Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Romoting Afety IN Chools
Romoting Afety IN Chools
PROMOTING SAFETY
IN SCHOOLS
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
AND ACTION
Monograph
John Ashcroft
Attorney General
Office of Justice Programs
World Wide Web Home Page
www.ojp.usdoj.gov
This document was prepared by Community Research Associates, Inc., under grant number
95–DD–BX–K001, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S.
Department of Justice. The opinions,findings,and conclusions or recommendations expressed
in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position
or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also
includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime.
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PROMOTING SAFETY
IN SCHOOLS
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
AND ACTION
August 2001
NCJ 186937
Acknowledgments
We would also like to thank the many people outside the United States
who provided information and assistance for the project, in particular
Francine Charlebois and the National Crime Prevention Centre in Canada;
Wendy Taylor and Michael Kennedy in British Columbia; Fritz Prior in the
Netherlands; Marie-France David in France; Lesley and John Noaks, John
Pitts, and Samantha Leahy in the United Kingdom; and Dorothy Mdhuli
and Margaret Roper in South Africa. Finally, we gratefully acknowledge the
support and advice of Patrick Coleman, former Deputy Director at the
Bureau of Justice Assistance, during the development of the monograph.
Contents
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
European Initiatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Initiatives Beyond Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Trends in Approaches to School Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Clustering Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Changing the Whole School and Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Conflict Resolution Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Provincewide Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
National Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
VII. Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
VIII. Bibliography/References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
vi
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I. Introduction
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Introduction
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internally. From the mid-1980s on, other age group. Most of it comes
it has become school practice to from their peers, in and out of
report all incidents to the police. So school, and there are strong peer
while there has been a 300-percent pressures not to report it. Some
increase in reports of school vio- children are both victims of abuse,
lence in Sweden since 1993, these whether at home or school, and
are all minor assaults that would not victimizers.
have been reported before. Serious
violence has not increased. • A survey of 12- to 18-year-olds
in Alberta, Canada, found greater
In some countries, teachers have victimization in school than out
reported increased violence in of it, among younger children
schools against students and staff, than older ones, and among
and the verbal abuse of staff. In the males than females (Gomes et
early 1990s, Canadian teachers al., 2000). In addition, students
reported increases in the occur- who had been suspended or who
rences of weapons (usually knives), had thought of dropping out of
ethnic conflicts, and extortion school reported higher levels of
among elementary school children.3 victimization and were the least
Outside the United States, the likely to report incidents, espe-
recognition of bullying as a major cially if they belonged to racial
school problem has led to many and ethnic minority groups.
more reports of incidents (Smith et
al., 1999). • In the United States, children
ages 12 to 18 are more likely to
be victimized away from school
than at school. Nevertheless,
AS RECENTLY AS 5 OR 6 YEARS AGO, children ages 12 to 14 are more
BULLYING WAS A NONISSUE IN SCOTTISH likely to be victims of crime at
SCHOOLS. NOW IT IS WELL AND TRULY ON school than older students.
National data show that 6 per-
THE AGENDA.
cent of 12- to 14-year-olds were
victims of violence compared
—Action Against Bullying in
with 3 percent of 15- to 18-year-
Scottish Schools,
Mellor, 1995 olds (U.S. Departments of
Education and Justice, 2000b).4
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International Developments
Scandinavia France
The pioneering work on the pre-
vention of bullying in schools was
developed in Norway (Olweus,
TO FIGHT VIOLENCE AND INSECURITY
1993).20 Now referred to as the
IS ALSO TO FIGHT INEQUALITIES AND A
whole-school approach, it combines
specific rules about bullying, cur- SENSE OF INJUSTICE ....
