Increased violence rates have been accompanied by efforts at prevention. Security measures such as metal detectors can stop students from bringing weapons to school but do little to address the anger, meanness and fistfights that are the much larger, although less newsworthy, part of the problem. Violence prevention programs that seek to positively influence the everyday psychosocial functioning of young people seem to have more potential as a solution to the problem of youth violence. Past Prevention Efforts Violence prevention is easier said than done. Many interventions are delivered year after year with no objective evidence of effectiveness.
Age is an important variable in the violence prevention field.
A new program has produced the positive evaluation results that have been elusive with adolescents. In fact, these program effects were not only significant, they were strikingly large on some important dimensions. The Peacemakers Program is a school-based violence prevention intervention for students in grades 4 through 8. The most dramatic results were achieved in serious violent incidents. Peacemakers was designed as a multimodal program utilizing a variety of activities to accommodate a variety of learning styles.