Curbing youth violence - The Young Desperadoes - Cover Story

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Jan, 1994 by Richard E. Riley

CARRYING WEAPONS, fighting in schools, gang warfare, and even homicides have become a regular part of the school day and of neighborhood life for an increasing number of students. Approximately 3,000,000 thefts and violent crimes occur on or near school grounds each year. this equates to nearly 16,000 incidents per school day, or one incident every six seconds. About one of every five high school students carries a firearm, knife, razor, club, or other weapon on a regular basis. Many carry them to school. Approximately 20% of all public school teachers reported being verbally abused, eight percent being threatened, and two percent being physically attacked during the previous year.

Violence in schools or among school-aged youth not only destroys the nation's most precious natural resource--its children--but also creates an environment where youngsters can not learn, teachers can not teach, and parents are reluctant to send their offspring to class.

Creating a supportive environment free of drugs and violence is both a challenge and a necessity. Raising the graduation rate, improving academic achievements, and ensuring the ability of American youngsters to compete in a world economy are critical to that nation's future. However, achieving these goals will be nearly impossible if schools and neighborhoods remain unsafe.

Just consider how difficult it would be for kids to learn if one of their classmates were killed in or on the way to school, if a loved teacher or administrator were slain, or if they knew that large numbers of fellow students were carrying weapons, including guns. These things do happen. For example:

* In April, 1993, three teenagers armed with a baseball bat, billy club, and buck knife burst into a high school social studies classroom in Dartmouth, Mass., and fatally stabbed a 16-year-old freshman in front of the rest of the class.

* In March, 1993, a high school student in Harlem, Ga., opened fire in a school hallway, killing one teenager and injuring another.

* In November, 1992, the principal of a grade school in Brooklyn, N.Y., was caught in a cross fire on the street while he searched for a missing pupil and as killed.

* In September, 1992, six students in Amarillo, Tex., were shot and another was trampled when a 17-year-old started shooting in a crowded hallway after a pep rally.

These incidents occurred in urban, suburban, and rural areas. They happened in rich school districts and poor ones.

Ending this epidemic of violence is not going to be an easy task. There are no simple solutions and no one program or policy that, by itself, can work. Solutions are going to take hard work and a concentrated, coordinated effort by the entire community. Every segment of the community--education, law enforcement, health, housing, businesses, clergy, youth organizations, parents, and youth--has a role to play.

Americans can not stand idly by and let violence occur in their communities and schools. There are actions that can be taken:

Federal, state, and local governments should view school safely as a priority and provide resources to combat the problem. Schools must have the training, resources, and technical assistance necessary to fight back. The Safe Schools Act submitted to Congress marks the first time Federal legislation has been introduced to help schools address this acute issue, and it clearly recognizes the link between crime and violence and obstacles to learning.

The bill would authorize $175,0000, in the first two years, with 95% of the money going where it is needed most urgently--to local educational agencies with the most serious crime, violence, and discipline problems. The could receive grants of up to $3,000,000 to plan long-term strategies, conduct community education programs, coordinate school-based activities designed to promote school safety, and develop violence prevention activities such as conflict resolution and peer mediation.

Several states and cities have established school safety as a priority and have developed resources. California had produced a planning guide that outlines a clear process to bring communities together to make their schools safer and more effective. Texas has established a statewide safety resource center that provides training, technical assistance, and materials to schools in a variety of violence prevention areas. Trenton, N.J., is one of 20 cities that have established or are in the process of establishing "safe havens" in schools where children and their families can go after hours to engage in educational, recreational, cultural, and health-related activities.

Schools and communities need a better understanding of the extend and nature of school crime and its effects on learning. The U.S. can not develop programs that serve the needs of its children without a clear idea of the problems they face. Yet, educators are reluctant to maintain data for fear that a high incidence of crime and violence will damage their school's reputation.

As part of the reauthorization of the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, The Department of Education intends to call for improved assessment of incidents of violence and drug use. It will encourage schools to work closely with agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control, in developing surveys that accurately measure what is happening in their classrooms. An interesting local system called Project SMART (School Management and Resource Teams) is used in Anaheim, Calif., and Norfold, Va. These school systems have computerized data collection. At the push of a button, administrators can determine the number and location of policy violations, offenses, and crimes committed in each school and take immediate action to combat the situation.