riculum projects, reporting of inci-
dents, and better playground —Claude Bartolone, Minister for Cities,
supervision. Bullying and other France, March 1999
forms of antisocial behavior
declined by 60 percent, and stu-
dents felt more secure. France has always taken a pre-
ventive approach to school vio-
Many schools in Sweden have
lence. Phase I of a joint national
adopted whole-school antibullying
plan to combat violence in schools
programs and prevention projects,
was announced in 1997.21 Its focus
some supported by the national
is educative, preventive, and reac-
education agency. Annersta School
tive, and it emphasizes the collec-
in Huddinge developed a program
tive role of the school and the need
to improve social relations in school
to find solutions that benefit all
and with the community to curb
pupils, parents, and staff.22 Among
violence, mobbing, racism, and
the initiatives are
gang organization. After 2 years,
parental and local business links • Establishing observatories to
had increased, and vandalism and collect local statistics on a range
violence among pupils had de- of social, economic, and health
creased (ECPA, 1999). Rinkeby indicators to identify schools in
School in suburban Stockholm used problem areas.23
a comprehensive range of initiatives
that resulted in major reduction in • Increasing the use of mediation
school violence and other problems. in schools.
The Children’s Ombudsman has
recommended strengthening the • Developing clear and appropriate
school law against bullying, placing responses to violent incidents.
an obligation on school staff to pre-
• Setting up intervention projects
vent it, making the reporting of inci-
in the 26 regions (départements)
dents the duty of all members of the
most at risk of school violence
school community, and improving
and delinquency.
teacher training.
• Developing a number of projects
Finland has a new education bill
in partnership with schools on
requiring all schools to intervene
citizenship and antiviolence
and take action to prevent bullying.
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International Developments
• Involvement. Australia
A report on school violence in
—Youth Violence in Schools,
Australia was published in 1994.
South Africa, 1999
Much current work is preventive,
stressing early intervention and
school-community partnerships
on tackling the underlying causes of
with a focus on including young
youth violence by targeting those
people in the design of projects.27
schools with the greatest problems,
National Crime Prevention (NCP) is
developing community policing
funding a number of school-based
around schools, and developing
developmental projects that target
community action around schools.
at-risk children and families. Other
These objectives are aided by a
initiatives include healthy school
data engine—improved national and
approaches such as the Health
local information—to monitor and
Promoting Schools Association,
evaluate problems and progress.
which is sponsoring the Interagency
Projects based on the model and Schools as Community Centres
other work include the following: Pilot Project. This project involves
the identification of local needs
• The Crime Reduction in Schools through community consultation,
Program (CRISP) in Durban.25 with funding from local school,
education, health, and community
• The School Watch program in services.
Kwa Zulu-Natal, which has had a
marked impact on the prevention A growing network of programs,
of offending and victimization. strategies, and resources exists to
prevent bullying or teach conflict
• The Safer Schools programs resolution and peer mediation
being developed by the federal skills,28 including helplines and
Department of Education and intervention programs such as the
provincial governments. PEACE (preparation, education,
18
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International Developments
20
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International Developments
24
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26
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28
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Figure 1
Elements of Approach to School Safety
Responsibility Center
• Leadership
• Mobilizing Sectors
• Gender and Diversity
• Engaging Citizens
Evaluation Implementation
• Process • Coordination
• Results • Benchmarks/Timeline
Student insecurity and fear of vio- Good leadership from the princi-
lence have become central concerns pal affects the ethos, climate, and
in many countries so reducing fear organization of a school. It affects
and lessening the likelihood of vio- pupils, teachers, and school support
lence or injury are major goals. But staff. Internationally, the school in
it also is recognized that risk cannot its community is seen as having a
be eradicated entirely. The best crucial role in promoting a safe,
approach is good planning and pre- healthy environment and preventing
vention developed and shared by delinquency, violence, and victim-
communities. This approach is more ization. It cannot do so in isolation.
beneficial and less costly than react-
ing after tragic events.
