Challenges to Violence Prevention

It is never easy to implement a new educational program. Even the best of intentions can result in frustration if planners are not aware of potential pitfalls. The following list details some possible challenges to effective implementation of violence prevention programs.

• System coordination: Work to coordinate the various agencies based on a shared goal, while at the same time navigating community politics. Different agencies may have overlapping agendas when it comes to school safety and violence prevention. Avoid turf battles by working toward cooperative solutions.
• Parent participation: Acknowledge that it may take effort to enlist the support of parents for volunteer programs that are perceived as time-intensive, due to the time constraints many families live under. Outreach may be needed to overcome parental resistance to attending parenting skills classes. Enlist the media to help spread the word in creative ways that engage target populations.
• School climate: Remain proactive, not reactive. "Get tough" security measures, such as placing metal detectors at the school doors and having armed guards patrol the hallways, may have some popular appeal. However, these measures have not proven generally effective in reducing school violence (Noguera, 1996). Reactive measures don’t address the underlying causes of violence and don’t promote positive norms. Nor do such efforts involve students as part of the solution. Instead, they project a negative message that students are not to be trusted (Drug Strategies, 1998). Schools that do resort to security measures need to communicate that these policies don’t reflect mistrust of students; rather, they are being used to protect students from danger.
• Implementation method: Avoid using scare tactics with students. Graphic films about violence may backfire and actually glamorize guns or fighting.
• Program scope: Remember that effective efforts are long-term and comprehensive. Short-term or one-shot violence prevention efforts are seldom successful.
• Expectations: Accept that there is no easy cure for violence. Expecting a conflict resolution or peer mediation program to provide a total solution to school violence, for example, is unrealistic and sets up the program for failure (Horowitz & Boardman, 1995). Similarly, programs that focus exclusively on one theme, such as self-esteem, tend to be ineffective as violence prevention (Drug Strategies, 1998). Gang members may have high self-esteem but lack the skills needed to avoid resolving conflicts violently.

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