It's hard to imagine anything more devastating than a deadly shooting at a school. The setting (often thought of as among the safest places in our communities) and the ages of both victims and perpetrators are particularly troubling. The intense media coverage that typically follows a school shooting reinforces how disturbing such events are. As…

When disruptive or violent student behavior make their way into the K--12 classroom, the best efforts at classroom management can get derailed. The authors outline a three-part approach to addressing disruptive behavior to keep it from boiling into violence or crisis: clarifying norms and creating a safe climate; de-escalating the situation if…

The Handle with Care program helps schools help students who experience trauma. While at the scene of an event like a domestic violence call, drug raid, or car accident, law enforcement personnel determine the names and school of any children present. They notify that child's school to "handle ___ with care" the next day, and the school…

Ellis describes the Building Resilient Communities process, which in facing trauma, considers not only "adverse childhood experiences," but also adverse community environments--inequitable conditions within a community that feed trauma. In BRC networks, partners from various community sectors--schools, healthcare, criminal justice,…

The author, director of UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access, shares results of a study he led exploring how principals in U.S. high schools are responding to five specific societal challenges; he highlights what principals said about the challenge of gun violence in their schools. More school leaders reported their school being…

Part of being an effective school leader is helping staff and students deal with situations related to inequity and race--helping the fire of emotion that accompanies such issues energize your school rather than becoming a wildfire. Danique Dolly faced this challenge as principal of Baltimore's City Neighbors High School during the time riots…

Three weeks after the February 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed and 17 more injured, the Florida state legislature passed a bill, which among other things, designated two new roles for each school district: a director of safe schools and a mental health coordinator. These…

Up to two-thirds of U.S. children have experienced at least one type of serious childhood trauma, such as abuse, neglect, natural disaster, or experiencing or witnessing violence. Trauma is possibly the largest public health issue facing our children today (CDC, 2019). Traumatized students are especially prone to difficulty in self-regulation,…

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 White House report investigates the essential role that peers play in promoting or preventing bullying. Bullies use bullying to attain success and recognition; their success in doing so depends on the characteristics of the bully, the relationship that exists between bullies and those whom they target for harassment, and the reactions of…

When a community's demographics change quickly in terms of racial, religious, or ethnic makeup, Wessler notes, tension surfaces. Schools are the likeliest place for these kinds of tensions to openly come to a head. Schools can't always avoid conflicts among students who feel mutual prejudice and suspicion. But schools can address simmering…

The Executive Director of ASCD joins a group of U.S. educators traveling to Israel on an education mission sponsored by the America-Israel Friendship League. The educators visit the Gesher al Hawadi school, which was established by the Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel. Located in an Arab town, the school has equal numbers of…

To teach peace through nonviolence is to give youth a chance to develop a philosophy of force. Those who prefer violent force must justify deaths of this century's 78 million war victims--500 percent increase over last century. Describing his nonviolence classes at various Maryland schools, "Washington Post" journalist urges students to…

Discusses the amount of violence that children are exposed to and proposes that this can be counteracted in the schools by teaching more about the history of nonviolence in social change movements in this country. Includes five references. (MD)

Increasingly, children who learn good conflict-management skills find themselves negotiating with kids who would rather fight--even over minor matters like cutting into line, taking a pencil, or touching a classmate's desk. A Pittsburgh teacher has worked to create a physically and emotionally safe classroom and devised a Students Against Violence…