The Clinton administration has weighed in with a report prepared by an impressive team of psychologists and criminal-justice professionals. Politicians everywhere are conducting hearings to entertain ideas and allow spleens to be vented. Alternative schools and programs for violent and disruptive students are rapidly being introduced in many districts. Security is being beefed up, too. New York City's schools chancellor, backed by an editorial in The New York Times , has called for uniformed police to patrol the schools' halls, and metal detectors are a fixture at the schoolhouse gate.
School shootings attract media attention because they are so tragic and rare.
Indeed, only 1 percent of recent juvenile homicides have taken place in schools. Yet the nation's attention has been focused on the schools rather than the communities. To appear responsive, elected officials and educational leaders have begun to act all too quickly. They would be advised to look beyond short-term, partisan interests and take a closer look at what does work and what doesn't work in the fight against violence in schools. The National Institute of Justice recently commissioned a study led by a University of Maryland professor, Lawrence Sherman, and his team this past summer published the most rigorous analysis of research on the prevention of crime to date.