Schools are accountable for providing all students a safe and caring learning environment. When a child feels unsafe at school, personal relationships, mental health, and academics are negatively affected. The entire school community -- staff, parents, and students -- must work together to develop an effective safe school program. A carefully…

Jonathan Cohen and Dorothy L. Espelage, two leading authorities in the fields of school climate and prevention science, have gathered experts from around the globe to highlight policy and practice recommendations for supporting children and adolescents to feel and be safe in school. Featuring analysis and commentaries from experts in public…

Background: Low-income and racial/ethnic minority students often face distinct challenges in attending school leading to lower academic performance, low graduation rates, and overall, an indicator of diminished long-term social and financial stability. Chronic absenteeism is a national problem and to address this, a better understanding of risks…

While violence against children (VAC) has been a long-established global concern, more recently attention has been drawn to how violence occurs in and around schools (VACS) and the role of education in preventing and responding to violence. Whilst awareness about VACS is growing, more robust data are needed to inform policy and practice. Concerns…

This national household telephone survey of youth and parents assessed exposure to a broad range of at-school victimizations among a representative sample of 3,391 children and youth ages 5 to 17. Nearly half the sample (48%) had been exposed to at least one form of victimization at school during the past year (in 2011), most of which was…

This report provides a comprehensive review of the literature on restorative justice in U.S. schools. The review captures key issues, describes models of restorative justice, and summarizes results from studies conducted in the field. The review was conducted on research reports and other relevant literature published, or made publicly available,…

Children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) increasingly participate in inclusive education. The present study reviewed studies of children with ASC for parents' perceptions of aspects they believed contributed to inclusive mainstream school settings. Understanding the parental perspective on the facilitators for inclusion of their child…

Bullying is the most common form of interpersonal violence facing youth in schools, and recent school-based intervention efforts have shown only limited success in reducing such behavior. Accordingly, this article considers the utility of Albert Bandura's theory of moral disengagement in understanding bullying behavior among children and…

School violence and bullying are two public health concerns with consequences for youth in and out of school, for families, students, and community members. In this article, a social-ecological framework is briefly described as a way to understand bullying and school violence; then the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) longitudinal…

No parental instinct is as intense and fundamental as protecting one's child from harm. For parents of children with autism, safety risks become magnified because of challenges resulting from fixations with narrow interests, limited situational awareness, and sensory and communication issues. So why should parents expect to do it all alone? We…

In 2003 Australia was one of the first countries to develop an integrated national policy, called the National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF), for the prevention and management of violence, bullying, and other aggressive behaviors. The effectiveness of this framework has not yet been formally evaluated. Cross-sectional data collected in 2007 from…

In recent years, bullying seems to have become more serious and more pervasive. Research indicates that 15% to 20% of all students are victimized by bullies at some point in their school careers. Clearly, bullying is a problem that schools must recognize and address. Bullying has three distinguishing characteristics: (1) it is intentional; (2) it…

Twelve articles present information on childhood health matters, covering such topics as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, obesity, lead, drug abuse, alcohol use, pesticides in schools, school bullies, and reading resources. (CB)

Asserting that prevention and intervention efforts to reduce bullying can serve to reduce later criminal behavior and save lives, this report identifies programs that have reduced bullying by as much as half and cut future arrests in half, and urges schools to invest in these programs. Chapter 1 of the report defines bullying and presents…

In the light of news headlines on school violence, many parents find themselves fearing for their children and whether they may become victims or victimizers. This book provides guidance for parents and students on talking about school safety and violence. Section 1 is addressed to parents and discusses what to tell children about school violence,…