Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9407270075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID REED ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Instead, they have to do something to curb violence.
The University of Virginia is teaching peacemakers from across the state in an effort to reduce youth violence in the streets and in the schools.
The weeklong institutes have been held in Hampton Roads, Richmond, Charlottesville, Northern Virginia and Roanoke this summer.
Psychologists, scholars, police officers and a school safety and security consultant gave participants a theoretical understanding of youth aggression and practical strategies for making schools safer.
``Participants will not just gain tools for coping with the threat of violence,'' said Dyanne Bostain, director of the Virginia Youth Aggression and Youth Violence Project, ``they will acquire the means to spur a collaborative effort uniting schools, communities, parents, and government and law enforcement agencies to reduce youth violence.''
Hugh Meagher, dean of students at North Cross School in Roanoke, said what he liked best about the classes was a constant community theme - ``like the African proverb, `It takes a village to raise a child.'''
The project's faculty members, Bostain said, are convinced that the long-term solution to reducing violence is through collaborative efforts, so they have combined their skills to develop guidelines for helping teachers and community representatives.
``This workshop is the starting point,'' Linda Linnartz, director of UVa's division of continuing education in Roanoke, said Tuesday. ``It will spread.''
The university will offer televised courses during the upcoming school year. Additionally, participants in the summer institutes are assigned to plan a project addressing one of the problems associated with school violence, such as setting up a student survey on bullying.
Meagher said bullying is not a new problem. It's just that there are more of them, and more of the bullies and their victims are carrying guns and knives.
``It's bringing the problem to the forefront,'' Meagher said.
Eighty percent of students carrying weapons say they do so to protect themselves, said Peter Sheras, an associate professor of clinical and school psychology. ``We need to teach kids how to stand up for themselves without counteraggression.''
In March, the Virginia Department of Education published a report on the number of violent acts committed in the state's public schools during 1992-93.
There were no shootings, three stabbings and 31 students - out of a population of more than 1 million students - injured as a result of being struck by an object. There were reports of 150 staff members assaulted by students.
by CNB