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Introduction

School violence, where does it start and how does it stop?  "From the '70s to present time, stress related illnesses and behaviors have trickled down from adults to teens and now to young children", says Janai Lowenstein, self-help specialist in Drain, Oregon.

Scenario:  Lisa Neely used to dread sending her son, Shelby, to school. She never knew when her phone would ring advising her Shelby was disrupting his kindergarten class and could not be controlled.

She was called four times during the first three months.  Twice, Shelby's behavior was so out of control, Lisa had to remove him from school.  Another time, she was able to get him to behavior by sitting with him in the classroom the rest of the school day.

            Shelby is a different little boy these days.  Shelby use to "become like a brick wall" when he was in trouble.  "He would get angry and slam doors and knock things over," says Lisa.  "He still gets upset when I say no, but he's not as reactive.  We're able to talk through problems.  Now he can sit there calmly.  He hears my point, I hear his point, and we resolve the problem and move on."  Lisa says Shelby is more open, more polite, more compassionate, more forgiving and has a more focused attention span.  He also is less angry and smiles more.  Shelby is not the only student to have been so profoundly impacted by the program.

Blair, P. (1999, August).  Violence Prevention Starts Early.  Retrieved from http://www.cliving.org/KIDSVIOL/rural.htm

Purpose of Study:  The purpose of our study is to learn about violent behavior and its correlation with emotional disturbed characteristics of children in pre-k through 3^rd grade.

Research Question: Do you feel that children who are violent have characteristics of emotionally disturbed children?

Hypothesis:  We hypothesize that violence and emotional disturbances are related, schools that implement prevention measures would have less violence in the classroom, schools that train their teachers, staff ands students, have less overall occurrences of violence and local agencies and the community involvement contribute to student success and less violent occurrences.

Assumptions:  We assume that the teachers are being completely honest in the surveys and interviews, the schools will be cooperative, open-minded and patient with us to complete this study, and the schools/teachers will meet our deadlines for returning the surveys and follow specific rules.

Limitations: Time was the major factor and another factor was school access/ participation.

Method of Study: A survey was conducted with teachers to gain information about how they teach violence prevention to children, especially children with emotionally disturbed characteristics.  We sent out 57 surveys and got 30 back.  We had a total of 25 questions on our survey, 12 were based on a Likert Scale, 2 were “circle all that apply” and 11 were short answer.

Teacher Certification: 54% were elementary, 33% were prek-3, 10% were specialists and 3% were Special education teachers.

Operational Definitions:

Urban: comparing, living in, or characteristic of a city.

Suburban: a district outside of, but adjoining a city.

Rural: pertaining to the country or country life.

Multi-age/grade: many grades or ages.

Violence:  Acting with, or characterized by, strong physical force.  However, this may include abuse (mental, emotional, verbal, psychological, social and physical harm either intentional or unintentional).

What is School Violence?  School violence is violence that happens at school, but is not solely a school-based problem.

Emotional Disturbance:  There is no universally accepted definition for the emotionally disturbed, however there are two definitions to keep in mind.

VIOLENCE PREVENTION IN SCHOOLS

“What Preservice Teachers Should do to be more prepared for children with emotional disorders - BIRTH THROUGH 3^RD GRADE”

Brandy Luth

 &

  Linda S. McKleny

Senior Research

Dr. Merryellen Towey Schulz

            According to Kandakai King’s (2002) study:

One in eleven preservice teachers considered their present student-teaching location to be violent.  Approximately 40% reported having had to refer a student to the supervisor, and less than one fourth of preservice teachers reported having had some form of violence prevention. 

On the other hand, Teachers Perceptions Regarding the Inclusion of Children with behavioral and emotional disorders in their classrooms (2000) emphasizes that, “For integrated and inclusive program practices to successfully address the individual needs of students, teachers must therefore feel more supported and empowered.”  Preservice Teachers need to be knowledgeable about and understand emotional disorders, choose and evaluate their choice in a college (what opportunities they offer); be healthy themselves (mentally, physically and emotionally), use a variety of techniques (finding what works for each individual child), collaborate with other professionals (allotted time from employer), work with children frequently (having many real-life/hands-on experiences), especially with those children who need special assistance; and be aware of the wide array of program availability.

Teacher Awareness/Education

The teacher should be knowledgeable about emotional disorders.  The teacher should be aware of IDEA and know that the IDEA, “mandate of placement in the least restrictive environment (LRE) applies to students with behavioral disorders as well as those in all other categories.”  (Hallahan & Kauffman, 2000).  “The Individuals with disabilities education act says that all students with disabilities be identified and provided special education appropriate for their individual needs, which means that every student with a disability should receive services for his or her needs.”  (MacKay, 1999).  However, only the severe are being served, due to the lack of federal funding.

According to Hallahan (2000), Research clearly shows that the average student with an emotional or behavioral disorder has an IQ in the dull-normal range (around 90) and that relatively few score above the bright-normal range.  Compared to the normal distribution of intelligence, more children with emotional or behavioral disorders fall into the ranges of slow learner and mild mental retardation.  Also keep in mind that some students with emotional or behavioral disorders do not exhibit problems at school. 

There is no universally accepted definition for the emotionally disturbed, however there are two definitions to keep in mind. 

The first is better known as Bowers’ 5 criteria; it is a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked extent, which adversely affect educational performance:

A)    An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.

B)    An inability to build or maintain satisfactory relationships with peers and teachers.

C)    Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.

D)    A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression or

E)    A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.  (Hallahan, 2000).

This definition includes children who are schizophrenic, but doesn’t include the socially maladjusted unless it is determined they are emotionally disturbed.  The second definition is that of the National Mental Health and Special Ed. Coalition:

A disability characterized by behavioral or emotional responses in school so different from appropriate age, culture, or ethnic norms that they adversely affect educational performance including academic, social, vocational, and personal skills such as a disability:

a)     Is more than a temporary, expected response to stressful events in the environment.

b)     Is consistently exhibited in two different settings, at least one of which is school-related; and

c)      Is unresponsive to direct intervention in general education, or the child’s condition is such that general education interventions would be insufficient.  (Hallahan, 2000).

Furthermore, this definition includes the schizophrenic, affective disorder, anxiety disorder or other sustained disorders of conductor or adjustment when they adversely affect educational performance; it includes that emotional and behavioral disorders can and many times do co-exist with other disabilities (especially mental retardation and learning disabilities).

Zabel (1988) states, Estimates of the number of school-age children and adolescents with emotional or behavioral disorders depend on the definitions and criteria that are used.  At some point in their levels, most individuals exhibit behavior that others consider excessive or inappropriate for the circumstances.  Thus, frequency, intensity, duration and context must be considered in making judgments of disturbance.  Unlike some other educational disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders are not necessarily lifelong conditions.

However, “Most researchers estimate that six to ten percent of the child population is affected, but only about one percent of the school-age population is currently identified as having emotional or behavioral disorders and is receiving special education services.”  (Hallahan, 2000).

