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Minnesota Department of Human Services
Publication Date: February 10, 1999
Dear Stakeholder,
The names of places like West Paduka, Kansas, Springfield, Oregon and Jonesboro, Arkansas
doubtlessly conjure up images of school violence. In 1998 as the state and nation struggled with
the images of children gunned down in their school yards, a group of Minnesotans was organized
by Minnesota Department of Human Services Children's Mental Health Division to
address violence among school-aged children. The group: Kids Killing Kids: A Thoughtful
Response, sought to gather information on these violent acts, develop action steps to address
them, and implement some workable strategies to help children and families. The attached
report is a result of this group's work.
Kids Killing Kids: A Thoughtful Response also took part in:
With the release of this report we hope to increase the peace among our youth in Minnesota.
We acknowledge the work of the young people from across the state who shared their insights, numerous state agency and community experts who provided the group with information, and the members of the adult group.* Thank you.
For more information, please contact: Kathy Jefferson at 651-215-6019.
Sincerely:
Janice Cooper
Director, Children's Mental Health Division
*Special thanks to Candy Kragthorpe and Kathy Jefferson who compiled this report and to Kathleen Lonergan, Cindy Conley, Edwin Fahnbulleh, Cordelia Anderson, Lucas Yang, Charly Leuze, Shirley Pierce, and Mary Sontag, who facilitated the youth's participation.
In May and June of 1998 the news media was saturated with the news coverage of the tragic violent school shooting events in West Paduka, Kansas, Springfield, Oregon and Jonesboro, Arkansas. Throughout the country, including Minnesota, communities were painfully aware that this could happen in our town, in our schools. Adults were asking how could this happen? What went wrong with these kids? They must be held accountable. As information about the children in these incidents became known we learned they had histories of troubled lives. Concerns over these tragedies compelled individuals in Minnesota to seek ways to be proactive so that our communities would not join the list of towns, cities and suburbs devastated by youth violence. This concern also compelled Minnesota individuals to ask how, as adults, are we protecting and caring for our children.
"Lots of ways to get a gun."
"You can't buy a CD with explicit lyrics but you can buy a gun at your local store."
"Adults should be more responsible for their guns."
"My dad doesn't have his gun locked up -even my little brother knows where it is."
"My parents have a shotgun against the wall in a bedroom."
The Children's Mental Health Division of the Minnesota Department of Human Services along with representatives from other state agencies formed an ad hoc group, Kids Killing Kids: A Thoughtful Response. This group brought together individuals from private, public and community organizations. The group's purpose was to develop action plans which are relevant and possible with a high potential for reducing violence among kids. The group, composed of approximately thirty-five individuals from throughout Minnesota, held four facilitated sessions to:
Early in the process it became evident to the adults that youth be included in the process. This led to the "Gathering of Youth Voices Forum," a day long youth conference. This forum brought together 65 Minnesota youth, from public and charter schools, and youth from residential correctional facilities, to participate in small group discussions facilitated by youth facilitators. The purpose of this gathering was to learn from these students how youth and adults can work together to keep youth safe in their schools and communities.
Kids Killing Kids: A Thoughtful Response Group addressed the following questions:
Gathering of Youth Voices Forum responded to the following questions about creating safer schools and communities for youth:
The youth participants were thoughtful, candid and serious in their responses. Most strikingly, these young people were very appreciative to have been asked to participate, to contribute their thoughts, ideas and recommendations. Frequent comments from the youth indicated that most of the time they feel adults don't want to listen to them or don't respect their opinions.
There was consensus between the responses of the adults and youth that:
The following report is based on what adults and youth learned together.
The adults' commitment to the young people was/ is to listen, really listen, to them.
Often we are consumed by the problems, paralyzed by the highly visible events of violence among children. There is a tendency to reinvent the wheel, to begin with a clean slate. It is clear that while there are violent acts being committed, the majority of school buildings remain safe. The following are critical elements to programs, services and the environment for young people that hold promising practices according to the literature, and the groups of adults and youth. (Italics indicate direct quotes for the youth in The Gathering of Youth Voices Forum.)
