Interdisciplinary Group on Preventing School and Community Violence

PRESS RELEASE

December 19, 2012 2 p.m. (ET)

Co-author contacts:
Ron Avi Astor, Ph.D., University of Southern California
rastor@usc.edu
Dewey G. Cornell, Ph.D., University of Virginia
dcornell@virginia.edu
Dorothy L. Espelage, Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
espelage@illinois.edu
Michael J. Furlong, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
mfurlong@education.ucsb.edu
Shane R. Jimerson, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
jimerson@education.ucsb.edu
Matthew J. Mayer, Ph.D., Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
mayerma@rci.rutgers.edu
Amanda B. Nickerson, Ph.D., University at Buffalo, State University of New York
nickersa@buffalo.edu
David Osher, Ph.D., American Institutes for Research
dosher@air.org
George Sugai, Ph.D., University of Connecticut
george.sugai@uconn.edu

December 2012 Connecticut School Shooting Position Statement

Nine school violence prevention researchers and practitioners nationwide have developed a position statement on the Dec. 14, 2012 Connecticut school shootings that is being disseminated across the U.S. today. It is in response to the tragic acts of violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School and updates the School Shootings Position Statement that was disseminated nationally following the tragic school-related shootings of 2006.

Today’s position statement has been endorsed by more than 100 professional organizations representing well over 4 million professionals, such as the American Federation of Teachers, multiple divisions of the American Psychological Association, Child Welfare League of America, Council for Exceptional Children, National Association of Elementary
School Principals (NAESP), National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), National Education Association, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Social Workers, and Mental Health America. Additionally, more than 100 nationally recognized researchers and practitioners have endorsed thisstatement, including deans of several major university colleges of education and social work.

Additional organizations will be posting the document or providing links to it on their websites. The position statement is also being disseminated via professional listservs and is being published in several professional newsletters.

Nine researchers and practitioners from multiple fields of study who have worked in the area of school safety since the 1980s have prepared this position statement. The driving force behind the statement was to communicate scientifically informed principles and recommendations for practitioners, policymakers and the public at large. The co-authors’ goal is to help build consensus on a course of meaningful action.

The position statement and a complete list of organizations endorsing it is posted at:
http://curry.virginia.edu/articles/sandyhookshooting