There are two different types of emotional disorders; internal and external.  The external person (hurts others and/or self) may be “aggressive, disruptive, and act out,” this may include crying, hitting, fighting, yelling, vandalizing and destruction.  According to Hallahan (2000), “Boys outnumber girls 5 to 1, or more, which could involve a concern of sexism since boys are seen as more aggressive.”  The internal person (mental/emotional conflicts) may be “withdrawn, anxious, and depressed”  (Zabel, 1988).  Girls have become the most recent concern for internal emotional disorders, part may be due to the fact that women were expected to present themselves in that fashion, however times have changed and now men seem to be turning that direction as well (strong silent type-can turn violent type).

Sadly, no line has been drawn between shy and emotionally disturbed, but we must consider that both sexes can show internal behavior at one time or another and emotional disorders should not be a conclusion, which is jumped to too soon, especially when the accuser has no professional stance on such disorders (teachers are not even qualified to diagnose such complicated disorders).   For example, Amanda cried all morning for apparently no reason and then she became quiet and unresponsive in the evening.  We must remember that all children show some of these behaviors and those children with emotional disorders exhibit these characteristics consistently over long periods of time (telling us that they are having difficulty coping with their environment or peers).  “Children with the most serious emotional disturbances may exhibit distorted thinking excessive anxiety, bizarre motor acts and abnormal mood swings.  Some are identified as children who have a severe psychosis or schizophrenics.”  (Emotional Disturbance, 2002). 

Thus, each child with an emotional disturbance needs to be dealt with on an individual basis, because each of them has differing symptoms, problems, feelings about their disability and etc.  “The causes of emotional disturbances have not been adequately determined.  Although various factors such as heredity, brain disorder, diet, stress and family functioning have been suggested possible causes, research has not shown any of these factors to be the direct cause of behavioral or emotional problems.”  (Emotional Disturbance, 2002).  According to Hallahan (2000), some other causes of emotional disorders are biological disorders and diseases (brain trauma, malnutrition, temperament), pathological family relationships (abuse, broken homes, inconsistent discipline, neglect, rejection), undesirable experiences at school (temperament, social competence), and negative cultural influences (violence, religion, demands, restrictions).

Kosier (1998), warns, “Be advised that regular education teachers are not trained, qualified nor certified to diagnose emotional disturbances independently, thus if the wrong parents hear that you have labeled and called their child emotionally disturbed, you could find yourself involved in some legal difficulties before you ever get enrolled in law school.”    

“The younger the child, the more difficult it is to judge whether his, or her behavior signifies a serious problem.”  (Hallahan, 2000).  Family life has changed dramatically over the last 40 years and many children who were once secure and safe in their beds with parents who have fulfilled their needs are now few and far between.  Instead the majority of parents/caregivers are single, or both working outside of the home with little time to socialize or provide the emotional or physical support and comfort their child needs to create a safe, thriving, confident and healthy foundation.  “As family life no longer offers growing numbers of children a sure footing in life, schools are left as the one place communities can turn to for correctives to children’s deficiencies in emotional and social competence.”  (Grossman, 1965).  Furthermore, issues of unemployment family break-up and dysfunction, crime and poverty are often added to the responsibilities of schools and are apparently increasing in our societies.”  (Teacher perceptions regarding the inclusion of children with behavioral and emotional disorders in their classrooms, 2000). 

College Selection

Choosing or evaluating a college is an important decision for a student and the future professional, because a college helps to establish that individual’s professional foundation.  Teacher training is extremely important, if teachers are to be successful; they needed to be trained to teach (not being trained to pass tests) and given the tools that will make them successful.  “Part of the responsibility for teacher development must fall on the shoulders of the universities and colleges where teachers are trained and part on those of the school systems where they go to work.”  (MacDonald, 2001). 

Colleges should, focus on changing habitual behaviors and it begins with training teachers to teach pro-social ways of dealing with conflict to students, because preservice teachers do have major concerns regarding student aggression and problem behaviors.  They repeatedly indicated feeling inadequate and unprepared to deal with aggressive behaviors and continue to report receiving little or no training from their university on how to effectively deal with aggressive student behaviors.  (Kandakai, 2002).

Violence

“No matter where you are, parents want their students to be safe and secure…that might even precede a quality education”  With drugs, gangs and guns on the rise in many communities the threat of violence “weighs heavily on most principals’ minds these days…Anyone who thinks they are not vulnerable is really naïve.”  (Principal Michael Durso, Springbrook High School, as quoted in the Washingtonian Magazine, September 1997).

Overview

Violence has become part of the fabric of our society.  It is pervasive on television, in sports, music, video games, and even in our schools and workplaces.  Schools are no longer safe havens for children.  The Educational Development Center (1996) found that only half of the children felt safe in school.  Approximately 160,000 students per day miss school because they fear physical harm (Educational Development Center, 1996).  In essence, students cannot learn in an unsafe environment.

Recent events have again focused the nation’s attention on violence in U.S. public schools, an issue that has generated public concern and directed research for more than two decades.  Despite long-standing attention to the problem, there is a growing perception that not all public schools are safe places of learning and media reports highlight specific school-based violent acts.  The seventh goal of the National Education Goals stated that by the year 2000, “all schools in America would be free of drugs and violence and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol, and offer a disciplined environment that is conducive to learning.”  In response to this goal, the Congress passed the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1994, which provides for support of drug and violence prevention programs.  As part of this legislation, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is required to collect data to determine the “frequency, seriousness, and incidence of violence in elementary and secondary schools.  NCES responded to this requirement by commissioning a survey, the Principal/School Disciplinarian Survey on School Violence, 1996-97.

Definition

What is Violence?

• Verbal, emotional, psychological, social and physical harm either intentional or unintentional.
• Usually caused by people not knowing how to deal with conflict - unable to communicate.
• Usually done because people believe it will solve the problem or end the problem.
• Usually done because people are out of control.
• Usually done because it is learned and expected.
• Usually done because other skills are not learned - such as listening, self-control and problem solving.
• Violence begets violence - it does not ever solve the problem.

What is School Violence?

“School violence is violence that happens at school but is not solely a school based problem”.

• First victim of school violence is learning (verbal - insults, intolerance, etc.)
• 1/4 of American students have been the victim of a violent act that occurred in or around school.
• One in eight students has carried a weapon to school.
• One in six public school teachers report having been the the victim of violence in or around school.
• Elementary school students are more likely than secondary school students to feel very safe in school.
• But, elementary school students are just as likely as secondary school students to be the victims of a violent act.
• Secondary school students are more likely than elementary school students to carry a weapon to school.
• Elementary and secondary school teachers are equally likely to feel very safe and to believe that the level of violence in their school has decreased, but they are equally likely to have been victims of school violence.
• Male and female students and teachers are equally likely to believe that levels of violence have decreased in the past year and to report that they feel very safe.
• Boys are more likely than girls to be victims of school violence or to have carried a weapon.
• Teachers experience as victims of school violence does not differ by gender.
• A 30% reduction has occurred in school violence but a 700% increase in media coverage.
• 3,000 handgun deaths per year happen to American kids but only 1% occur at school.
• Schools are safer than any where else for American kid.

Youth violence is a cultural phenomenon.  It requires the effort of the entire community to combat.  It’s everyone’s concern.

Other issues for youth violence are more compelling than just what happens at school.

Public attitude towards young people is worsening.  15% described young people in positive terms such as active, curious, etc.  71% said today’s young people would not make America a better place to live.