A Comprehensive Approach, Including Family, Peer, Media And Community
Violence prevention program experts suggests that an integrated, coordinated approach that includes all aspects of youth life can have an effective impact on reducing violence. Specific elements of this approach are outlined below.
"Good teachers make a big difference"
"Not enough caring adults who will understand and you can trust."
"The media makes it seem like it's so bad. At school there was a small fight. They act like it was a riot. Police brought in dogs and everything."
"Violence is glorified -guns are the answer."
Resource Model:
The mission of Baltimore Police Athletic League (PAL) is to reduce juvenile crime and victimization by allowing young people to interact with police officers in a positive setting, while participating in constructive alternatives to antisocial behavior. With the success of this first pilot project, 26 additional academic and recreational centers are now operating. As the regular school day ends, PAL after-school and summer academic and recreational activities are run by Baltimore police officers, community service officers, and parent and community volunteers. These adults, serving as role models and mentors, work to create a healthy atmosphere that fosters trust and mutual respect between youth and adult authority figures.
Also referred to as normative education, normative change is based on the concept that children learn best and services are most effective when delivered in as normal an environment as possible.
Normative change activities are designed to show that violence is not the norm, and that changes in behavior or "norms" can occur. Specific elements of normative change activities include:
"We need mutual respect."
"A lot of violence stems from people not being respected."
"I was the only black student... I was pushed around, called names... I had no support."
"In some schools lockers are searched, and there are metal detectors. Metal detectors make it feel like a jail."
Resource Model:
An example of a strong normative change program, selected as a model in Blueprints in Violence Prevention, comes from the work of Dr. Dan Olweus in Norway, that was launched in the 1980s and included a school-based intervention. Teachers and schools received guidance on how to prevent bullying, including rules against bulling, and ways of protecting students from bullying. This resulted in a reduction of 50 percent in the frequency of bully-related problems, including fighting, for two years after the campaign began. Truancy, vandalism, and theft also declined while school climate, order, and discipline improved.
According to the 1998 Minnesota Student Survey:
It is clear that students could benefit from programs that include a normative change component.
Life skills training refers to skill building that stresses personal, interpersonal, problem solving and other skills necessary to address aspects of everyday life. Specific aspects of such training may include:
"We need to learn how to talk to each other."
"We need to learn how to confront others without violence."
"More classes to talk about differences and what's inside people"
"We need more programs to teach ways to learn good behavior."
"Need to learn about anger management and thinking errors like: glorifying, self-centered, minimizing, assuming the worst, blaming others. How to ask for help, moral judgement."
Resource Model:
The U. S. Departments of Education and Justice first Annual Report on School Safety, model programs section, outlines a variety of Life Skills programs throughout the county.
Prevention and Early intervention refers to activities designed to reduce the incidence of violence by targeting young people who have not engaged in violent behaviors, who are at risk for violent behaviors, or who are beginning to engage in minor exhibitions of violence. Below are issues to be considered with early intervention and prevention.
"There are family problems -family not caring, family violence, alcohol and drug abuse."
"It's like no one paid attention to the kids who shot other kids. They wanted to be accepted. We need to work more with the relationship between students than on metal detectors and stuff."
"We need parent education."
"We need mentors."
"In 9th grade my friend tried [suicide]. We told the school counselor and he talked to her. Her parents really didn't do anything."
Resource Model:
Families and Schools Together (FAST) is a two-year program that engages parents in providing social supports for children ages 3-13 and their families. Implemented by schools nationwide, this program seeks to improve student behavior and strengthen communities, schools, and families by reaching out to socially isolated families, creating support networks, and encouraging parents to take leadership roles in the program. It does this through a well-defined collaboration between parents, the school, a local mental health agency, a local provider of substance abuse prevention and intervention services, a youth advocate, and a youth partner. The program is replicated in 30 Wisconsin schools and in California schools. According to the 1998 Minnesota Student survey, 31% of 9th grade females and 16% of the males thought about killing themselves during the last year. For the 12th graders, 19% of the females and 15% of the males thought about killing themselves during the last year.
