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Abstract
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In Lost Boys, James Garbarino (1999) referred to youth violence as an epidemic. As U.S. Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop issued a health alert in which he declared violence, especially youth violence, to be a public health emergency (Koop & Lundberg, 1992). However, for millions of children and adolescents, both victims and perpetrators of violence, violence is a way of life. For over 56% of those youth who are victims of violence, the emotional and physical assault occurred on school grounds (Elliott, Hamburg & Williams, 1998).
Despite the fact that youth are more apt to be victims of physical violence in their homes than their schools, many youth believe that school is a more dangerous place (Elliott et al., 1998). A national study by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicated that over 50% of all boys and 25% of all girls reported that they had been physically assaulted in school (CDC, 1992). While the media has focused on the tragic shootings in rural and suburban schools, the vast majority of the most serious, violent injuries occur in schools located in poor, urban areas (Sheley, McGee, & Wright, 1995). Students in urban schools are nine times more likely to be killed at school than rural students and twice as likely as students in suburban schools (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998). Minority students living in urban areas, especially Hispanic and African-American youth, are more likely than European American (white) children to report missing school because of feeling unsafe (CDC, 1995).
School personnel, especially teachers, also experience the impact of school violence. On a daily basis over 5,000 teachers are threatened and at least 200 are physically attacked (Hampton, Jenkins, & Gullotta, 1996). Their fear and anxiety can affect the quality of their teaching, their willingness to appropriately discipline students, and their perception of teaching as a desirable profession (Elliott et al., 1998). The emotional, physical, academic, and financial costs of school violence are staggering. The anger and fear engendered by perceived and/or actual violence can make it difficult for students to focus on their educational tasks. It also increases the likelihood that violence will be used to resolve conflict (Olweus, 1991). Annually, billions of dollars are spent on the physical and emotional impact of violence (Elders, 1994).
The purpose of this article is to explore, from a historical perspective, the development of school-based mental health services and to demonstrate how mental health professionals who work in schools--both school-employed school counselors, social workers, and psychologists and agency-employed mental health clinicians--can collaborate to increase school safety through programs designed to effect positive mental health in school youth. The article includes a discussion of successful collaborative strategies developed as part of a partnership project between Johns Hopkins University's Department of Community Psychiatry and Baltimore City's Public Schools. |