American kids are 12 times more likely to be shot than all other industrialized countries put together.

• 3 kids per day are murdered in domestic violence.
• Our suicide rate has doubled compared to the rest of the world.
• We spend more $ on cat food than textbooks in the US.
• We spend more $ on video games than technology.

What is a Safe School?

Often believed to be:

• A high security compound where cameras, metal detectors and police protect students from each other.
• Where strict external controls intimidate young people into behaving appropriately.
• Where discipline is punishment and children are tried as adults for crimes.
• Where no physical fighting means no violence. No physical violence means it’s safe.
• Where the adults order children around and determine if they are good or bad.
• Where responsibility for behavior has shifted from the child to the adult.
• Where power and control are the motivating factors in policy development.

In reality these schools are the most disconnected entities.  They violate what we know about communities, safety and human connectedness.  They have the opposite effect on stopping young people from behaving and create hostile, uncaring and emotionally alienating environments for learning.

We must ask ourselves, “are we schools of reform or reform schools?”  Schools are becoming colder, harsher and less welcoming instead of caring, nurturing and welcoming.  High standards and high security are taking their toll on school culture.  We need to insure that students are the center of a humane educational setting.

We need to move away from controlling behavior or a lock down mentality, to that of prevention.

We must be sure that all kids are included in prevention – not profiling or focusing solely on those we most suspect of poor behavior.

Violence has been defined in many ways and often focuses on physical assault.  In defining violence to children at the elementary level, the definition must be broad enough to encompass all facets of violent behavior that ultimately may lead to physical acts.  Children need to know that violent behavior is more than putting their hands on another person.  For these purposes, violence is defined to the elementary student as any mean word, look, sign, or act that hurts a person’s body, feelings, or possessions (Schmidt, 1996).  By clearly defining violence in terms a child can understand, we are laying the groundwork for prevention.

Contributing Factors

            Violence is a risk factor to the cognitive, social, and moral development of children and families.  The nature of community violence is complex and multifaceted; it requires a blending of knowledge, skills, and collaborative efforts of community leaders and health care professionals to establish an action plan for prevention, reduction and intervention.  The role of the nurse in the community is pivotal for a multitude of reasons:  variety of practice locations, nature of our practice, close proximity with high-risk populations, and the volume of nurses in practice.  (Ross, et al., 1998)

In the past many efforts at violence prevention for children have been geared toward the adolescent (middle school and high school students) and focused on anger management and conflict resolution.  This direct approach was an attempt to reach the specific age ranges of the many highly publicized tragic events that have occurred across the United States.  More recently, however, the focus has shifted to even younger children, elementary school students, to focus on violence prevention at its very roots.  Primary prevention efforts must begin before violent patterns of behavior are established.  A research study, (Huesmann, Eron, Lefkowitz, & Walder, 1984) spanning 22 years, reports early aggression (age 8) as a later predictor of physical aggression, spousal abuse, and criminal convictions.

There are a variety of complications to life that elementary school children may be facing.  It is important to note that children who are facing roadblocks to a safe and healthy life often are affected by more than one problem.  Studies show that the skills of nursing assessment have never been more important.  Violent behavior is not inevitable or uncontrollable; it is a learned response that begins early in childhood as an acceptable way to problem solve.  Table 1 lists the major risks factors associated with a predisposition to violent behaviors in the elementary school child (Herrenkohl, et al., 2000; Kandakai, Price, Telljohan, & Wilson, 1999).  It is significant to note that the single highest predictor of violence in this group is parental attitude toward violence.  A study by Orpinas, Murray and Kelder (1999) has shown the degree of congruence between what parents tell their children about the acceptability of violent behavior and what children report being told is fairly high.  Therefore, an acceptance of violence as a means to an end often begins with the parents’ acceptance of such behavior, or lack of communication opposing it.

Table 1. Risk Factors Predisposing Children to Violence

·        Parental attitude accepting violent behaviors

·        Exposure to violence in the home and/or community

·        Early onset of aggressive behaviors

·        Negative peer influences

·        Social problem-solving skill deficits

·        Family disruption

·        Poverty

·        Substance abuse in the home and/or community

·        Access to firearm

As one can see in Table 1, the risk factors that predict violent behaviors for children’ also are risk factors for families.  The list for additional roadblocks for families can prove endless, as each family unit strives to live in its unique set of circumstances.  These circumstances may include poverty, drug and/or alcohol abuse or addiction, domestic violence, mental health issues, family disruption, and on and on.  Again, the role of nursing assessment is critical.  Moving beyond the child to working with the family as a unit, sometimes in their environment, may prove the best choice.  It is important to remember that this child lives in a family; the best prevention program possible will be one that incorporates the issues and needs of the family.  Family involvement, at any level possible, is paramount.

            Just as there is an endless list of roadblocks for families, there may be as many for school staff.  Some of the more common issues are increased class sizes, less physical space, and lower academic achievement.  Studies by Dahlberg (1998) and Kandakai, et al.(1999) have found ability tracking (placing academically poor students with behavior problems in the same classes), undisciplined classrooms, poor enforcement of rules and policies, improper curriculum placement, inferior instruction, and poor parental involvement to be central in the development of violent behaviors.  The optimal way to break through many of these roadblocks is to create a positive school climate, where students feel safe, respected and significant.

            Children may resort to violence to solve problems simply because they have never been taught nonviolent methods.  The prevention specialist may be teaching skills that some students have never even considered.  For this reason, it is imperative that students be given time to practice and role-play situations that they may have found themselves in the past or may be placed in the future.  Table 2 outlines a sample curriculum for small group sessions (Schmidt, 1996).  The climate of the groups always should be positive, and all activities must be developmentally tailored.  Build in enough flexibility in each session to allow for a shift of focus, based on the student’s needs, while maintaining the stability the students require.  Finally, every session must be culturally diverse and celebrate the differences of all people.

Table 2.  Sample Violence Prevention Curriculum

·        Talking about violent behaviors

·        Learning how to stand tall

·        Learning to use “I” statements

·        Assertive behavior skills

·        Teasing situations

·        Feeling left out

·        Anger management

·        Conflict resolution

·        Celebrating “me”

Statistics

Statistics related to violence continue to be staggering in the United States.  A succession of surgeons general consistently has addressed this issue as a threat to public health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) Health People documents (USDHSS, 1991, 2000) continue to focus on violence prevention.  While success is being celebrated in many of the department goals, the incidents of violence continue to grow (Monsen, 2000). 

Homicide remains the second leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year olds and the highest cause of death for African American and Latino males in this age group (Dahlberg, 1998).  From 1994 through 1998 there was a yearly average of 45 deaths from violence in school-associated settings in this country (Barrios, et al., 2000).  Studies have shown more than 50% of high school students have engaged in physically violent behavior during the school year.  Violent youths have been found to be at higher risk than others for health problems, including the use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs, and mental health issues (Monge, Massie, Larson, & Sarvela, 2000).

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) gathered statistics for the 1996-97 school years and reported.

The school violence survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 1,234 regular public elementary, middle, and secondary schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the spring and summer of 1997.  The survey requested information on four main topics:

Ø      The incidence of crime and violence that occurred in public schools during the 1996-97 academic year;

Ø      Principals’ (or school disciplinarians’) perceptions about the seriousness of a variety of discipline issues in their schools;

Ø      The types of disciplinary actions schools took against students for serious offenses; and

Ø      The kinds of security measures and violence prevention programs that were in place in public schools.

The types of criminal incidents that schools were asked to report included murder, suicide, rape or other type of sexual battery, assault or fight with a weapon, robbery, assault or fight without a weapon, theft/larceny, and vandalism.  Any effort to quantify the frequency and seriousness of these crimes and violent incidents occurring in public schools will be affected by the way in which the information is collected and report.  Three important aspects of the process that were used to gather the data reported in this publication were:

Ø      The survey questions asked, including how the questions were phrased, definitions applied, time span covered, and the context in which they were asked;

Ø      The choice of survey respondent; and

Ø      The survey sample size.

The results of the survey showed:

Ø      approximately 4,000 instances of rape or other types of sexual battery

Ø      about 11,000 incidents of physical attacks or fights involving weapons

Ø      around 7,000 robberies

Ø      approximately 190,000 fights or physical attacks not involving weapons

Ø      about 15,000 thefts

Ø      around 98,000 acts of vandalism (NCES, 1997)

As the reader, you should keep these aspects of the survey in mind when comparing the results of this particular sample survey with other studies on school crime and violence.  The data reported from this study may vary from data reported elsewhere because of differences in definitions, coverage, respondents and sample.  It should be noted that an incident could involve more than one individual perpetrator or individual victim.  Similarly, an individual perpetrator or victim could be involved in multiple incidents.

It is important that social and behavior problems be identified in the lower elementary grades.  Antisocial and aggressive behaviors are strong predictors for dropping out of school.  Early intervention is important to head off future problems (Duttweiler & Smink, 1997).  It’s obvious that violence prevention and conflict resolution are important for all students, not just those at risk of dropping out.  Comprehensive violence prevention is vital to school safety.

The Committee for Children (1997) has done some research on their Second Step Program.  A North Carolina middle school had dramatic results.  In one year, the in-school suspension rate decreased 42% and out-of-school suspension was down an astounding 97%.  A study of the Clark County School District of Las Vegas, Nevada, had similar results (Talley, 1999). 

Students drop out of school for many reasons, but violence and conflict are contributing factors to placing students at-risk. (Excerpted from Schargel, F. P. & Smink, J. 2001).

Assessment and Management

            Violence is increasingly recognized as a public health problem (Mercy & O’Carroll, 1988). 

Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that there is continuity in aggressive behavior over time (Huesmann, 1984, 1988; McCord, 1991; Farrington, 1991; Moffitt, 1993; Tremblay, et al, 1992, Olweus, 1979):  children who have aggressive behavior in the elementary school years are more likely to display antisocial and violent behavior as adolescents and young adults.  Early intervention has been advocated as most appropriate to break this chain (Yoshikawa, 1994; Tremblay & Craig, 1995; Rivara & Farrington, 1995).

            One response to this problem has been to implement curricula in schools and other community settings to prevent youth violence (Wilson-Brewer, Cohen, O’Donnell & Goodman, 1991). 

Many school-based violence prevention programs are designed to improve interpersonal problem-solving skills among children and adolescents by training children in cognitive processing, such as identifying the interpersonal problem and generating non-aggressive solutions (Pellegrini & Urbain, 1985). 

Despite the growing popularity of school-based curricula on social skills or conflict resolution and violence prevention, there is remarkably little evidence that these programs will have the desired effect of reducing aggressive and violent behavior among children, in either the short term or the long term.  Few randomized controlled evaluations have been completed (Webster, 1993), and rigorous studies have usually evaluated these curricula only as part of a larger experiment (Hawkins, Van Cleve & Catalano, 1991; Gottfredson, 1986; Kazdin, Siegel & Bass, 1992; Lochman, 1992; Tremblay, Vitaro & Bertrand, 1992), which differs from the current practice of implementing these curricula alone in the school setting.

            There are two important developmental characteristics associated with this age group; concrete thinking and egocentricity.  A successful program addresses both.  Children at the elementary level think in a concrete manner; they are unable to view the world abstractly.  To this group, a hypothesis is formulated from concrete data and is unlikely to change.  In fact, these children are more likely to alter the data than change the hypothesis (Schmidt, 1996).  Programs that avoid the abstract idea would be better understood and more meaningful to the students.

            The second developmental characteristic is egocentricity.  At this age, children see the world from their point of view.  Because of this perspective, they often are unable to see things from another vantage.  Prevention programs that build in role-playing, empathy, moral reasoning, and interpersonal problem-solving encourage children to learn and use these new skills.  As children practice these skills, they become more adept at resolving conflict without violence.

            The style of the teachers and staff at the school also are critical to the behavioral development of the students.  If an authoritarian or permissive environment is emulated in the school or classroom, it will have the same effect on the students’ behavior as it would in the home.  Schools should strive for providing an authoritative environment for all students.  In this environment the following will be clear to all students:

Ø      behavior expectations,

Ø      specific guidelines,

Ø      stated consequences for infractions, and

Ø      the purpose for the consequences being change in behavior, not punishment (Schmidt, 1996).

Two other styles in the school setting noted by Schmidt (1996) are entitlement and tolerance.  Many students feel entitled to act violently towards others, especially the weak or young.  Other students who witness this behavior begin to view it as an acceptable way to express feelings or solve problems.  When the teacher does not effectively address the student’s lack of sensitivity to others, it is tolerated.  At the elementary level, violence often begins with name calling, excluding, or teasing.  If these behaviors are not seen as violence and are being tolerated, they will progress to more dangerous levels.  It is tolerance that will allow violence to proliferate.

Prevention

            A violence prevention program should have a comprehensive approach.  Teachers, counselors, staff, and administrators should be trained in conflict resolution and mediation.  When students see these skills modeled, they begin to imitate them.  These skills soon become a habit for everyone in the school and help create a safe school climate.          

Violence prevention is part of the curriculum in 78% of public schools (U.S. Department of Education and Justice, 1998).  The drawback with most of these programs is that they are delivered in a piecemeal fashion and have no evaluation component to measure their effectiveness.  Schargel and Smink (2001) have identified key elements of a comprehensive program:

Ø      shift culture to cooperative thinking about techniques that foster conflict resolution

Ø      meet the basic needs of students through support agencies

Ø      actively engage adults and stakeholders

Ø      provide a school resource officer from the local police force

Ø      initiate a no-bullying program

Ø      implement a conflict resolution curriculum

Ø      teach anger management techniques

Ø      provide peer mediation

Ø      eliminate or control gangs

Ø      have a crisis management plan

Conflict resolution programs can begin as early as kindergarten.  School personnel must be able to identify early warning signs of aggression and violence.  The conflict resolution skills of empathy, impulse control, and anger management are skills that continue to develop as the child grows up (Duttweiler, 1995).

Johnson and Johnson (1995) have identified the following benefits of violence prevention skills:

Ø      higher-quality decision making

Ø      better coping and stress reduction skills

Ø      increased motivation

Ø      a greater sense of caring

Ø      commitment

Ø      cohesiveness

Ø      increase in problem-solving skills

Students are better able to cope with problems, in general, if they have conflict resolution and mediation skills.

Of the 60 reviewed programs examining levels of effectiveness of school-based violence programs, only one program targeted pre-school children, and few targeted kindergarten or elementary school children.  The great majority of violence prevention programs are aimed at middle or high school students.  Below is a brief summary of violence prevention programs targeting children in grades K through 5 by levels of effectiveness.  Besides the Plymouth Public School’s report, these programs are recommended because there is documented evidence that they reduce violence among children.

The Health Education Department of the Plymouth Public Schools provides PK-12 Health Education through a curriculum that is aligned to the state curriculum frameworks.  Students in grades preschool through grade three receive thirty minutes of health education each week.  Topics in the elementary program include:  Growth and Development, Nutrition, Puberty (Grade 5 ) Mental Health, Family Life, Interpersonal Relationships, Disease Prevention and Control, Safety and Injury Prevention, Drug Education, and Violence Prevention.  The Comprehensive Health Curriculum used has fourteen standards, PK-12, and each grade level builds on the knowledge and skills of the previous years.

Level I – Effectiveness

Level I effectiveness programs used evaluation strategies designed to demonstrate substantial evidence of effectiveness in reducing violence, using controlled experimental research design and direct measurement of violence reduction.

1.                  Conflict Resolution Program

·        General violence prevention program for fifth grade children.

·        10-week conflict resolution program; a follow-up class two weeks later.

·        A trainer explores the nature of conflict, respecting differences, conflict styles, understanding fee resolving conflict.

·        Goals:  Enhance self-esteem, influence school climate by reducing fights and arguments, and provide conflict resolution skills development.

2.                  Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies – PATHS Program

·        General violence prevention program for grades K through 5.

·        Units included feelings, and interpersonal cognitive problem-solving (plus some special units for students) with techniques to increase generalization from classroom lesson to day-to-day experiences.

·        Implemented by classroom teachers after three days of in-service training.

·        Goals:  Promote expression, understanding and regulation of emotions, improve individual adaptations currently well-functioning children, and to prevent the development of serious behavioral disorders in children.

3.                  Second Step Program

·         General violence prevention for grades 2 through 5.

·         8 to 26 lessons provided twice a week throughout the school year.

·         Implemented by trained classroom teachers.

·         Units included empathy training, interpersonal problem-solving, behavior skills training, and anger management.

·         Goals: Reduce impulsive and aggressive behaviors; to improve pro-social functioning and to reduce antisocial behaviors.

Level II Effectiveness

Level II programs show moderate levels of effectiveness and used quasi-experimental research designs.

1.         Families and Schools Together - FAST Program:

·         Goals: Strengthen the bonds within and between families and community, enhance family functioning, prevent target child from experiencing school failure, prevent substance abuse by child and family, and reduce daily stress experienced by child and family.

2.         Taming the Monster within Program

·         Goals: Help children develop positive problem-solving strategies and discover healthy ways of expressing emotions, reduce behavioral problems, increase positive social interactions, self-esteem and use pro-social problem-solving strategies.

3.         The trauma/grief-focused group psychotherapy module of an elementary school-based violence-prevention/intervention program

·         General violence prevention for at-risk children grades 3 through 5 who have witnessed family domestic of family abuse.

·         10 to 12 weekly sessions include individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, and mentorship.

·         Goals: Increase parental responsiveness, enhance social skills, provide a context for greater acceptance of child's experiences and increase affect tolerance, enhance child's social efficacy.

Level III Effectiveness

Level III programs attempt to change intermediary factors that influence violent behaviors (knowledge, attitudes, and skills). The research on these programs did not measure actual reduction in violent behaviors.

1.         Creating Peaceful Learning Environments Program

·        School environment prevention for grades K through 12.

·        The entire staff of participating schools conducted a needs assessment, determined interventions, provided input into evaluation methods, helped implement evaluations and disseminated outcomes.

·        Developed school codes of conduct, programs for teacher conflict resolution trainings, high school conflict resolution, peer mediation, social skills development, relationship violence-awareness, and elementary and junior high school conflict resolution, mediation, anger management, and social skills development.

·        Goals: Create, maintain and sustain a prevention focus to violence and harassment by linking families, schools and communities in prevention, and to measure success and program effectiveness.

2.         Early Start Absenteeism Prevention Program

·         General violence prevention for children in grades K through 3 with histories of absenteeism, tardiness or behavioral indicators.

·         Includes seven components: Early identification; academic support and effective teaching; community service in schools; family involvement and staff development; business-education partnerships; links to other programs.

·         Uses a school team approach.

·         Goals: Reduce absenteeism, build resiliency factors among youth, families and community, and engage parents and social service agencies in building early school success.

3.         Peace Education Curriculums and a Second Step Program

·         General violence prevention program for children in Montessori first grade.

·         Combines principles of Montessori and the Second Step program.

·         Teaches about the interdependence of life, the natural consequences of behaviors, and a holistic perspective emphasizing global concepts.

·         Goals: Reduce violent responses to conflict.

4.         Reach Out to Schools Program

·         General violence prevention for grades K through 5.

·         15 to 30 minutes twice a week.

·         Uses trained teachers.

·         Goals: Improve social skills, increase non-violent, pro-social behaviors, and improve children's relationships and overall sense of community.

Level IV Effectiveness

Level IV programs are new programs not yet tested for statistical significance but deemed promising. Formative and/or process evaluations have been completed but not outcome evaluations.

1.         Bully-Proofing Your School Program

·         School environment violence prevention in elementary school.

·         Uses trained teachers.

·         Teaches children what bullying is, and six strategies to use when bullied by someone, four strategies to use when witnessing someone being bullied, and a repertoire of friendship-making skills.

·         Goal: Create a safer school environment by building in the school a culture that does not tolerate physical or psychological aggression.

2.         No Punching Judy Program

·         General violence prevention program for grades 1 through 5.

·         Nine-week curriculum in conjunction with regular school curriculum.

·         Uses videos featuring a puppet show depicting family problems and interpersonal violence.

·         Goal: Prevent domestic violence, early intervention for children who have witnessed or experienced domestic violence.

3.         Anti-Bullying Program

·         School environment violence prevention, focusing on bullying for grades K through 4.

·         Targets school, community (parents), class/peers, and the individual.

·         Uses staff training, codes of behavior, improved playground supervision.

·         Goals: Reduce bully/victim problems.

4.         Families and Schools Stopping Abuse - FASSA Program

·         General violence prevention for children age 5 through 12 who have witnessed and/or experienced domestic abuse, including their parents and other family members.

·         Community-based, 16-week program of group counseling and 10-week parenting program, plus in-home intensive counseling when needed.

·         Goals: Break intergenerational pattern of domestic abuse, decrease the effects of domestic abuse and enhance healthy development.

Legal Aspects

The trend to measure the effects of violence by loss of life and economic cost to the nation is moving toward including the long-term negative developmental and psychological affect on children and families.

Summary and Conclusion

So, What is a Safe School?

• Safe Schools are places of culture. They maintain the image of a “professional community.” They have a clear school mission.
• Safe Schools are places where teachers and students work together to improve schools.
• Safe Schools encourage teachers to work with each other to teach students so they learn more.
• Safe Schools have leadership that invests in people.
• Safe Schools are places where both teachers and students learn together.
• Safe Schools value greater openness and cooperation.

Reducing school violence in a child centered way is the way to go. Students need a platform to express them:

• to teach democracy we have to practice democracy in our schools
• involve all people in authentic, genuine ways
• first victim of school violence is learning (verbal - insults, intolerance, etc.)

Schools should be safe and secure places for all students, teachers and staff members.  Without a safe learning environment, teachers may have difficulty teaching and students may find their environment a difficult one in which to learn.  Priorities set by schools, local authorities, and state and federal government had prompted the nation to focus on improving the safety of American schools.  The effort toward providing safer schools requires establishing good indicators of the current state of school crime and safety, and periodically monitoring and updating these indicators.

It is important that each of us takes the responsibility to be the best we can and to help others that need it in order to create a safe place to be. No one can control anyone but himself or herself but we can be on the lookout for those that might need help. The skills to create safe schools are the skills you will need at work and with all people all of your lives. Be responsible and care enough to take care of yourself and those in your lives.

While overall victimization rates have declined, more work needs to be done to address the issues related to school violence and safety.

Preservice teachers need to know how to prevent these violent acts from occurring and how to protect themselves, because being unprepared may mean jeopardizing the safety of the other students, themselves, or other teachers.  “Rather consistently, credible studies in the United States and many other countries have indicated that at least six to ten percent of children and youths of school age exhibit serious and persistent emotional and behavioral problems.”  (Hallahan, 2000). 

Feyton & Hines (1998), suggest an alternative for enhancing preservice teachers’ preparation by raising their awareness of the needs of all populations through real-world experiences.  There is no special formula for preparing preservice teachers to handle the reality of facing hard-to-manage students.  With exposure to the extremes in student behavior, however preservice teachers may be better equipped to develop their own formula when the need arises in future teaching careers.

“Teacher educators can also provide guidance to prospective teachers as they look for supportive work situations, helping them identify potential sources of support, such as mentors.”  (Singh, 1996).

Goldman (1995) says that developing a competency of any kind strengthens the sense of self-efficacy making a person more willing to take risks and seek out more demanding challenges.  And surmounting those challenges in turn increase the sense of self-efficacy.  This attitude makes people more likely to make the best use of whatever skills they may have or to do what it takes to develop them.

  According to researchers effective inclusion of children with emotional disorders is one of the most difficult. 

With more and more children being mainstreamed; it can make it extremely difficult for teachers to teach and students to learn in harmony.  Thus, it is essential to have hands-on experience with all children, especially those children who have a disability of some sort.  Today, more students are facing (experiencing) family breakdown, dysfunction within the family, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, and neglect, which affect their ability to learn.  “These factors include characteristics related to the family such as family stress, poverty, maternal health and inadequate educational settings such as school climate and teacher-child interaction.”  (Conroy & Davis, 2000). 

There are more and more children of poverty and children who are maltreated, abused and neglected in our schools.  The number of children of children presenting learning disabilities and emotional/behavioral disorders has increased dramatically during the past twenty-five years, and continues to increase annually.  (Bauer, Keefe & Shea, 2002). 

So, why aren’t students being taught how to deal with these issues (even at the college level) as well as to help children do the same?  Schools are teaching every other subject and particularly pushing standardized testing, yet they are unconcerned with how students function in everyday life, especially emotionally. 

I have wondered why issues of instructional time, behavioral management and team decision-making were not apparent to me during student teaching.  All of my energy was focused on the nuts and bolts of teaching children and running a classroom rather than on understanding the dynamics of the larger school culture.  (MacDonald, 2001).

“Although the first year of teaching will be difficult regardless of the quality of undergraduate training, there are several ways the difficulties could be eased such as spending time learning the curriculum (summer before teaching), study content areas for particular grade-level, consider diversity accommodations, and find out what training is offered (before school begins).  (MacDonald, 2001).  Dunne (2000), reminds us, “People can’t blame children for fooling around.  Kids migrate to the least effective form of management.  Also students hate being bored and they hate to sit passively.  They want to do something.”  According to MacDonald & Speece, (2001), “There has always been a dichotomy between research and practice in education, but I cringe when I encounter teachers who have not picked up a piece of research relevant to their classroom since they graduated from college.”

Teacher’s Mental Health

The teacher’s mental health is also a concern and hopefully the stresses that can be allayed will pay dividends in teacher effectiveness in all children.  This includes adequate preparation, adult support (understanding program goals and how they are being met), human beings first-teachers second (occupation is not who we are, but part of us), needs to be involved in other things (have a hobby to get mind off school), awareness of self, patience and most of all a teacher need to be free each new day fully recovered from the problems that were faced the day before.  (Reinhert, 1976). 

“Often keeping an open mind brings unexpected rewards.”  (Petri, 1995). 

Cavin (1998), suggests teachers should, believe that every problem has a solution and some problems have many solutions; look on the bright side in seemingly hopeless situations; be sensitive to student perceptions; recognize progress as progress no matter how small; view conflict as a manageable challenge; care for all students without expecting reciprocity; maintain a willingness to be flexible in trying new strategies; accept personal mistakes as part of the price for trying new things; keep kids on the academic track realizing that down time is often catastrophic, realizing that pain and being hurt by students is part of life and that overcoming fear of pain can make anyone more effective; keeping a sense of humor is necessary for classroom survival; and engaging in straight thinking, disputing irrational thoughts.

Thus, remaining positive and having an optimistic outlook may not only benefit the students, but her performance and how she feels about teaching.

“Yet even though a high IQ is no guarantee of prosperity, prestige, or happiness in life, our schools and our culture fixate on academic abilities, ignoring emotional intelligence, a set of traits-some might call it character-that also matters immensely for our personal destiny.  My concern is with a key of these other characteristics, emotional intelligence: abilities such as being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations; to control impulse and delay gratification’s; to regulate one’s moods and keep distress from swamping the ability to think, to empathize and to hope.”  (Grossman, 1965).

Reinert (1976), states that there are several characteristics or teacher behaviors, which appear to be significant as determined by a study of classrooms where successful integration is taking place, these include group management (both small, large, individual), reluctance to give up, security in teaching ability, willingness to teach through strengths, ability to motivate students and willingness to give more of self.  Teachers should avoid being too concerned about student respect or approval, which will harm the student and teacher relationship. 

“Teachers need to be comfortable talking about feelings; not every teacher is at ease doing so or wants to be.  There is little or nothing in the standard education of teachers that prepares them for these kinds of teaching.  For these reasons emotional literacy programs typically give prospective teachers several weeks of special training in the approach.”  (Grossman, 1965).  “Teachers must not assume blame for disordered behavior to which they are not contributing, yet it is equally important that teachers eliminate whatever contributions they may be making to their students misconduct.”  (Hallahan, 2000).  “The educator must respond to his students underlying emotions, not their superficial behavior.  (Grossman, 1965).

Abrams (1998) states, to be therapeutic, teachers must listen, talk, and act in ways that communicate respect, caring and confidence, both in themselves and in their students.  Therapeutic teachers possess ego strength and mental health; teachers with good mental health demonstrate a high level of self-awareness and self-confidence, realistic expectations of self, and the ability to exhibit and model self-control in managing stress and frustrations.  These teachers are able to remain calm in a crisis, and they do not become defensive or confrontational.

