Pubdate: Sat, 13 Sep 2003 Source: Kingsport Times-News (TN) Copyright: 2003 Kingsport Publishing Corporation Contact: http://www.timesnews.net/index.cgi Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1437 REPORT PROVIDES CLUES ABOUT CURBING SCHOOL VIOLENCE, DRUG USE If Tennessee's zero tolerance law was supposed to reduce violence and drug activity in the state's schools, it's been a dismal failure. In just three years, the number of times Tennessee students attacked their teachers, brought weapons to school or took drugs has increased 10.8 percent. Since the 1999-2000 school year, zero-tolerance offenses grew from 3,651 incidents to 4,047 last year. Worse, the nearly 11 percent spike in offenses has occurred while the total school population has barely budged - up 0.68 percent over the same period. These disturbing figures come from a report issued by the comptroller's Office of Education Accountability. "Though zero tolerance policies begin with the good intention of creating safer schools," the report notes, "it is not always clear that the results have been successful." The study also observes that zero tolerance policies "may be falling out of favor among some educators and education researchers." With increases like these, it's little wonder the educational community is having second thoughts. With documented instances of violence and drug use increasing ten times faster than the school population, parents are bound to demand some action, and who could blame them? State education officials attribute at least part of the increase in zero tolerance incidents to better reporting. While that's probably true, it doesn't really get us any closer to addressing the violence and drug use the report documents. At the risk of a little politically incorrect profiling, the focus for reducing violence and drug use among Tennessee school students would seem reasonably clear. The report shows, for example, that less than 1 percent of all students attending Tennessee schools actually committed zero tolerance offenses during the three years examined. That means that most of the problems in state schools - as in life generally - come from a small minority of the population. It follows that if school officials want to reduce violence and drug use, they should closely monitor these already identified zero tolerance offenders. Who are the major offenders? For starters, school officials need to concentrate their efforts on boys rather than girls. The report indicates nearly three-quarters of zero-tolerance offenders are male. The report also found that special education students and black students are violating zero tolerance policies at a rate much higher than their actual representation in the school population would otherwise suggest. For example, although black students are 24 percent of student enrollment statewide, 37 percent of all zero tolerance violators last year were black. Similarly, special education students committed nearly 25 percent of all zero tolerance offenses, but actually represent only about 16 percent of the total student population. White students, by contrast, make up 72 percent of student enrollment statewide but account for 60 percent of all zero tolerance offenses. The report also finds that students in the 9th grade are three times more likely to commit a zero tolerance offense than students in other grades. And, finally, students in the state's largest urban areas are far more likely to commit zero tolerance offenses than rural students. Taken together, these statistics point to the need for some counseling and other appropriate intervention, such as drug counseling targeted to those groups which have shown themselves to be the overwhelming source of zero tolerance offenses. While all students need to hear and absorb educational information about violence and drug use, it's clear from these statistics that 4th grade girls in rural schools should not be a priority. While schools continue to be safer, statistically, than the homes students come from, violence in our schools is a serious problem. National statistics indicate approximately 20 percent of high school students regularly carry some sort of weapon on a regular basis. Across the nation, approximately 900 teachers are threatened with bodily harm and nearly 40 teachers are physically attacked during an average school day. On that same, average day, 2,000 students report being physically assaulted. We all want safe schools. This report - disturbing as it is - gives education officials some vital help in accomplishing that worthy goal. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh