ABSTRACT
An unprecedented number of shootings and killings in schools in Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Washington, Tennessee, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, and elsewhere have made it evident that violence in the United States does not stop at the school gates. But as shocking as recent tragedies have been, the extent of violence in schools is more complex and farreaching than most news stories and research suggest. Though not as tragic as the fatalities caused by shootings, nonetheless, fights, assaults, bullying, and harassment are damaging-and sometimes daily-occurrences in schools (Lawrence, 1998; Petersen, Pietrzak, & Speaker, 1998). In recent years, the extent of violence and the disciplinary and judicial reactions to it have become more varied, and sometimes more extreme (Arnette, 1995; Hyman and Others, 1994).