Variety of Teaching Techniques

Teachers should use a variety of techniques to help them eliminate or reduce problems and be selective using different techniques according to the particular child. 

“Before you begin any confrontational proceedings, however, it would be wise to have a file of daily written documentation of the behavior and learning problems presented by the problem student, other helpful areas of documentation are incentives, curriculum modifications, consequences, conferences, parental contacts, and copies of notes (medication and etc.).  Kosier, 1998). 

Howard Gardner, the Harvard psychologist who developed the theory of multiple intelligence’s, sees flow, and the positive states that typify it, as part of the healthiest way to teach children, motivating them from inside rather than by threat or promise of reward.”  (Grossman, 1995).

Secondly, the teacher should make a “Sociogram, which helps to identify the child’s discrepancy between chronological age and behavior, frequency of symptom occurrence, number of separate symptoms that alienate the child from those around him, the view that the child holds towards himself and resistance of behaviors to change.”  (Reinert, 1976).

            Walker and colleagues’ three-step identification process for identifying emotional disorders (greatly underused!).  First, the teacher lists and ranks the students with internalizing problems (listed in order from most like to least like).  Second, the teacher completes two checklists for the three highest ranked pupils on each list (ex. How often child swears-never, sometimes, frequently), Third, the teacher has another professional (school psychologist, counselor, or resource teacher) observe the three children (from 2) in the classroom (academic expectations) and on the playground (assess quality and nature of social behavior).  All three steps are taken to determine outcome and screening like this help to improve services for such children.  (Hallahan, 2000).

“The assessment of social skills through modeling, discussion and rehearsal are frequently used to help students increase control over their behavior and improve their relations with others.  “Observations revealed that teachers who told students of the classroom procedures, modeled and answered questions about the procedures had classrooms in which a greater percentage of students were engaged in lessons and academic tasks.”  (Gunter, 2002).  In addition, supportive therapies involving music, art, exercise and relaxation techniques, as well as affective education, individual and group counseling are sometimes employed to improve self-understanding self-esteem and self-control.”  (Zabel, 1988). 

Professional Collaboration

            Collaboration with other professionals is extremely important, especially for new teachers, because they can learn many valuable techniques from teachers who have effective classrooms. 

Teachers should collaborate with the principal as well, Singh (1996) shares that, “An important finding in this study was that principals have a very significant influence on role problems, stress, job satisfaction, and, ultimately, intent to stay in teaching.  Administrators, who collaborate with teachers, solicit suggestions and feedback, and assist teachers on their problems and concerns (role problems, discipline, etc) are more likely to have teachers who are less stressed, more satisfied, and more committed.

“However, by learning from teachers who are successfully teaching in these types of programs and searching the literature for hints from the experts, teachers can persevere and even excel in these most trying environments.”  (Cavin, 1998).  “The hard part was adapting the curriculum to the diverse needs of my students, making time to deliver it and coming to terms with my role on a team that did not always share my beliefs.”  (MacDonald, 2001).

Kosier (1998) says, “I would certainly review the files on these students and talk to the previous two or three teachers to find out for sure what hasn’t worked so you don’t repeat bad history, or you might ask an older experienced teacher to observe you teaching your class for 20-30 minutes and make suggestions.” 

According to Surpuriya (1997), “America’s teachers today are older, better educated and have more experience than ever before, 67% of the country’s public school teachers are over the age of 40, 54% have their master’s degree or at least 6 years of college and 38% have been teaching more than 20 years with the mean a hefty 16 years.”

  “Beginning teachers are at particular risk of leaving.  Teacher educators can assist preservice teachers by helping them understand the pressures they are likely to facet providing suggestions for dealing with stress.  Conversations with experienced teachers and articles about the early career period may help them make a better transition into teaching.”  (Singh, 1996). 

In Rock’s (2000), They concluded that approximately 70% of the teachers were caught in the students conflict cycle, some teacher’s held rigid and unrealistic expectations regarding normal developmental student behavior, others were responding to the crisis in a bad mood, and some were prejudging a problem student in a crisis.

According to Farber and Ascher (1991), Curriculum initiatives such as multidisciplinary units, new approaches to math, or reading, and multicultural education can give teachers a renewed sense of excitement, and draw faculty together in collaborative ventures.  Insofar as these initiatives are tailored to students’ needs, they may improve performance and, thus, teachers’ sense of efficacy.

Everyday Experiences With Children

            Teachers should work with children on a regular basis.  “The best part, however, was that from the first moment I stepped into a real classroom with real children and real needs, I knew I was in the right place.  Despite the demands, I found my undergraduate studies to be relevant, interesting and an excellent foundation.”  (MacDonald, 2001). 

“Things are changing too quickly; I can’t seem to keep up.  Children are changing.  Families are changing.  Schools are changing and society is changing.”  (Bauer, 2002).

According to Grossman (1965), “An educator who works with emotionally disturbed students has an extremely challenging job.  He must remedy their intellectual difficulties and educational handicaps, assuage their anxiety and fears, and prove false their suspicions and distortions.”  “Teachers must offer effective instruction in academic and social skills that will allow their students to live, learn and work with others.”  (Hallahan, 2000). 

When we teach about anger, we help kids understand that it is almost always a secondary reaction and to look for what’s underneath-are you hurt? Jealous?  Our kids learn that you always have choices about how you respond to emotion and the more ways you know to respond to an emotion, the richer your life can be.  One reason they are so poor at this basic life skill of course, is not that as a society we have not bothered to make sure every child is taught the essentials of handling anger or resolving conflicts positively-nor have we bothered to teach empathy, impulse control.  Or any of the other fundamentals of emotional competence.  (Goldman, 1995).

According to Squires (2002), “Teachers should be alert to behavioral changes (reacting unusually-ex. Laughing at death), keep a structured routine and minimize disruptions (create safe and comfortable environment), teach children words and ideas to express how they feel, appropriateness for those, teach social skills, be realistic with outcomes, teach appropriate reactions (like empathy), teach them to ask for help, reassure them/talk about safety, and teach by observation and imitation. 

“Researchers have identified that frustration due to task difficulty or boring curriculum is associated with increases in disruptive behavior.  Students who are actively engaged in learning are much less likely to become frustrated and aggressive.”  (Abrams, 1998).

Program Awareness

Teachers need to know that there are many available programs to help students with emotional disorders.  “Only a relatively small percentage of children and youths with emotional or behavioral disorders are officially identified and receive any special education or mental health services (those who do have very serious problems).”  (Hallahan, 2000).  Thus, it is important that we do not assume a child is getting special education just, because they have an emotional disorder. 

Goleman (1995), states that, the most effective programs, then, supplemented the basic sexual-abuse information with essential emotional and social skills.  These programs taught children to find ways to solve interpersonal conflicts more positively to have more self-confidence, not to blame themselves if something happened and to feel they had a network of support in teachers and parents who they could turn to.  And if something bad did happen to them; they were far more likely to tell.

“I’ve conducted workshops in schools as late as February and early May, within two weeks, the teachers have doubled the time on task and have an average of 80% fewer disruptions.  Some are even able to reduce disruptions by 90-95 percent.”  (Dunne, 2000).  “By learning from teachers who are successfully teaching in these types of programs and searching the literature for hints from the experts, teachers can persevere and even excel in these most trying environments.”  (Cavin, 1998).

