School violence, and particularly, school shootings, remain a serious concern among parents, community members, educators, and governmental leadership at the local, state, and national levels. While school shootings periodically dominate media coverage of school safety issues, schools are among the safest places for students in the community. This…

Research shows that gang-associated youth are less likely to complete high school and earn a postsecondary educational credential. However, scholars have not determined "why" gang youth do not persist into higher education. This ethnographic study aims to focus on the narratives of 13 Latino high school young men to understand what…

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to understand and explain how training and work setting experiences influence readiness of professional school counselors for serving gang members in schools. A purposeful sample consisted of secondary school counselors (n = 5) and school leaders (n = 7) in a southeastern metropolitan school district.…

This report summarizes analyses of survey responses of approximately 101,310 teachers and principals who, between 1999-00 and 2011-12, answered the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS) and the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), two national surveys. Their responses to most recurrent discipline incidents and to most serious problems facing…

Growing up in a poor, dysfunctional family in a violent inner-city neighborhood, Jackson faced daily challenges even getting to the bus stop without being attacked by gang members. When he was bused to a white suburban school in 5th grade, things got even worse. Every black student who was bused in from his neighborhood was placed in remedial…

This article asserts that schools have tremendous positive power over the lives of students--the power to teach them academics; the power to socialize them to be engaged citizens; the power to transform their lives in positive ways--but schools also have negative power: the power to mark a student with a discipline record; the power to force a…

This study investigated public middle school students' opinions on the benefits of wearing a school uniform. A review of related literature is provided along with results of the opinions obtained from 604 seventh- and eighth-grade middle school students attending a public school in Nevada that had recently initiated a school uniform policy.…

Hobbema, Alberta, Canada is a community comprised of four First Nations. As with many of Canada's Aboriginal communities, Hobbema's population is young. High rates of socio-economic disadvantage, violence, family dysfunction, and substance abuse are linked to colonization, residential school policies, and discrimination. Crime rates, including…

Reports on interventions with gangs of youth in Northern Ireland beyond the control of authorities. Recounts how physical abuse or banishment have proven ineffective in curtailing delinquency and offers a case study to exemplify this point. Details the powerlessness of punishment, advocating high expectations and communication over coercion. (RJM)

This article offers suggestions to school boards for conducting school-security assessments and for developing a policy on school safety. It first describes the five major threats to safety: an increase in general youth violence, gangs, drugs, weapons, and outside offenders. School boards should establish policy that recognizes school safety as a…

Vechij Himdag (A New Way) is an alternative school located 25 miles from Phoenix in Sacaton--a village on a Pima Indian reservation. In a community drastically changed by whites' diversion of the Gila River for their crops, the school serves students needing a second chance and considerable adult attention. (MLH)

Deploring the prevalence of intimidating behavior at a new Texas middle school, assistant principals acted to suppress all gang activity and enforce a dress code and hallway discipline. With immediate problems under control, they intervened to reduce student anonymity, inform teachers via e-mail about unusual activities, and involve students in…