Classroom Efforts. In conjunction with schoolwide efforts, or as the lesson plans of one teacher, classroom violence prevention learning can greatly enhance the safety of a school. Keep in mind that violence prevention is not a one-time lesson. Rather, it’s an ongoing process in which positive behaviors are modeled and reinforced. Ideas for effectively communicating a violence prevention message in individual classrooms include:

• Teach and practice social skills: An effective violence prevention curriculum teaches skills that enable students to manage their anger, solve problems, negotiate with their peers, listen actively, communicate effectively, and resolve conflict (Drug Strategies, 1998). Interactive teaching methods (such as group work, cooperative learning, and class discussions) give students opportunities to practice positive social skills.
• Connect violence-prevention skills to academics: The pursuit of academic excellence may also help prevent violence (Larson, 1994). Academic subjects such as English, math, and social studies develop students’ cognitive skills. The same skills—reasoning, weighing consequences, using language to solve problems, making considered choices—will also help them reason their way through the stressful and conflict-laden situations that life presents (Prothrow-Stith, 1994). Teachers can help students see the connection between the classroom and the rest of their life. A health class, for example, can teach that anger is a normal emotion we all experience and can constructively channel. A history class can reinforce this message by highlighting individuals who have channeled their anger or frustration into creative solutions. A civics class can reinforce it again by giving students an opportunity to put their problem-solving skills to work on an issue that affects the school or community (Kenney & Watson, 1996).
• Manage class efficiently: A well-managed classroom provides a stable environment conducive to learning and a place where students can practice positive skills. Ideas to help educators manage their classrooms effectively include: using body language to "cue" students about their behavior (reinforcing positive behavior, and discouraging negative behavior); moving around the classroom to increase physical proximity to all students; detecting problems before violence erupts; and applying fair, consistent discipline (Rossman & Morley, 1996). Students tend to show more respect for teachers whose classroom style is marked by firmness, compassion, and an interesting, engaging, and challenging style of teaching, and who do not let differences of race, class, or age create barriers between them and their students (Noguera, 1996).
• Develop media awareness: Students need to become more aware consumers of the mass media. Class discussions can deglamorize the violent heroes and themes celebrated in movies and on television by discussing the real consequences of violent behavior (Prothrow-Stith, 1994).
• Teach conflict resolution skills: Peer mediation and conflict resolution programs teach students skills to settle their differences creatively, without violence. These proactive programs teach that conflict is pervasive and inevitable. Handled constructively, conflict can lead to healthy development and growth. Handled destructively, it can lead to troubled or abusive relationships or failed goals (Horowitz & Boardman, 1994). As early as the elementary grades, volunteer peer mediators can be trained to help their fellow students settle differences by negotiating a series of confidential steps:
  1. Each party gets a chance to explain his or her view of the situation
  2. Each party puts his or her feelings into the open, which creates empathy
  3. Both parties are empowered to solve the problem nonviolently (Shepherd, 1994)
• Remind students that they can make a difference. Help students see that violence is not inevitable. Use poster contests, art shows, theater presentations, and other forums to involve students in spreading the word about violence prevention. (For a detailed list of steps students can take to prevent violence, see Appendix 2.)

Community Involvement. Beyond teacher and administrator efforts to curb school violence, enlisting the community to combat violence can help reduce risks and promote protective bonds between young people, and their families, schools, and communities (Drug Strategies, 1998; Comprehensive Health Education Foundation, 1994). Such involvement enables the school to draw on the diversity of the local community (Center for Study of Prevention of Violence, 1998). Opportunities for community involvement can include:

• Mentoring: Mentoring can connect youth with positive adult role models and help to combat the risks and diminished opportunities created by poverty or family dysfunction.
• Parent involvement: Roles that parents can play in schools are endless. Parent volunteers can serve as safety monitors, provide safe houses, or patrol corridors between school and home to enhance student security.
• Parenting skills education: Schools can teach positive parenting skills that may prevent abuse and help break the cycle of family violence. Parent management training, which teaches parents skills for interacting positively with their children, is an important component in treating aggressive children (Larson, 1994). Classes for teen parents provide early intervention for young families.
• Youth services: Community leaders should be involved in planning for violence prevention to coordinate delivery of services from a variety of agencies and organizations. Make the school available for after-hour use by community groups. Youth clubs or after-school recreation programs, for instance, can become school allies to prevent violence. After-school recreation programs make the school a safe haven within the community.
• Building liaisons: Community policing and other liaisons with law enforcement (such as recruiting police officers to coach youth basketball leagues) bring students into contact with police in positive ways (Kenney & Watson, 1996).
• Creating service opportunities: Schools can provide students with opportunities to make positive contributions to the life of the community through service learning, thus creating in students a sense of pride and connection to the community.
• Weapons education: Community-based weapons education programs attempt to deglamorize weapons, make young people think about the consequences of their actions, and also connect at-risk youth with adults in positive, nonpunitive ways. They offer an opportunity to intervene early with youth who have been caught in possession of a weapon (Trone, 1997). Messages are often delivered by presenters who have "been there," who share the students’ socioeconomic background, and who may have learned the hard way that weapons don’t solve problems. Typical messages include:
  • Gun violence hurts the victims, their families, and entire communities
  • Being involved in gun violence will change your whole life
  • There are adults who care and can help you find nonviolent ways to solve problems (Trone, 1997)