Furthermore, it is essential to have many services, rather than just one.  These programs include, but are not limited to the following services: mental health, social, educational, health, substance abuse, vocational, recreational, operational, special education, family oriented, psychotherapy or counseling, community supervision and training (employment). 

According to Koury (2002), “Kids Tools is a software program designed to provide students tools to manage their own behavior and to provide teachers with information about the strategies, for example social, procedural, expository, cognitive, application and evaluation are the acquired result.” 

“The educational programs for children with an emotional disturbance need to include attention to providing emotional and behavioral support as well as helping them to master academics, develop social skills, and increase self-awareness, self-control, and self-esteem.”  (Emotional Disturbance, 2002).  Dunne (2000) emphasizes, “There is no substitute for experience in the classroom.”

            To conclude Preservice Teachers need to be knowledgeable about and understand emotional disorders, choose and evaluate their choice in a college (what opportunities they offer); be healthy themselves (mentally, physically and emotionally), use a variety of techniques (finding what works for each individual child), collaborate with other professionals (allotted time from employer), work with children frequently (having many real-life/hands-on experiences), especially with those children who need special assistance; and be aware of the wide array of program availability.

Methods:

Setting and Participants:

The design of our study consisted of creating surveys for the district teachers to complete.  We were lucky to get two interviews.  Phone and written contacts were made with each participating and non-participating schools.

This survey is determined if the Iowa and Nebraska Departments of Education provided an established child violence prevention program for elementary schools.  The survey examined the type of program being implemented, training available for faculty and staff, type of evaluation used, involvement of local agencies and the community and type of funding sources.  Survey data were obtained from a nonrandomized sample of three public school districts in Iowa and two public school districts in Nebraska and one private school in Nebraska.  Also, a personal interview was conducted with the Prevention Specialists in the Omaha Public School District.  Consistent, effective evaluation was a minimal.  Funding for prevention programs was limited or unknown. Results confirmed the need for a consistent and effective violence prevention program in elementary schools.

Population:

We are studying the children through the teachers.  We are also finding out what methods the teachers use with the children to end the violent or emotionally disturbed characteristics in their classroom.  We have the possibility of having three schools from Iowa who will be participating and two schools in Nebraska who will be participating.  All of these schools, except two, have pre-k through 3^rd grade programs.  We also gave surveys to specialist teachers, such as art, physical education, special education and Spanish/Foreign language teachers.  Even a Violence Prevention Specialist received a copy of the survey to complete as well.  One music teacher declined, stating that she had a full plate and did not want to participate in the survey.  One of our schools just started a kindergarten program this year and did not have a pre-k program.  Another school is possibly looking at having a pre-k program in the near future. 

Data Collection:

We chose surveys because of our time limitation.  We are striving for at least one interview so that participants would know whom they are completing the surveys for and understanding the project that is being conducted.  We chose written and over the phone contacts, so that the busy teachers would not lose classroom time.

Analysis of Data:

Originally, we planned to have color-coded surveys which would identify each grade level.  However time, money and participation were strong factors that determined our surveys to remain on plain white paper.  We plan to color code our returning surveys by color-coding with a variety of highlighted colors.  This would not only be a less expensive alternative, but easier for the wide population of teachers we were working with.

Permissions:

With the surveys we included a permission slip for the principal and the participating teachers to sign once they acknowledged that they would participate in our project.

Instruments

This survey instrument was created to elicit pre-service teachers' perception of their ability to prevent school violence.  Based on our comprehensive review of the literature, (a 56-item) 25 question survey instrument was developed for the teachers.  Part I included 10 background questions, Part II, included the "Likert Scale" with 12-questions, Part III included 2-Circle all that Apply, Part IV included 11-Short Answers and one-section to list any additional comments they may have had.

Our survey was adapted from the Pre-service Teachers' Perceived Confidence in Teaching School Violence Prevention by Tina L. Kandakai, PhD; Keith A. King, PhD, CHES.

Likert Scale

            A Likert Scale measures the extent to which a person agrees or disagrees with the question.  The most common scale is 1 to 5.  Often the scale will be 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=not sure 4=agree and 5=strongly agree.

Source:  http://www.uni.edu/its/us/document/stats/spss2.html

            We calculated all 1’s and 2’s together to equal disagree, then we calculated all 4’s and 5’s together to equal agree.  3’s remained the same (not sure).

Analysis Of Data

1.         What type of teacher’s degree do you presently have?

                                                            Urban results   Rural results    Suburban results     Unknown

1.         BA/BS-                                          10                     4                       3             2

2.         BA+                                                0                      0                       0

3.         MA/MS                                           6                      2                       2

4.         MA+                                                0                      1                       0

2.         What is your age?

Urban:             25, 42, 26, 22, unknown, 42, 53, 25, 58, 44, 49, unknown, unknown, 46, 26, 31, 30

            Rural:              39, 51, 31, 40+, 24, unknown, 55

            Suburban:      25, 28, 56, 36, 59

            Unknown:       1

Conclusion

            There are many benefits to having a violence prevention program, as quoted by Johnson and Johnson (1995).  They include, but are not limited to higher-quality decision-making, better coping and stress reduction skills, increased motivation, a greater sense of caring, commitment, and an increase in problem-solving skills.  In response to violence in elementary school children; we have found that having a violence prevention program benefits teachers, counselors, staff and administrators, as well as students and the community, as a whole.  We can’t completely remedy the problems, but we can give our children tools to help them deal with everyday real life situations.  We should also realize that each curriculum created would be suitable to each school and their specific circumstances.

            From our research we feel that violence prevention training and updated trainings for teachers, counselors, staff, administrators and students, would have very little drawbacks for the children, the school and the entire community.  Currently, from the U.S. Department of Education and Justice Statistics (1998), violence prevention is in 78% of the public schools.  Most schools use a violence prevention method.  The majority of schools use Life-Skills or Boys Town Social Skills.  A few teachers used TCI (Therapeutic Crisis Intervention) training or referred a student to PAC (Positive Action Center).  Some teachers stated they needed outside help, or they removed the child from the room.

            Some surprising findings were that most teachers are still white females; we were hoping to find more diversity.  It was one of the reasons we chose to compare two states.  Some teachers did not feel they were contributing to the student’s violent behavior and one teacher placed an ELL (English Language Learner) student under the assumption that he was emotionally disturbed.

Recommendations

We recommend that all schools implement some type of violence prevention plan for their teachers, staff and students, that all teachers include violence prevention measures in their curriculum and that teachers, administrators and staff become aware of emotionally disturbed characteristics in children, as well as, knowing the full definition of violence (verbal, physical, emotional and mental).  We also recommend that teachers, administrators and staff have current and updated violent prevention training measures.  We also feel that there is great need for more male and a more diverse population of teachers.

Bibliography

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            Bauer, A. M., Keefe, C. H. & Shea, T. M. (2002).  Students with learning disabilities or emotional/behavioral disorders.  Retrieved October 22, 2002, from http://vig.prenhall.com/catalog/academic/product/1,4096,0130212253,00.html?type=PRE

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