A volunteer observer program has drastically reduced the incidence of vandalism in the schools of the Schaumburg, Illinois District.

In response to a legislative mandate to gather statistics on school-related crime in California public schools, the state department of education prepared this preliminary report based on survey data reported by 914 California school districts covering the period from September 1, 1980, to February 1, 1981. During this period 105,328 incidents of…

Since 1971 the Senate Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency has held 55 days of hearings and received testimony from 419 witnesses on topics including the extent and causes of drug abuse, runaway youth, school dropouts, and the confinement of juveniles in detention and correctional facilities. A questionnaire designed to obtain…

Measures to decrease vandalism include participation in planning by students, community members, and school personnel; principals with strong leadership capabilities; unobtrusive security measures; architectural solutions; and prompt preventive maintenance. (MLF)

Civil Defense Patrols act as a preventative force in Syracuse, New York, and succeed in curbing school vandalism while, at the same time, reducing security and property replacement costs. (Author/JN)

Forty-two chief school officers from state departments of education provided information for this study. A table shows the kinds of activities in use in each state, including student codes, community training, surveys of school staff and students, task force reports, and legislation requiring monitoring of violence and vandalism. (PB)

Refines and clarifies certain concepts having to do with school vandalism and its control; examines the concept of social control as applied to the problem of controlling the young, delimiting it to conscious, social and formal dimensions, and summarily reviews research and theory in the area of school vandalism. (JM)

There are two basic types of vandalism, malicious and nonmalicious. Both types can be controlled, but the methods of control differ. Most of the literature deals with malicious vandalism. Perhaps because security appears to be the only way to control malicious vandalism, it is often made the focal point of antivandalism programs. The most…

School districts are reluctantly paying for repairing damage to their properties that might not have occurred had the buildings and sites been better designed. A study to determine what designers and owners can do to prevent or diminish damage to schools through more careful planning and design reveals five major design issues pertinent to the…

Provides an overview of the problem of juvenile delinquency in the schools. Also reviews the findings of the Senate Subcommittee To Investigate Juvenile Delinquency and ends with a reminder that American education has overcome seemingly insurmountable problems in other difficult days. (Editor/RK)

Points out tension-breeding factors that underlie school racial unrest; suggests ways for school security officers to define their role; and lists some features of a crisis contingency plan. (Subscription $14.00 yearly, 2639 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034.) (MLF)

A task force was appointed by the California School Boards Association to investigate the increase in violence and vandalism and to recommend courses of action. The task force found four changes in society contributing to the increase: (1) the breakdown of the home and family unit, (2) the lack of self-discipline in children and the absence of…

One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter reviews the various approaches used in the study of school vandalism and attempts to define what is needed now. The main contribution of early research on vandalism is to point out an intellectual dead end. Conventional demographic approaches to the problem, by…

An administrator tells how the Toledo public schools developed security plans to minimize damages resulting from student unrest. According to the author, the first step taken by the Toledo schools was to take a strong stand against violence at athletic events. Next, they established a systemwide lighted school program and emphasized total…

Provides an in-depth discussion of issue of gang violence and effects on schools. In past two decades street gangs have become a problem, not just in large urban centers, but also in smaller urban areas and suburbs. Outlines seven ways to work at preventing gang activities in schools. Urges school boards to play greater role in fighting gang…