Health News

List Highlights Youth Anti-Violence Programs

April 28, 2000 -- One year after the Columbine high school shooting, many parents still worry and feel helpless about their children's safety when they walk out the door or climb on the school bus. If nothing else, Columbine's perpetrators and victims that demonstrated no one is insulated from violence, and acts of this nature are not just the province of the poor. "Columbine showed us all it can happen anywhere," Lisa Barrios, PhD, tells WebMD. Barrios is a health scientist at the CDC.

In the aftermath of Columbine -- and other recent violent acts aimed at youth -- many parents have wondered what the federal government is doing to respond to violence in our nation's schools. To calm at least some of their fears, Barrios has compiled a list of federal resources available to school and government officials, as well as parents, to develop strategies for curbing and preventing violence in schools. The inventory, which is published as a special report in the April 2000 issue of the Journal of School Health, provides not only available federal resources but also examples of and links to successful programs communities have implemented. All told, the inventory lists more than 100 projects from various federal government departments and agencies, including grassroots efforts receiving government funding.

Barrios says many different federal agencies are involved in different aspects of curbing youth violence. "The problem is very complex, and you can't expect one kind of approach to really prevent it all." As a result, there are programs under the direction of the Departments of Justice, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Health, Labor, and others. "In many cases, there may be overlap and one may not know what the other is doing," says Barrios. "One of the key reasons we started this is all the agencies were trying to work on the problem, and we couldn't keep good track of it all." Today, all the programs are supposed to report to the White House Council of Youth Violence.

So far, the inventory gathered by the CDC lists programs aimed at preventing violence children may face on the way to school, in class, and at school-related events. Programs listed focus on factors that may lead to violence, symptoms of violence, and how to prevent antisocial behavior.

A few examples of federally sponsored programs include one in Charlotte, N.C. A team including parts of the University of North Carolina, the school district, police department, local housing authority, and residents association has developed a Family Action and Support for Teens (FAST) Team. The team developed a coordinated plan to provide each adolescent in the neighborhood with needed services and a network of support to help them make healthy choices. Parents, teachers, police officers, and other adults refer children to the FAST Team and, after the referral, they become a member of that child's 'team.'