The national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) monitors priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the United States. The national YRBS is conducted every two years during the spring semester and provides data representative of 9th through 12th grade…

The available data suggest that both students and adults with disabilities sustain injuries and are victims of crimes at high levels. Despite these alarming data, several researchers have suggested that safety skills instruction has largely been ignored as a curricular domain. Further, although parents can serve a critical function in educational…

Restraining orders, an important legal intervention for victims of domestic violence, have broad potential for injury prevention. Using data from one of the busiest restraining order clinics in the nation, the authors examined 1,354 applicants' descriptions of abuse. Most (89.2%) applicants were issued a restraining order. A total of 16.0% of…

Discusses how campus crime-prevention activities can help avoid "premises liability" injury lawsuits that target some physical defect in school property or the operation of that property. Suggests installing a proactive system that inhibits crime, but if a crime occurs, can provide strong a legal and ethical defense of reasonable efforts on the…

Traumatic spinal cord injuries resulting from criminal violence is a growing public health concern. Citing the criminal justice system's failure to reduce violence and the costs of treating injuries, a public health-education approach is advocated. Approaches to prevention, gun control, and a comprehensive family policy are discussed. (Author/EMK)

The United States is recognized as leading the industrialized world in violent death rates. The increase in youth violence is primarily attributable to an increase in the "lethality" and not the "frequency" of violent acts because more crimes are being committed with handguns. This chapter reviews the existing literature on…

This report provides the most recent national indicators on school crime and safety. Some of these indicators document that student safety has improved. For example, the victimization rate of students ages 12-18 at school declined from 73 victimizations per 1,000 students in 2003 to 55 per 1,000 students victimizations in 2004. However, other…