This brief presents the assumptions underlying the approach taken by the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution, Teachers College, Columbia University, in creating a nonviolent school. It also provides specific program components that schools can implement. The approach is based on the recognition that violence is a function…

Safe schools, violence prevention, and conflict resolution are all major concerns in addressing barriers to learning. This quick training aid presents a brief set of resources to guide those providing an in-service training session on violence prevention in schools. The packet contains a brief introduction to the topic with key talking points,…

Discussion of workplace conflict management examines erroneous assumptions inherent in traditional reaction patterns, considers key elements of planning for conflict prevention, and some workplace strategies to help minimize conflicts. Several approaches to conflict management, and their outcomes, are highlighted, and stages of the…

This manual accompanies a workshop for juvenile justice workers (probation officers, social workers, contract providers, and community-based detention providers) that is designed to help them understand conflict and the cycle of violence, manage anger and conflict, use affirmation to reinforce positive behavior, promote skills for success, support…

Targeted to special education teachers, this article discusses why students fight and presents strategies for preventing fights among students, including: implementing rules, rewards, and consequences; providing effective instruction; providing a safe and attractive classroom environment; and heeding early warning signs. Strategies for managing…

This article focuses on several approaches for schools to use of improve school climate, in part to prevent violence or at least to improve student behavioral conflicts, including: parent and community involvement, character education, violence-prevention and conflict-resolution curricula, peer mediation, and bullying prevention. (Contains…

This document presents an effective way to view, select, and integrate school safety policies and programs. It offers a typology of school safety approaches, examines within the context of this typology a broad range of current policies and practices to prevent or manage violence, and provides a set of prompting questions for each of the three…

Potential paths to nuclear war and the available means of prevention of nuclear war are discussed. Presented is a detailed description of six nuclear war scenarios, and brief examples of types of potential deterrents to nuclear war (firebreaks) which are relevant for each. To be effective, the right combination of firebreaks must be used, the…

Children should be taught as early as possible how to handle disagreements with each other without letting their anger get out of control. As they get older, they should be helped to apply the conflict-solving methods they learned as children to the more complicated problems that appear in adolescence. Children's attitudes are influenced by all…

Although learning the value of being nonviolent at home is very important, school and community programs are also valuable, because participants can work together to prevent violence in their neighborhoods and can help each other avoid violence. Education programs can include conflict resolution and mediation training as school courses. Crime…

Violent crimes, especially those committed with guns, have been increasing at an alarming rate among children and teenagers. This manual is intended to help teach young people in Ohio how to prevent violence and to assist individuals, groups, and organizations in planning and implementing antiviolence conferences, forums, or workshops for children…

Since June 1999, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Secret Service have been working as a team to better understand--and ultimately help prevent--school shootings in America. Findings indicated that incidents of targeted violence in school were rarely impulsive; that the students who perpetrated attacks usually planned them out in…

In 1997, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation requiring local school boards to conduct school safety audits for each school under their jurisdiction. Guidelines for helping educators conduct these audits are presented here. This guide is designed to help administrators chart an informed, responsible, and proactive course toward…

This booklet is intended to help parents and teacher activists think critically about the problem of violence in their schools and about how to respond. The booklet offers a framework for analyzing violence prevention programs that may already be in place in the schools, and it provides ideas for improving programs or starting new ones. The…

The long-term effects of crisis and tragedy can be improved significantly by immediate intervention and emergency mental health services. Providing crisis intervention in rural schools poses challenges related to lack of financial resources, community resources, and trained personnel; isolation of rural schools; and long distances between school…