Educational leaders have a substantial degree of control over students and generally have a tremendous influence on the decisions that they make. District administrators are already involved in comprehensive efforts to stem sexual harassment, teen violence and bullying; therefore, they may be well positioned to identify and address the problem of…

Unsupported fears of youth violence in schools has led to an expansion of school-based policing and zero tolerance discipline. The historical reality is that America's public schools are very safe, even when located in high crime neighborhoods. Yet, school discipline is becoming increasingly punitive, moving from the schoolhouse to the courthouse.…

This paper describes a program that was developed and implemented to define better the incidents used by a rural school district to report school violence to the state. The program was also designed to decrease the use of out-of-school suspension by 90 school administrators in this Florida district. Some of the strategies used for the program…

This study looks at existing aspects of written school violence policies (Codes of Student Conduct) across large, mid-size, and small school districts in Florida. The aim was to provide a clearer picture of how weapons are defined, and the consequences of their possession, use, or display. Two research areas were addressed: (1) What constitutes a…