Cultural competency has been defined as a "set of congruent behaviors, attitudes and policies that come together in a system, agency or among professionals, enabling them to work in cross-cultural situations... The word culture is used because it implies the integrated patterns of human behavior that include thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious or social groups. The word competence is used because it implies having the capacity to function within the context of culturally integrated patterns of behavior defined by the group."
According to the U. S. Department of Education, Early Warning Timely Response, A Guide to Safe Schools, a major source of conflict in many schools is the perceived or real problem of bias and unfair treatment of students because of ethnicity, gender, race, social class, religion, disability, nationality or sexual orientation.
"Racism and drugs/ alcohol are big parts of it [violence]."
"We should have anti-violence and anti-racism classes
"We need more one-on-one time with people different from you."
"When I was the only kid of color, the teacher was inappropriate.
Resource Model:
The Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP) is a comprehensive, school-based program in conflict resolution and intercultural understanding. RCCP began in 1985 as a collaboration of the New York City Public Schools and the New York City Chapter of Educators for Social Responsibility Metropolitan Area, an independent nonprofit organization. The overall goal of RCCP is to incorporate conflict resolution skills and intercultural understanding into the classroom curriculum and everyday social interactions. The primary objectives are to achieve a long-term reduction in violence and violence-related behavior and to promote intergroup understanding and positive intergroup relations, greater student academic achievement and a reduction in the absentee rates for both students and teachers.
Training and Consultation refers to opportunities for learning to ensure appropriate implementation of principles and programs and consulting with experts in specific issues such as behaviors, building school capacity and community resources.
Resource Model:
There are a range of training and consultants to support violence prevention activities through-out the country.
Extensive research suggests that there are physical plant changes and administrative procedures that can help promote a school climate that reduces violence.
"We are over crowded in our school. Can't get a seat at lunch."
"Classes too big."
"More kids, crowded together, more conflict."
Resource Model:
A variety of models have been implemented nationwide to address the issue of school climate. In Minnesota, a partnership between the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Department of Health and Human Services is designed to address school climate. Critical elements of this program include:
According to the National Institute of Justice and Drug Strategies available evidence indicates the following programs fail to prevent crime or reduce risk factors for crime:
The adults in the Kids Killing Kids Group and the youth in the Gathering of Youth Voices shared concerns about zero tolerance policies and out of school suspension and expulsion policies that were not clearly and publicly communicated and that did not provide alternative resources to students.
"Zero tolerance does not get rid of the violence. The violence gets to go out to the community."
"School violence policies do not work."
"We don't know if there is a policy."
"Focus should be broader and more preventative than punishment."
"Suspension doesn't work if you don't want to be in school anyway. Then they [students] are left unsupervised."
According to the Minnesota Department of Children Families and Learning, there was a 250% increase in the numbers of children expelled from school between 1990 and 1997. Over 60% of the students were expelled for violence or the threat of violence. This number is considered a gross underestimation. Anecdotal information suggest far more students are excluded through humanitarian transfers, options to self-exclude including offers to drop out or enroll at another school or in another school district.
Resource model: What Works -an alternative to out of school suspension
Community Accountability And Prevention (CAAP) program. When a student violates a school district policy, which in the past would have meant suspension, a meeting is held with the parents, administrator, and counselor or social worker. The student and parent(s) sign a contract which outlines specifically the expectation of the student while in the CAAP program. Completion of school work, provided by the classroom teachers, is always required. Other conditions such as community service, anger management class or restitution may also be included. CAAP has been operational for three years. Contact: Doris Karls, John Glenn Middle School, Maplewood, MN, (651) 748-6311
Recommendations:
The preceding information is based on information gained from, but not limited to, the following sources: the Kids Killing Kids: A Thoughtful Response Group, the Gathering of Youth Voices Forum, Drug Strategies, the National Institute of Justice, the U. S. Department of Education, the U. S. Department of Justice and the White House Conference on School Safety: Causes and Prevention of Youth Violence.
Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1991). "Attachments and Other Affectional Bonds Across the Life Cycle." In: C. M. Parkes, J. Stevenson-Hinde & P. Marris (eds.), Attachment Across the Life Cycle. New York: Routledge.
