ABSTRACT
School violence is intrinsically a form of youth violence so it is important to understand the larger problem of violent juvenile crime, which soared in the United States during the late 1980s; juvenile homicide, in particular, more than doubled. Perhaps the most critical evidence could not be assessed for years, which is whether juvenile violent crime would continue to increase as predicted. Although the predicted juvenile crime wave never materialized, researchers are still tempted to draw upon the fear of youth violence to bolster their arguments. The belief that America had produced a generation of young superpredators dovetailed nicely with the perception that schools had become dangerous places. Although schools are comparatively safe places, in a nation with more than 50 million students in 100,000 schools, even a low rate of violence generates too many victims. School administrators have a legitimate interest in seeking ways to improve and maintain school safety.
