The Department of Education and the U.S. Secret Service this month will begin distributing an interactive CD-ROM designed to help law-enforcement officers and school officials combat potential school-based violence. The CD-ROM is based on the Safe School Initiative, a study of school violence conducted by both agencies, released in May 2002.
After examining 37 incidents of school violence, researchers found that most attacks were planned in advance. They recommended that schools form threat-assessment teams to identify and manage students who might engage in violent acts.
The CD-ROM is designed to help such teams develop threat-assessment skills by practicing on a virtual, hypothetical school-based scenario.
The disk also contains research findings, interviews with the study’s authors, and links to additional resources. It will be distributed to law-enforcement and school safety personnel nationwide.
The CD-ROM can also be ordered from the Education Department’s Web site at www.ed.gov.
