and parents are questioning the methods being used in pursuit of that goal. Zero tolerance policies were initially aimed at making schools safe. The…

With what seems like increasing frequency, secondary school administrators are being confronted with students' threats of violence. Unfortunately, some of the words that raise a red flag have now become part of the everyday language of many students, making it difficult to discern between the benign and the dangerous. Although all threats require…

Schools that take a tough stance against schoolyard bullying are beginning to realize how things are changing in the 21st century. Today's bullies are turning more to technology--and cyberspace--for the purpose of tormenting their victims. To some extent, it is classic bullying--but it is also bullying that takes place in a new medium that expands…

This article focuses on the three kinds of school safety: (1) physical; (2) emotional; and (3) intellectual, and details how to determine if a school is safe. Excellence in schools demands that schools be physically, emotionally, and intellectually safe for students, while "good enough" schools are simply physically safe. Here, the…