Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 18–Committee on Human
Resources and Facilities

 

FILE NUMBER..........

 

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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