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Lead: Preventing violence in an urban high school.
Brief Synopsis
Anne Wilayto Bishop, director of Brighton High School’s school-based health center, has decided to take on the problem of violence at her school. She runs a violence prevention program that combines in-class teaching with individual counseling by health care professionals. This curriculum, entitled the Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents, was created by Harvard School of Public Health professor Deborah Prothrow-Stith, M.D. Students stage the beginning of a fight, which is videotaped, and analyze it. By actively pretending to have a fight, students gain insight into why the fight happens, what mechanisms they need to come to a resolution, and how to prevent a fight from happening through good communication skills. As Dr. Prothrow-Stith says, "When violence comes to school these kinds of exercises help teens understand that fights don’t just happen, and that fighting is not the only way to deal with problem. Watching themselves on a videotape, the teens begin to see the extent to which peer pressure and escalating emotions have to do with fights early on – before emotions get red hot."
Program
Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents
Created by Deborah Prothrow-Stith, M.D.
Education Development Center, Inc.
55 Chapel Street
Newton, MA 02160
(617) 969-7100
Curriculum that helps teens deal with anger in productive nonviolent ways.
Story Contact
Anne Wilayto Bishop
80 Pagoda St.
Milton, MA 02186
(617) 696-2058
Expert Contact
Jacqueline Kral, MPH
Harvard School of Public Health
718 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
Background
Overall, 22% of all teen-aged students have been in a fight in the past year. 34%of those fighting were boys while only 11% were girls. (Fact Sheet from the Harvard School of Public Health--Violence in America. Division of Public Health Practise, Violence Prevention Programs. 677 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02155.)
In a survey of 720 school districts nationwide, 82% reported an increase in violence in their schools over the last five years. (Fact Sheet from the Harvard School of Public Health--Violence in America. Division of Public Health Practise, Violence Prevention Programs. 677 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02155.)
15% of students report that gangs are present at their school. Of these students, 35% reported fearing attack at school while 24% feared attack going to or from school. Where gangs are present, 13% of students avoided certain areas inside schools out of fear of attack. (Fact Sheet from the Harvard School of Public Health--Violence in America. Office of Government and Community Programs. 677 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02155.)
Most public schools report having formal school violence prevention programs. (Heaviside, S., Rowand, C., Williams, C., & Farris, E. Violence and discipline problems in U.S. public schools: 1996-97. U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Wachinton, DC 20402-9328.)
Evaluation of the 2000 NYC middle school students and teachers who participated in two different violence prevention programs (Schools Teaching Options for Peace and the Safe Harbor program) found that students who participated in the Safe Harbor program became less likely to advocate retaliation in response to conflict. Both programs altered the belief that respect was achieved through violence, and both programs had positive and strong effects on student attitudes. (Evaluation of violence prevention programs in middle schools. (1997). National Institute of Justice Update. Department of Justice, Washington, DC. National Institute of Justice.)
In one study on the effectiveness of a violence prevention program, results showed boys more positively effected by the program than girls. This may be due to the fact that the program teachers were men, whom some boys may have viewed as role models. (Farrell, A.D. & Mever, A.L. (1997). The effectiveness of a school-based curriculum for reducing violence among urban sixth-grade students. American Journal of Public Health, 87. 979-984)
Related Coverage
McNamera, Bob. (June 10, 1998). Leaders of town hit by school shootings meet to discuss violence prevention. CBS Morning News.
When violence comes to school. (April 14, 1998). Current Health 2, v.24 p.6.
Schmike, Anne, (July 16, 1998). Creating success to combat violence: Project’s focus is teaching new skills. The Washington Post.
Springer, J. (August 28, 1998). Report urges violence prevention programs for schools. The Hartford Courant. p. A7.
Violence-prevention plan is proposed for children. (April 17, 1998). The New York Times. Section B; p. 4, Metropolitan Desk.
Facts about violence among youth and violence in schools: Fact sheet. (May 12, 1998) CDC, Media Relations. 1600 Clifton Road. MS D-25. Atlanta, GA. 30333. (404) 639-3286.
Compiled by:
Lana Grom
Web Development Team
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