This handbook for parents and citizens does not emphasize assessment of the scope of violence in the schools so much as it emphasizes the way parents and citizens can better understand the many factors that make the problem and may lead to its modification. The handbook begins by examining how citizens can become involved in the schools, what they need to know, and who--teachers, students, community members, and the people who take care of the building--must be involved in a school security plan. The handbook goes on to discuss the training of security people, the physical plant, equipment, the educational program, school policies, discipline, and implementation of the security plan. Extensive appendixes cover a wide range of information related to violence in the schools, including results of a survey on the extent of violence in the schools, recent Supreme Court decisions on student rights, and sources of further information. (Author/IRT)