School Violence:
Fears Versus Facts

How safe are our schools? What caused so many youth to go on rampage shootings at their schools? Can we believe reports about how many guns are in our schools and how many students are being bullied? Does television violence really make children more aggressive? What kinds of school policies would make our schools safer? The answers to these questions and more can be found in School violence: Fears versus facts, a new book by Professor Dewey Cornell of the University of Virginia. Order This Book.

Illustrated with numerous case studies-many drawn the author's work as a forensic clinical psychologist-this book identifies 19 myths and misconceptions about youth violence, from ordinary bullying to rampage shootings. It covers controversial topics such as gun control and the effects of entertainment violence on children.

Professor Cornell demonstrates how the fear of school violence has resulted in misguided, counterproductive educational policies and practices ranging from boot camps to zero tolerance. He reviews evidence from hundreds of controlled studies showing that school-based violence prevention programs and mental health services, which are largely effective, are often overlooked in favor of politically popular yet ineffective programs such as school uniforms, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, and Scared Straight.

The author concludes by reviewing some of his own research on student threat assessment as a more flexible and less punitive alternative to zero tolerance, and presents a wide-ranging series of recommendations for improving and expanding the use of school-based violence prevention programs and mental health services for troubled students.

This book's purpose is to translate scientific research into language and concepts that educators, students, parents, law enforcement officers, mental health professionals, and policy makers can readily understand and apply in their efforts to prevent violence.

 

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The fear of school violence: An overview
Chapter 2 Are our schools safe?
Chapter 3 What caused the school shootings?
Chapter 4 How many guns in our schools?
Chapter 5 What can we do about bullying?
Chapter 6 Are we teaching our kids to kill?
Chapter 7 Does prevention work?
Chapter 8 What doesn't work?
Chapter 9 How can we deal with student threats?
Chapter 10 What do our schools need?

Order a copy of this book from the publisher.

Author: Dewey Cornell, Ph.D. is a forensic clinical psychologist and Professor at the University of Virginia, where he holds an endowed chair in Education. He is Director of the UVa Youth Violence Project and a faculty associate of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy. The author of more than 100 publications in psychology and education, he frequently consults with schools and advocates for violence prevention efforts. He has extensive experience evaluating violent offenders and testifying in criminal proceedings.

Virginia Youth Violence Project, School of Education, University of Virginia
Telephone: 434-924-8929    Email: youthvio@virginia.edu

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