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Preventing School Violence:
Easy solutions that won't work and difficult ones that will

by James Alan Fox

Plenty can and should be done to stem the tide of school violence. Unfortunately, those policies and practices that seem to be the most attractive to many are the easy and quick fixes  bad ideas that simply won't work or may even cause more problems than they solve.  By contrast, there are several effective and lasting strategies  typically, difficult solutions that may take time, effort, and money to implement, but are the most promising in order to reduce the scourge of schoolyard bloodshed.

Easy but bad ideas for reducing school violence

Metal detectors:  Metal detectors are hardly foolproof; there are many other ways in which a student can smuggle weapons past these devices.  Besides, a vengeful student can still kill his victims in the school yard (like in Jonesboro, Arkansas) or even on the bus.   Even worse, the presence of metal detectors may lull concerned teachers and parents into believing falsely that guns are no longer a problem at school.

Say "no" to knapsacks:  Some schools are banning all but mesh bookbags so that weapons are visible.  And one school district in Florida has decided to provide all students with two sets of books, one for school and one for home.  What's next -- strip searches?

More cops in the halls:  President Clinton wants to spend millions on providing the schools with armed security patrols.  Besides the fact that Columbine High School had one, this would make schools seem more like armed camps and would increase levels of fear and anxiety to the point where learning becomes impossible. 

"Katie bar the door":  A number of schools have decided to lock all school entrances and exits in order to limit access.  A new school construction project near me has been modified to eliminate doors altogether.  I shudder to think what might happen should a fire occur or even students attempt to flea from a student who does start shooting.

Arm the faculty:  The National Rifle Association as well as a number of political and civic leaders are proposing concealed weapons for teachers and administrators.  This will surely backfire.  Rather than a deterrent, it could encourage an angry student to shoot it out with the faculty.  The same policy might even prompt an irate and frustrated teacher to use a gun, rather than a verbal reprimand, on a belligerent student.  Marksmanship in schools is about A's and B's, not guns and ammo.

Observe telltale warning signs and respond aggressively:  There are plenty of warning signs which are, however, only clear after the fact.  Hindsight is 20/20.  Using one of several publicized lists of red flags would identify hundreds of thousands of would-be shooters, well over 99% of whom wouldn't harm anyone.  In fact, targeting these "misfits" or "social outcasts" could backfire by further singling them out in a negative way.  They would feel, "Not only are the students against me, but so are the teachers and the principal."

Employ zero-tolerance for threats and weapons:  Applied rigidly, zero tolerance policies have resulted in the suspension of elementary school children in Georgia for making a list of people they wanted to hurt (including the Spice Girls and Barney, the Purple Dinosaur), a girl in Utah who brought the wrong lunch bag to school which contained an apple and a peering knife, and a second grader in Maryland who made a gun out of constrction paper.  Zero ignorance and a rational level of tolerance make far greater sense in practice.

School Uniforms:  Although there may be a short-term effect (known as the "Hawthorne effect"), in the long-run school uniforms simply don't work.  If kids have the desire to identify their tastes and cliques through apparel, they can always resort to hair styles, tatoos, or other means of distinguishing themselves.  Of course, banning black trench coats, as has been proposed, would only force certain kids to choose another form of expression and identification.

Difficult but effective strategies for reducing school violence

Increase after school programs or lengthen the school day:  Schools actually are the safest place for our kids to be.  With structure and regular supervision, the rate of violence in schools (literally one homicide per one million schoolchildren) is lower than anywhere else--the playground, the neighborhood, the mall, even the home.   The prime time for teenage crime consists of the hours between 2pm and 7pm--after school is out and before working parents get home.  The supervision provided by an expanded school day would greatly curtail juvenile violence.

Bring back the "frills" in school (violins rather then violence):  in the wake of various taxpayer revolts, many of the extra-curricular options (band, chorus, drama, various sports, computer clubs, etc.) were eliminated in a return to the basics.  This has made school increasingly distasteful and unpleasant for those kids who fail to excel in academics, but could feel good about their achievements in other areas.  Ideally, these activities should be integrated better throughout an expanded school day.

Decrease school size (as well as class size):  Schools like Columbine High, with well over a thousand students, fail to capture any sense of community.  Short of a basketball championship to rally the students, only a tragic shooting seems to bring everyone together.  Schools limited to about 500 students are far better in fostering a collective environment, though they may cost a bit more.  The choice is ours:  Pay for the schools now or pray for the victims later.

Increase school staffing and reduce student/staff ratio:  If school teachers and guidance counselors are ever going to be effective in identifying and responding to troubled youth, they need a much smaller "caseload." Also, increasing the pay scale for school staff will enhance the attractiveness of this role for the most talented individuals.  While we're at it, we might re-examine ways in which tenure should be modified to eliminate disaffected teachers.  Given adequate resources, good teachers and counselors are able to identify students who are being unmercifully harassed and intervene before it is too late.

Teach conflict resolution skills early on:    While many schools have introduced conflict resolution programs at the high school level or even in middle school years, the most effective programs start in elementary school when styles and patterns of peer-interaction are still developing.  Recent evidence shows that students who graduate from elementary school programs with these methods integrated in the curriculum are far more successful in middle school.   Moreover, the lessons a child learns from conflict resolution programs are often generalized to arguments on the playground after school and to disagreements with siblings at home.

Provide alternative programs for students who are suspended for carrying weapons:  Even with the modest decline last year, still thousands of students are suspended or expelled every year for carrying guns and other weapons to school.   Unfortunately, less than half of the states have alternative programs for such students--clearly the most troublesome and troubled segment of the student population.   This means that many dangerous youngsters, prevented from sitting in a classroom, are instead roaming the streets without supervision.

Even with our desire to "do something" programmatically or legislatively in response to recent schoolyard tragedies, some perspective on the level of risk is sorely needed.  More children are killed or maimed each year in automobile and bicycle accidents while traveling between home and school than are murdered or shot by an armed classmate.  Parents concerned about their youngsters' safety would be most advised, therefore, to focus on seat belts and bicycle helmets than bullet-proof school uniforms or  metal detectors at the school door.

Even if we implement all the good ideas (and even waste some energy on the bad ones), there will still be no guarantee that we can eliminate school violence.  Regardless,  we can capitalize on recent tragedies to motivate communities to invest more in children and their schooling.  We might not be able to prevent every Littleton or Jonesboro, but we can enhance the well-being of millions of kids in the process.