Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 18–Committee on Human
Resources and Facilities
SENATE Concurrent RESOLUTION—Urging and encouraging various persons, organizations, agencies, governmental entities and educational institutions to take certain actions to promote school safety and reduce juvenile violence.
Whereas, Children are extremely important members of our society
and they will greatly influence our future; and
Whereas, We have a duty to ensure the safety and welfare of children
so that each child may realize his or her full potential and each child, as
well as society, may benefit from that realization; and
Whereas, The safety and welfare of children in this state are threatened
by destructive violence that occurs in their homes, schools and
communities; and
Whereas, Although schools are generally one of the safest locations
for children, recent tragedies involving juvenile violence at schools serve
as a reminder that violence occurs at schools, as well as in homes and
communities, and that children may be perpetrators, as well as victims, of
violence; and
Whereas, Violence that occurs in schools and communities is a serious
and complicated problem that requires a comprehensive and multifaceted
approach, which involves participation from the entire community,
including, without limitation, individuals, pupils, parents, educators,
organizations, businesses and governmental agencies, to address the
problem; and
Whereas, The Commission on School Safety and Juvenile Violence,
which was created by the Nevada Legislature pursuant to Assembly Bill
No. 686 of the 1999 Legislative Session, conducted several meetings and
received a large amount of information concerning various methods of
promoting school safety and reducing juvenile violence, and such
information may be used to devise a comprehensive approach to address
the problem of violence in the schools and communities in this state; now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, the Assembly
Concurring, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the Board
of Trustees of each school district to consider establishing, in full or in
part, the 10 exemplary programs, which are listed in the “Blueprints for
Violence Prevention” compiled by the Center for the Study and Prevention
of Violence at the University of Colorado at Boulder and which have
proven to be successful in deterring violence, delinquency and substance
abuse among children; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada encourages
communities to establish and support innovative community-based efforts
that are designed to prevent school and juvenile violence and that include,
without limitation, participation from businesses, concerned citizens, local
nonprofit organizations and school districts; and be it further
Resolved, That such community-based efforts encouraged by the
Legislature of the State of Nevada include, without limitation, the “Safe
Schools Project,” which is operated by the Clark County Education
Association and which provides presentations, training and outreach to the
community to address and prevent juvenile violence; and be it further
Resolved, That such community-based efforts encouraged by the
Legislature of the State of Nevada also include, without limitation, the
“Hands are Not for Hurting” program established in Salem, Oregon, which
includes a campaign to raise community awareness of violence and which
requests that businesses, parents, pupils and other members of the
community make a pledge of nonviolence; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada expresses its
renewed support of community efforts to restrict the accessibility of
firearms to juveniles and encourages communities in this state to organize
such efforts, including, without limitation, the “Operation Cease Fire”
program in Boston, Massachusetts, which has successfully disrupted the
distribution of firearms within the communities in Boston by making
prosecutions for offenses relating to firearms a priority and by suppressing
the possession of firearms in areas with a large concentration of gang
activity; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges law
enforcement agencies to enforce existing state and federal laws concerning
firearms; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges local law
enforcement agencies and the Board of Trustees of each school district to
collaborate to find funding for a pilot program in each school district to
help prevent the organization of gangs and gang activity at schools and in
the community; and be it further
Resolved, That such antigang pilot programs may be based upon
existing programs, including, without limitation, the “Drug Abuse
Resistance Education” program, otherwise known as “D.A.R.E.,” and the
“Gang Resistance Education and Training” program, otherwise known as
“G.R.E.A.T.,” which both use law enforcement officers to teach pupils
skills for resolving conflicts without violence and skills for resisting
involvement in gangs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges local law
enforcement agencies and the Board of Trustees of each school district to
work with the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to
develop training programs for preventing the organization of gangs and
gang activity in schools and communities; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges each
school to establish or expand programs that provide peer mediation of
problems among pupils and to involve pupils in the promotional and
recruiting aspects of such programs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges each
school to establish or expand a peer hotline for pupils to call and discuss
anonymously with their peers issues that are important to the pupils; and
be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges each
school to establish a network program for parents of pupils, such as the
program used at various schools in Clark County, which requires each
parent who participates in the network to sign a pledge stating that all
activities hosted by the parent will be supervised by an adult and will be
free of alcohol, drugs and weapons; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the Board
of Trustees of each school district to establish or expand programs that
address child abuse and neglect and that include, without limitation,
community awareness of child abuse and neglect, training for early
detection of child abuse and neglect, and treatment options for both
perpetrators and victims of child abuse and neglect; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the local
