OVERVIEW OF CAUSES AND REMEDIES FOR VIOLENCE AND VANDALISM Superintendents and other school personnel interviewed, recognized the complexity of causes of violence and vandalism. A number of different reasons for disruptive student behavior were suggested. The most frequently cited reason was insensitivity on the part of school staff to student needs. Economic and societal influences on the school environment were also recognized by most school personnel as contributors to these problems (see table 9). Administrators felt the problem of violence and vandalism could most effectively be combatted by providing students with employment and recreation during the after school hours and during summer months. Other frequently mentioned remedies included alternative programs and curriculum reform within the schools (see table 10). Respondents to the survey mentioned the following causes of violence and vandalism in the schools (ranked by order of frequency): TABLE 9.—Overview of proposed causes of violence and vandalism Insensitivity on the part of school staff. Climate of violence in society Lack of and reduction in support services due to budget deficits--- 1 2.5 2.5 5 Student alienation---- 5 Resentment of or lack of confidence in authority figures___ Suspensions and expulsions (hangers-on outside the schools). 7.5 Permissiveness in society 7.5 Gangs 11.5 Lack of communication between school staff and students, school and Respondents to the survey mentioned the following remedies to violence and vandalism in the schools (ranked by order of frequency): TABLE 10.-Overview of proposed remedies of violence and vandalism Provision for employment and recreation for students after school hours and during the summer. Alternative programs for "divergent" students_ Student and parent participation in decisionmaking_ Meaningful curricula and activities for students_ Provision for discipline other than off-site suspension or expulsion_---. CHAPTER III-PROMISING PRACTICES 12101010 10 10 0 0 6 3. 5 6.5 6.5 9 9 9 In every school district included in the survey, successful programs had been developed to cope with the problems of violence, vandalism and exclusion. Several of the cities had developed extremely effective programs for coping with existing problems and preventing future difficulties. Public schools in Miami, Florida and Oakland, California, for example, have all but eliminated expulsions and drastically reduced suspensions. Both systems have done this by combining intense community involvement and sound, fully implemented public policy. Baltimore, Maryland and New Orleans, Louisiana have developed unusually effective programs for coping with conflict in their school systems. Atlanta, Georgia has an unusually effective security force which is the smallest among the major cities, but operates with great effectiveness. The most unique factor associated with the Atlanta security program is that security personnel operate as a part of the teaching, counseling, administrative team in the schools. The Los Angeles Unified School District, despite its size and complexity, has a number of programs and approaches which address, with considerable success, the multi faceted problems facing a large, multi-racial, geographically dispersed school system. In short, ways of coping with the problems have been and are being developed at the local level. These programs have not eliminated the problem: the school systems clearly need help. But it is also true that they do not feel powerless, nor are they overwhelmed by their problems. In this chapter we present a few of the programs to illustrate wide range of practices utilized in coping with persistent problems. Although the numbers of students included in some of the programs is small, there is every reason to believe that larger numbers of students would be similarly helped if adequate funding, community support and understanding were available. Conflict resolution.-New Orleans Louisiana and Baltimore, Maryland. After the first year of desegregation (1974-1975) in Baltimore Public Schools, a Positive Intervention Project was initiated to prepare a cadre of skilled persons for schools in which problems had occurred to facilitate and monitor the continuing process of desegregation in those schools; and to provide support services in human relations and problem-solving. The project began with 47 facilitators from business, industry, community organizations, government agencies, students and faculty who organized into teams during the summer of 1975. These teams conducted a three day workshop where they originated specific plans for potential crisis situations using simulation and role-playing techniques. The plain clothes policemen that would be assigned to problem situations also attended, allowing the team members to be come acquainted with them. When school opened each team was assigned to a school where they operated to prevent small problems or potential problems from developing into crisis situations. They were especially successful in the Hamden area where organizations like the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party were active. For the first time and in contrast to the previous year, there were no major incidents at schools in this area. Similar successes have been noted in other areas of the city. The New Orleans Conflict Resolution Teams provide another answer to student unrest in the schools. Early in 1972, under the supervision of New Orleans' Superintendent, Dr. Gene Geisert, the concept of a Conflict Resolution Team was formed. The concept for the Conflict Resolution Team grew out of a series of consultations with principals in whose schools there were serious instances of student unrest during the fall and winter of the 1971-1972 school year. Composed of individuals who were specially qualified to deal directly with the problem of student unrest, the team was charged with the responsibility of developing new ways of communication and understanding of these problems by working to bring students, teachers, and parents together to discuss prevention of crises situations-many of the student disturbances stemming from recent desegregation. Funded by a grant of $40,000 from the Tulane University Education Resource Center; Title IV of the Civil Rights Act, the new Program selected four team members of diverse backgrounds: two whites, two blacks. All members had skills in group dynamics and experience with school and community programs. In the initial stages of the program, two team members were assigned to two different schools to help ease over some situations which had arisen and to develop an esprit and attitude among students that would assist the educational process. In one school the Teams' effort led to the development of a student-run organization promoting peace and harmony among the students. In another, parents met regularly in small clusters in neighborhoods to seek solutions to problems in their schools. Workshops were designed for teachers. principals and parents to aid them in dealing with their own overreactions to situations. Although the Team has not met with 100 percent success, the demand for their services from principals at all school levels has been increasing. Plans for the expansion of the Team are being considered by the Superintendent and members of the board in order that more emphasis can be placed on the problems encountered by students and teachers. Suspensions and expulsions.-Atlanta, Georgia and Dade County, Florida. Both the Atlanta Public Schools and the Dade County Schools in dealing with their suspension and expulsion problem, developed programs to address “divergent youth." The Atlanta School System, in October of 1975, adopted as policy a number of practices already in effect in several Atlanta schools. The Discipline Imple |