Abstract

Violence in the United States has been increasing among children and adolescents at alarming rates and is now considered a significant public health concern (Thornton, Craft, Dahlberg, Lynch, & Baer, 2000). In a typical city, 30 to 50 cases of school violence are reported daily, with one half of these cases involving guns (Shafii and Shafii, 2001). The probability that a student will die as a result of violence in an American high school is five times higher than the likelihood in other developed countries (Shafii and Shafii, 2001). As a result, many school leaders have rated safety as a top priority.