Department of Family, Youth and Juvenile Services in each judicial
district in which such a department has been established, and each agency
that provides similar services in other judicial districts which do not have
such a department, to establish programs specifically designed for parents
whose children are beginning to demonstrate warning signs of violence or
who are involved in the juvenile justice system so that those parents have
access to such beneficial services before their children have actually
committed violent acts; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the Board
of Trustees of each school district and the governing body of each charter
school and private school to address the problem of bullying by pupils at
schools; and be it further
Resolved, That the approaches used to address the problem of bullying
at schools may include, without limitation, working with local nonprofit
agencies to provide training to staff members and other adults working at a
school to address the problem of bullying at school, placing additional
adults on school campuses and playgrounds at certain times, encouraging
parental participation at school activities, and clarifying the roles of
persons who volunteer at schools and school activities so that persons who
are not employees of the school district are not improperly placed in
supervisory positions; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the
Department of Education to carry out fully and to offer training to
educators concerning the key components of Assembly Bill No. 521 of the
1999 legislative session which addresses school discipline; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the Board
of Trustees of each school district to define properly the roles of school
counselors, school psychologists and school social workers and to inform
parents and pupils of those roles so that pupils may seek academic
guidance, personal advice or general assistance from the appropriate
person; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada encourages the
continuing efforts of the Board of Trustees of each school district, within
the state budget process, to employ additional professionals and school
support staff, including, without limitation, school psychologists, school
nurses and school counselors for secondary grades, who may assist with
providing services to pupils who have exhibited signs of violence or
delinquency; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada encourages the
continuing efforts of the Board of Trustees of each school district, within
the state budget process, to request special funding for counselors in
elementary schools to assist in providing pupils with services for early
prevention of violence and for early intervention in cases involving
violence; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the Board
of Trustees of each school district to employ licensed social workers at
each school where counselors are needed because licensed social workers
offer unique services for the prevention of violence and for intervention in
cases involving violence, and are able to assist pupils and their families
obtain support services in the community; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the
Department of Education to determine the best ratio for the number of
pupils per licensed social worker, and to consider using the ratio of pupils
per counselor set forth in the accreditation standards of the Northwest
Association of Schools and Colleges; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the Board
of Trustees of each school district to consider using the assistance of the
universities and community colleges in this state to address the problem of
school violence, including, without limitation, using the services of
students of social work and trainees in social work; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges each
school to provide activities, such as school assemblies and dances, that
promote nonviolence and which may include, without limitation,
entertainment, motivational speakers and law enforcement officers, and to
involve pupils in organizing such activities; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges each
school to offer a wide variety of after-school programs that keep pupils
occupied during periods when crimes are most likely to occur and that
foster the pupils’ involvement and interest in productive hobbies and
activities; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada encourages each
local Chamber of Commerce to establish or expand programs, such as job
shadowing, that provide pupils with the opportunity to spend valuable time
with adults in the workplace; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges each
school and community to establish or expand mentoring programs that
place a caring adult mentor with a child and that provide services,
including, without limitation, tutoring for the child, personal support for
the child and support to the family of the child; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the Board
of Trustees of each school district to incorporate in its school curriculum
the assets-building approach to teaching, which helps identify the positive
aspects of the life of a pupil and provides a framework for nurturing and
building upon those positive aspects; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the
employees of each school to participate in continuing education that
encompasses the assets-building approach to teaching and the methods for
identifying factors that indicate when a pupil is at risk of exhibiting violent
or delinquent behavior; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the
University and Community College System of Nevada to include in its
curriculum for training teachers the assets-building approach to teaching,
and to provide training concerning the methods of identifying factors that
indicate when a pupil is at risk of exhibiting violent or delinquent
behavior; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of Nevada urges the
Department of Education to adopt standards for evaluating the
effectiveness of programs that are currently used throughout this state to
reduce school violence so that resources may be applied only to effective
programs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate prepare and transmit a copy
of this resolution to each public school and private school in this state, and
each university and college in the University and Community College
System of Nevada.
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