Provide the following violence prevention and management services: (a) rules prohibiting violent and disrespectful behaviors; (b) protocols to deal with violent events; (c) links to mediation, mentoring, and therapeutic services; (d) strategies to identify students at high risk for engaging in violence; (e) staff education; and (f) evaluation of violence policies and programs.

An environment that makes students feel safe will also reduce students' motivation to take matters into their own hands and prevent the escalation of aggressive behaviors. School policies, rules and resources aimed at violent behavior that are therapeutic, not simply punitive, diminish chances for long-term emotional, spiritual and physical sequelae. Linking students to assistance programs prevents criminalization of students with correctable difficulties.

A safe social environment provides many good role models for students and has opportunities for them to learn and enhance communication skills, problem-solving, and anger management. The physical environment can also be designed to be reassuring to students and reduce chances for violence. Provide adequate lighting and presence of adults (i.e., staff, parents, safety officers) in school hallways, rest rooms and playgrounds. Students need to feel that the environment is safe for them to communicate their needs. Culturally competent teachers are more likely to be good role models and more capable of communicating effectively. Guidelines on developing cultural competency are provided in Appendix B. Detailed school guidelines to prevent and manage violence are available (14, 20).

Categories of programs that have shown to be either effective or encouraging to reduce violence are: mentoring, tutoring students with academic difficulties, home visitation (particularly in elementary grades), parenting training and support, therapeutic foster care, and programs or curricula addressing bullying, conflict resolution, anger management, mediation and refusal skills. Peer mediation programs are often appropriate. Leadership skills, connectedness, and a sense of ownership and responsibility for aspects of school life can reduce violence (e.g., student government or peer mediation). Provide numerous venues where students can achieve success (e.g., athletics, arts, vocational training) and communicate that each student is expected to succeed. Develop data collection and analysis systems that provide for tracking cases, feedback to the school and the community, and allow for evaluation of prevention programs in the schools.

Labeling students based on race, socioeconomic status, gender, and similar general descriptors has a detrimental effect on academic performance as well as on social and emotional well-being. These demographic attributes should not be used to select students for participation in a violence prevention program. However, knowing risk factors for violence can help when working with an entire student population. While most students who have risk factors for violence do well (e.g., those exposed to violence at home early in life), most will benefit from the opportunity to address their issues. See Appendix F for lists of risk factors for violence, school preventive strategies and program evaluation methods.

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