Issacs, M. R. and Benjamin, M. P.( 1991), Towards a Culturally Competent System of Care: A Monograph on Effective Services for Minority Children Who Are Severely Emotionally Disturbed, Volume II.
Washington, D. C. Burt, Martha R. (1998). "Reasons to Invest in Adolescents." Paper prepared for the Health Futures of Youth II: Pathways to Adolescent Health, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, DHHS, Washington, DC.
CDC National Center for Injury Prevention & Control (1993). Prevention of Youth Violence: a Framework for Community Action. Atlanta, Ga.
Children, Youth and Family Consortium, Electronic Clearinghouse, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn: http:// www. cyfc. umn. edu
Community Accountability And Prevention CAAP, School District 622, Maplewood, Minn Corrections Today, (Vol. 56, No. 5, August, 1994). Reducing Risks and Protection Our Youths: A Community Mission Drug Strategies, (1998) Safe Schools, Safe Students: A Guide to Violence Prevention Strategies. Washington, D. C.
Dryfoos, J. (1990). Adolescents at Risk: Prevalence and Prevention. New York: Oxford University Press.
Earle, Ralph B. (1995). Helping to Prevent Child Abuse and Future Criminal Consequences -Hawaii's Health Start. National Institute of Justice, Washington, D. C.
Egeland, B. & Erickson, M. F. (1986). Project Steep: a Prevention Interventions with High Risk Parent and Infants. Proposal submitted to NIMH, Infancy Prevention Research Branch.
Eliott D. (1994). Youth Violence: An Overview. Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, University of Colorado, Boulder: The Aspen Institute. Phone: (303) 492-8465.
Freiberg, Selma; Adelson, Edna; Shapirio, Vivian; (1987) Ghosts in the Nursery: a Psychoanalytic Approach to the Problems of Impaired Infant-mother Relationships. Ohio State University Press.
Garbarino, J. & Kostenlny. (1990). Neighborhood and Community Influences on Parenting. In Parenting: An Ecological Perspective, Erikson Institute for Advanced Study In Child Development.
Gottfredson, D. C. (1986) "An Empirical Test of School-Based Environmental and Individual Interventions To Reduce the Risk of Delinquent Behavior", Criminology 24: 705-731.
Heneghan, A. M., Horwitz, S. M. and Levanthal, J. M. (1996). "Evaluation Intensive Family Preservation Programs: a Methodological Review." Pediatrics 97( 4): 535-542.
Karr-Morse, R. (1998). Ghosts From the Nursery. The Atlantic Monthly Press.
Kenney, D. J. and Watson, T. S. (1996) "Reducing Fear in the Schools: Managing Conflict Through Student Problem Solving." Education and Urban Society 28: 436-455
Kretzman, J. P., & McKnight, J. L. (1993). Building Communities from the Inside out. (Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research, Northwestern University, 2040 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, Ill 60208).
Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, (1997) "County Attorney Reports on Criminal Cases Involving Firearms." St. Paul, Minn.
National Institute of Justice Research in Brief, (July 1998). Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising. Washington, D. C.
Olds DL, Kitzman HR. (1993) Review of Research on Home Visiting for Pregnant Women and Parents of Young Children. The future of children: home visiting. Vol 3: 53-92.
PACER Center (1997). Unique Challenges, Hopeful Responses. PACER Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
Resnick, Michael D. Youth Development as a Strategy to Improve Outcomes for Youth. Presentation to the expert panel on adolescent health, Minnesota Department of Health, October 1998.
Robbinsdale Area Schools; Truancy Prevention Team Sherman, L. W. et al (1998). Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising. National Institute of Justice. Washington, D. C.
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U. S. Department of Education and U. S. Department of Justice, (August 1998). Early Warning Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools, Washington D. C.
U. S. Department of Justice Juvenile Justice Bulletin, (May 1998) Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders. Washington, D. C.
Udry, J. Richard (1998). The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Urban Coalition (1998). Getting It All Together: the Health and Well-Being of Minnesota's Youth. Minneapolis, Minn.
Van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (1990) "Developments in Cross-cultural Research on Attachment: Some Methodological Notes," Human Development. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (1998)
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Willmar Public School, Student Behavior and District Discipline Committee Report, Wilmar, Minn.
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