Setting the Stage for Safer Schools

A Two-Hour Violence Prevention Training for Persons Seeking Certification in New York State

What do we mean by violence prevention in our schools? Are certain strategies more effective than others? Are there certain skills or elements that all successful school-based prevention programs have? Setting the Stage for Safer Schools attempts to answer these questions, giving teachers, teaching assistants, pupil personnel service professionals, and administrators a new perspective on school violence, its causes, and effective prevention strategies.

This two-hour training offers participants:

• an introduction to violence and a national perspective on its impact in schools
• effective classroom management techniques and other academic supports that promote a non-violent school climate and enhance learning
• intervention techniques designed to address a school violence situation
• early warning signs of potentially violent behavior
• steps to assist troubled students, including participation in an effective school/community referral process for students exhibiting violent behavior

Written with clear lesson objectives and easy-to-follow activity steps, Setting the Stage for Safer Schools includes 13 prepared transparencies as well as helpful references and additional resources, all in a convenient 3-ring binder.

This training was designed to respond to the requirement for a two-hour certification course for school personnel in New York State as part of the Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act (SAVE). While the materials contain references to New York legislation, this in no way limits their use in other states. Setting the Stage for Safer Schools recommends alignment of violence prevention practices with data collection and needs assessment specific to an individual school or district. The recommendations are appropriate for any local or state educational system.