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This chapter describes examples with few graduating with job skills.
of current school safety projects A need to belong, lack of home
that use multiple methods and part- support, boredom, and lack of
nerships. The projects are in vary- prospects made violence, crime,
ing stages of development and all and youth gangs attractive. Victim
include evaluation, although final support was needed, given the high
project outcomes are not always incidence of violence.
available. Sources and contact
information are given for followup. The projects. The Centre for the
The examples include individual, Study of Violence and Reconcili-
comprehensive school-community ation (CSVR) has developed a Safe
programs in elementary and sec- Schools Project using a community-
ondary schools, clustering projects, based model of intervention. Forty
provincial and statewide initiatives, elementary and secondary schools
and projects built around conflict are clustered in a supportive net-
resolution approaches. They use work, allowing them to share
various research teams and partner- resources. A project newsletter
ships to assist the schools. Infor- has been established, students are
mation about school safety projects involved in strategy and project
in the United States can be found development, and parents are
in the Annual Reports on School involved in problem solving. The
Safety and other publications of the project acts as an umbrella for
U.S. Departments of Education and activities by providing safety teams
Justice and from the Hamilton Fish to research, document, monitor,
Institute and the Center for the and evaluate project activities;
Study and Prevention of Violence. teacher training and support pro-
grams; student training and support
programs; student-run community
Clustering Schools safety projects; parent education;
Safe Schools Policy and Tiisa and training for student governing
Thuto (Gauteng Townships, bodies. A government monitoring
South Africa) program maintains links among
The problem. A 1997 conference programs, services, and govern-
found that adult crimes such as ment departments at the local and
rape, theft, and assault were preva- national levels.
lent even in primary schools and
CSVR is also part of Tiisa Thuto,
that the average age of youth in the
a modular training course for pupils,
11th and 12th grade was 18 to 20
teachers, parents, and communities
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Figure 2
The Incidence of Bad Behavior and Suspensions for Pupils in Four Pilot Schools
70
Fighting
Bullying
60
Suspensions
50
Number of Incidents
40
30
20
10
0
September 1999 October 1999 November 1999 December 1999 January 2000
Month/Year
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violence, discipline, and poor aca- designing programs that have con-
demic performance (see Edwards et tinuous monitoring and adaptation,
al., 1999). A Student Assistance and strong links outside the school.
Center (SAC) was established with
strict rules and regulations. It is run Sources: Dr. Steven Edwards,
by a full-time certified staff mem- Principal, 869 Forbes Street,
ber, 30 teachers who volunteer on East Hartford, CT 06118. 860–
a rotation basis, 1 full-time and 622–5203; 860–622–5337 (fax);
up to 9 part-time interns from sedwards@easthartford.org (e-mail).
the University of Connecticut, a
substance abuse counselor, and Provincewide Programs
trained student mediators. Conflict
Safe Schools/Communities
resolution and mediation are offered
Initiative (British Columbia,
by peers, adults, and through self-
Canada)
mediation. Peer mediators are a
cross-section of students who This Safe Schools/Communities
receive a 3-day training program. Initiative is a partnership between
A student assistance team of volun- provincial government ministries
teer staff oversee students referred and schools and their communities.
to SAC by anyone. Alcohol and It includes the British Columbia Safe
drug counseling is offered 5 days a School Centre—a resource center
week, Alcoholics Anonymous holds that disseminates support and train-
meetings, and other groups for at- ing, examples of best practice, and
risk students exist. Police outreach strategies such as a Safe School
runs drug and gang resistance inter- Kit, Safe School Planning Guide,
vention programs. Other initiatives and a resource catalogue. Other
include probation links, career men- aspects of the approach include
toring for at-risk children, work- Youth Taking Action Workshops,
shops on college preparation with peer mediation training manuals
a consortium of local high schools, and resources for elementary and
and a cultural enrichment program. secondary schools, and a mobile
SAC funds come from federal, trainer who visits schools. Every
state, and local grants. school board has Safe School
District Contacts. They offer training
Outcomes. In 5 years there have and facilitate communication and
been no expulsions, a 60-percent dissemination of material and best
drop in suspensions, a 40-percent practices. Safe School Regional
reduction in fighting, and a school Training sessions bring together
dropout rate below 4 percent. The schools, youth workers, and other
project attributes part of its success professionals. Focus on Bullying
to flexibility in identifying problems, is a prevention program for
42
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both single school projects and will be available at the end of 2001.
