We examined the effectiveness of the "Say Something Anonymous Reporting System" (SS-ARS) program in improving school safety in a cluster randomized control trial among over 700 students in 19 middle schools in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The SS-ARS is a program that emphasizes youth engagement and trains youth to recognize…

We examined the effect of multiple school-related, resilience-promotive factors against exposure to violence (ETV) at school among an urban sample of 6th-grade students (n = 441, 57% female, mean age = 11.81), 90% identify as students of color. Using multilevel mixed-effects linear models, we analyzed two waves of data (baseline and 4-month…

This article presents a review of the "Psychosocial Evaluation and Threat Risk Assessment" (PETRA), a 60-item self-report instrument "designed to address the psychosocial characteristics most commonly associated with acts of school violence" among middle school and high school students ages 11 to 18 years. The PETRA was…

In this article, the author discusses a literature-based character education program at the school district of Hillsborough County in Florida. The district recently developed a comprehensive management plan in response to the much-publicized school violence of recent years. The plan addresses school issues including tornado and fire drills,…

Since 1996, our research team has conducted 15 focus groups with 169 middle-school youth in small communities as formative research for campaigns against alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and violence. Some key findings of a synthesis of focus-group results are that girls and boys perceive different risks to alcohol and tobacco use; peer relationships are…