\doc\web\98\06\school.txt Date sent: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 13:57:53 To: "Lmstuter" From: "Lynn M Stuter" Subject: Fw: Community Meetings/School Violence CSN Home Page: http://www.edc.org/HHD/csn/schoolinj/intro.html (Revised May of 97) 71 pupils were killed and 201 severely wounded in schools by handguns during the years 1986-1989, according to the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. 175 pupils were killed in incidents involving school buses during that same period. An additional 29,600 children suffered school-bus-related injuries, with more than half being struck by the bus or another motor vehicle as they boarded or left the bus. While media reports sensationalize violence occurring in U.S. schools, the problem of unintentional injuries in the school setting has gone virtually unpublicized. Almost 22 million children in the United States are injured each year. An estimated 10 to 25 percent of these injuries occur in and around schools. Injuries are one of the most frequent conditions cared for by school health personnel. Over a two-year period, an estimated 80 percent of elementary school children will see a school nurse for injury-related complaints. Yet the problem of injuries in the school environment is often unrecognized, and consequently, preventive measures are neglected. Recent government initiatives to improve the health of children and adolescents have not addressed the safety of the school environment. For example, neither the problem statement nor the background papers for the National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives, Healthy People 2000, specifically mention injuries in the school setting. And although the National Education Goals call for schools to be free of violence by the year 2000, they do not recognize the importance of preventing unintentional injuries in order to create a safe environment for learning. Most relevant research in the medical and public health literature focuses on the underreporting of school injuries and the poor quality of data collected, rather than possible prevention measures. The education literature contains numerous references to safety but focuses primarily on liability in the school setting. Patterns and causes of school injuries are poorly understood, and resources to help public health and education professionals address injuries are scarce. Schools usually respond to injuries on an ad hoc basis--after the damage is done. Injury events are not consistently tracked, and it is often difficult to identify who has responsibility for preventing a recurrence. Currently, no comprehensive guidelines are available for school administrators and other health and education professionals interested in addressing the problem of injuries in the school environment. Thus, schools need to begin by assessing the causes of injuries within individual schools in order to target the leading causes of injury and to prevent them. A multifaceted intervention--including modifications to school equipment and facilities, development of supervision and safety policies, and education of students, teachers, parents, and administrators about injury prevention at school-provides the most comprehensive approach. State maternal and child health practitioners and other injury control experts can provide information and technical assistance to schools interested in developing and evaluating the impact of school-based injury prevention activities. Schools have an important role to play in addressing the problem of child and adolescent injuries. The Children's Safety Network has designed this packet to inform school personnel, injury prevention professionals, parents, and others about the extent of the problem of injuries in the school environment and to stimulate dialogue about possible solutions. Included are the following materials: UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM--a fact sheet on school injuries, derived from National Pediatric Trauma Registry data and accompanied by suggested prevention strategies EXAMINING THE CIRCUMSTANCES--a series of vignettes that illustrate the circumstances surrounding injuries occurring in the school environment, along with questions for further discussion WHAT IS BEING DONE: SELECTED EXAMPLES--a description of steps that agencies in nine states are taking to address this problem SAMPLE DATA COLLECTION FORMS--data entry forms from three states that are collecting school injury data FURTHER READING--an annotated bibliography of selected resources, journal articles, studies, and state and federal reports. Topics include: playgrounds and sports, students with special needs, legal and liability issues, transportation, and violence. The photographs in this publication illustrate settings and circumstances where students may be injured. You may want to examine these and other settings in your school to identify additional hazards. We encourage you to distribute this packet or any of its parts to school nurses, school health personnel, other relevant professionals, and community organizations. Please cite the Children's Safety Network at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) as the source. We would appreciate hearing how you use this information, suggestions of additional resources of which we should be aware, and work you may be initiating in this area. ------------------------------------------------ Folks, what makes this so wonderful is that EDC -- Education Development Center is linked, through its president Janet Whitla, to the United Nations. EDC has also been heavily involved in education reform and STW in Washington State. We play their trump card against them.