clusters of schools in an admin- Each project has set targets to
istrative area. Projects have created achieve by the end of the pilot peri-
multidisciplinary teams. Inter- od, such as reducing bullying by 40
ventions include whole-school percent, truancy to 1 percent, and
bullying programs, electronic moni- permanent exclusions to 15 percent
toring of attendance throughout the and maintaining 93-percent atten-
day with immediate followup, an dance levels. Schools vary in their
in-school behavioral unit to work project approaches and links with
with troubled students, peer media- local authority and community
tion training, curriculum changes, organizations. Problems of data
key literacy and numeracy projects, collection, data sharing, and confi-
improved afterschool clubs, coordi- dentiality have been a learning
nators to develop parent-school experience and a challenge for
links, and antidrug and offending some. The national evaluation team
programs run by local Youth is ensuring comparability of data
Offender Teams. Each school has collection and will look at overall
three teams assisting in implemen- outcome evaluation, including cost
tation and evaluation: a local pro- reductions and benefits.
ject initiation and development
team, a local evaluation team, Sources: Home Office, Police and
and the national evaluation team. Reducing Crime Unit, Clive House,
Projects are expected to meet London, SWIH 9HD England; 020–
target reductions. 7273–4000, 020–7271–8344 (fax),
www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds
Outcomes. Evaluations of imple- (Internet).
mentation process and outcomes
VII. Notes
American schools. (See also Akiba, 15. The teams are working in eight
et al., 2001.) countries under the direction of nine
universities. Part of the project
8. Most studies are based on self- involves a training and exchange
reports by children, some on parent program for team staff on the back-
or teacher reports. The ages of chil- ground and origins of school bully-
dren in reported studies vary con- ing and methods of intervention
siderably, as does the time period. and evaluation.
9. Not all studies agree. In one 16. Two examples are the
British school, there were higher lev- Roncallistrasse Elementary School
els of bullying experienced by girls project (Bendit et al., 2000) and
(25 percent) than boys (7 percent) the Wetzlar Model Police-School
(Noaks and Noaks, 2000). partnership (see chapter VI).
10. In Japan, there has been much 17. This is being developed by The
public and press focus on ijime fol- Hague Advisory Educational Centre
lowing a series of suicides by school (Junger-Tas, 1999).
children.
18. Two major projects have evalu-
11. See Arnette and Wasleben ated the whole-school, antibullying
(1998) for information on bullying program—in 23 schools in Sheffield
levels and The 1999 National Crime (Sharp and Smith, 1994) and 4
Prevention Survey. See National schools in Manchester and London
Crime Prevention Council (1999) for (Pitts and Smith, 1995). Other pro-
parent views on its seriousness. jects to make schools safer included
a police SchoolWatch program and
12. This has been the case in
a Safer School Safer Cities project
Canada, England, Norway, and
in Wolverhampton (Noaks and
Japan.
Noaks, 2000).
13. Ministry of National Education,
19. For example, Report of the
Research, and Technology, Paris.
Working Group on School Security
14. An international survey of 14- to and Improving Security in Schools.
20-year-olds in 12 countries (Killias Department of Education and
and Ribeaud, 1999) found increases Employment, 1996. School
in drug use in many European Security: Dealing With Trouble-
countries, with links to offending. makers. Home Office and
A Canadian school survey noted Department of Education
increases in hard and soft drug use and Employment, 1997.
in the 1990s (Centre for Addiction
20. It was developed by Dan
and Mental Health, 2000).
Olweus in 42 middle and primary
schools in Bergen, Norway, in the
1980s.
