Violence in America's Schools: Understanding, Prevention, and Responses

The problem of violence in schools has not gone away despite radical reductions in violent crimes throughout the country over the last decade. Students continue to harass, haze, and harm each other in a variety of ways, disrupting classrooms and entire schools. In the wake of the Columbine massacre, many focused on the worst kind of school violence: deadly assaults with dangerous weapons. But other forms of violence are more persistent, common, and just as destructive: fighting, sexual abuse, carrying weapons to school, vandalism, and assorted other crimes happen behind the closed doors of elementary, middle, and high schools across the country. The consequences range from violent victimization and death to fear and the disruption of learning among student bodies and teaching staffs.