wfn.org | Combating School Violence in the Wake of the Killings

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

June 13, 1999
Adventist Press Service(APD)
Christian B. Schäffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland 
 

Feature: 
Combating School Violence in the Wake of the 
Killings

Berrien Springs, Michigan, USA.   On the day of 
the Littleton, Co., shootings, teen behavior expert Gary 
Hopkins was half a world away. 

Lecturing on school violence in Melbourne, Australia, 
Hopkins brought a new perspective to the debate over
teen violence-concentrating not on the "problem kids," 
but on those who do not offend. His research asks why 
some kids, despite an apparently "bad background," 
do not choose anti-social and destructive behaviors. 
Hopkins heads up the Center for Adolescent Behavior 
Research and the Institute for the Prevention of 
Addictions at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, 
Michigan. 

Since the school killings in Colorado, and others 
elsewhere, society's attention has been focused on "what 
can we do?" and "how can tragedies like these be 
prevented?"

Hopkins, a Seventh-day Adventist, is particularly 
interested in how religion helps. 

In his presentations on the "Role of the Faith Community 
in Preventing School Violence," Hopkins identifies the 
significant impact that religious faith has in providing 
a sense of belonging or "connectedness," and how this 
translates into protecting children from risk.

"Who is responsible for creating a sense of community in 
schools?" asks Hopkins. "The Faith Community. 
It's what churches are supposed to be all about-community 
involvement, creating a better community, being useful to 
those around them. In the case of the Christian church it 
should be about living the Christian life of helpfulness. 
When members of the faith community get involved in 
the school, creating that sense of 'community' and 
'connectedness' shown to be effective in protecting kids 
from many risks, who benefits? Certainly the students. 
But also those who get involved."

Hopkins points to a number of studies that show 
those involved in religious and volunteer activity live 
longer, and have other health benefits. In addition, recent 
investigations demonstrate the clear relationship between 
connectedness at school and positive behavior. In a 1997 
study by Resnick et. al., (JAMA, 278(10), 823-832), students 
showed a direct link between connectedness and lower 
levels of risk.

"In this research students' feeling of 'connectedness' were 
measured by a series of questions that asked whether 
students feel that their teachers treat them fairly, feel close 
to people at school, and feel a part of the school.  Students 
were also asked if they think students attending the school 
are prejudiced.  Students who felt connected at school:

1) Report lower levels of emotional distress, are 
less likely to think about, or attempt, suicide.  Students who 
perceive other students as prejudiced report higher levels 
of emotional distress.  

2) Students' positive feelings of connectedness 
to school are also moderately associated with lower levels 
of violent behavior.  No other school characteristics appear 
to be associated with committing violent acts.

3) A feeling of connectedness to school also 
protects youth from cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use.  
For all three, when youth report high levels of connectedness 
to their school, they report less frequent use.

4) Feeling a high level of connectedness to school also is 
associated with a delay in first sexual intercourse.  Other 
factors associated with a modest delay in sexual debut 
including attending parochial school and attending a 
school with high overall average daily attendance."

In another study by Battistich and Hom A. (1997) the 
relationship between students' sense of their school as 
a community and their involvement in problem behaviors 
was investigated (American Journal of Public Health, 
87(12), 1997-2001).

"This study showed that students who perceive 
their school as a community 1) enjoy school more, 
2) are more academically motivated, 3) are absent less 
often, 4) engage in less disruptive behavior, 5) and 
have higher achievement than students who do not," 
says Hopkins. "The researchers who reported these 
previous research findings then conducted their own 
original research to identify whether or not students' 
perception of their school as a community might be 
protected from other problem behaviors. They 
found that higher levels of school sense of community 
were associated with significantly less 1) student 
drug use and 2) delinquent behavior."

The conclusion Hopkins draws from these and other 
significant studies is that "students who feel 
connected at school and perceive school as a community 
should enjoy an abundance of health benefits, including 
protection from school violence."

Finally he gives practical advice, centering on direct 
involvement.

"What to do? Get involved. Create a sense of community 
and connectedness in schools. I believe that this will be a 
strong part of eventual violence and other risk behavior 
prevention in schools."