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Notes
21. It was launched by the Ministry 26. Initially CSVR provided services
of Education, together with Justice, to victims in townships such as
the Interior, Defense, Culture, and Soweto, but its work has evolved
Youth and Sports. A 1994 report, into a more comprehensive com-
La violence a l’école, by the Ministry munity approach.
of Education Inspectorate had high-
lighted many of the problems. 27. Sticks and Stones: A Report
on Violence in Schools. ACT: Com-
22. In France, the concept of soli- monwealth of Australia (1994).
darité is central to understanding all
social problems. It stresses that all 28. Resource materials are being
citizens are linked together collec- developed by the Australian Council
tively and are dependent on one for Education Research.
another. Problems such as school
29. Education is a provincial
violence, therefore, require a collec-
responsibility in Canada, and prac-
tive and community response.
tices vary considerably across the
23. A National Observatory for the country. See Bala et al. (1994).
Safety of Schools and Institutions of Other work has reviewed school-
Higher Education was set up in based police programs (Ryan and
1995. It undertakes school safety Mathews, 1995), zero-tolerance
surveys and helps schools assess policies (Gabor, 1995), weapons
themselves. A 1996–2001 program in schools (Walker, 1994), and a
in the Créteil school district set up police-school partnership to devel-
an observatory to measure school op an antiviolence community
violence and to counterbalance school (Ryan, Mathews, and
media reporting. It is developing Banner, 1994). The province of
educational, preventive, and judicial Quebec published a comprehensive
responses. guide to preventing violence in
schools (Roy and Boivin, 1989).
24. The national framework was The Ontario Ministry of Education,
developed by the National Youth teachers unions, and school boards
Commission, the Department of also have produced a number of
Education, and the Secretariat for guides and tools on school violence
Safety and Security. It uses the prevention.
metaphor of a river with violent and
nonviolent streams that encourage 30. Only 4 percent involved their
or protect children from violence as community in prevention plans.
they grow up.
31. In the 1995 survey, 116 out of
25. CRISP includes the Independent 210 school boards in large urban
Project Trust and the University of areas in Canada were surveyed.
Natal who are piloting the approach Small towns and rural boards were
in Cape Town and Durban schools. excluded.
50
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Notes
VIII. Bibliography/References
54
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Bibliography/References
Office Research Study No. 187. Johnson, M., Munn, P., and
London, England: HMSO. Edwards, L. (1992). Action Against
Bullying: A Support Pack for
Greenbaum, S., Gonzalez, B., and Schools. Edinburgh, Scotland:
Ackley, A. (1986). Educated Public Scottish Council for Research in
Relations—School Safety 101. Education.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department
of Justice, Office of Justice Pro- Junger-Tas, J. (1999). “The
grams, Office of Juvenile Justice Netherlands.” In The Nature of
and Delinquency Prevention, School Bullying: A Cross-National
National Institute of Justice. Perspective, edited by P.K. Smith, Y.
Morita, J. Junger-Tas, D. Olweus, R.
Hamilton Fish Institute (1999). Catalano, and P. Slee. New York,
Comprehensive Framework for NY: Routledge.
School Violence Prevention.
Washington, DC: www.hamfish.org Killias, M., and Ribeaud, D.
(Internet). (1999). “Drug Use Among
Juveniles: An International Survey.”
Hamilton Fish Institute (2000). Studies on Crime Prevention, 8
Press release and report 9/14/00 (2):189–207.
Guns in Schools; press releases
2/29/00 and 3/24/00 on risk of vic- Kingery, P. (2001). Zero Tol-
timization; 1/3/00 Effective Violence erance: The Alternative Is Edu-
Prevention Programs. Washington, cation. Washington D.C.: Hamilton
DC: www.hamfish.org (Internet). Fish Institute.
56
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Bibliography/References
Roberts, St.J., and Singh, C.S. Smith, P.K., Morita, Y., Junger-
(1999). Using Mentors To Change Tas, J., Olweus, D., Catalano, R.,
Problem Behaviour in Primary and Slee, P. (eds.) (1999). The
School Children (5–11). Research Nature of School Bullying: A Cross-
Findings No. 95. London, England: National Perspective. New York, NY:
Home Office RDS. Routledge.
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Indepth Information
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participation and support for conferences, and other networking and outreach activities.
The Clearinghouse can be reached by
❒ Fax on Demand
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