, but increasingly schools are hiring security guards to patrol the building and to provide security at events. In the most violence-prone areas schools may form partnerships with the police to visit periodically or even to patrol the halls regularly. However, some educators believe that a police presence has a negative impact on teaching and learning and that the need for them is an indication of administrative failure. Others welcome police support but provide special training for dealing with students in a school environment. Probation officers with on- site offices can provide help to students who have already engaged in illegal behavior.Some schools use parents as monitors and teachers' aides. Doing this is inexpensive and can be an effective deterrent, since students may be more reluctant to behave badly when watched by someone they regularly see in the neighborhood. Further, involving parents gives them a sense of ownership of anti-violence efforts and may help them reconsider their own attitudes about violence.To keep students from bringing in weapons some schools use metal detectors and others administer systematic or random searches of students' bodies, possessions, and lockers. Since there is a strong relationship between student violence and use and sale of drugs, administrators make special efforts to keep schools drug-free, through both education campaigns and searching. The courts have been divided about the constitutionality of searches for either weapons or drugs, however, and some methods, such as use of drug-sniffing dogs, are being challenged legally.Teacher Involvement. To dispel fears and help teachers feel supported, meetings about violence issues are held regularly, possibly as a component of general staff meetings. Administrators provide accurate information about violent occurrences and responses to them, involve faculty members in prevention efforts, and listen to their concerns. Also, teachers' input can be i...
