Breaking Cycles of Violence: Liberation Starts in the Classroom
By Kristin Satterlee
Warrick Campbell has a dream. The father of two, inspired by his position as Youth Violence Prevention Coordinator at New Mexico Black Leadership Council (NMBLC), sees School-Based Violence Intervention Programs (SBVIP) as the beginning of “a vision for… implementing a program for liberation.”
Why Do We Need Youth Violence Intervention?
Nationally, kids are involved in fewer crimes overall than they were 10 years ago. But violent crimes among children and teens are way up. According to the nonpartisan think tank Council on Criminal Justice, juvenile homicides increased 65% between 2016 and 2022. Guns were used 21% more often in juvenile offenses over the same time period.
Kids who are afraid at school are less likely to attend. In a survey of 243 fifth graders, nearly a quarter said they’d felt unsafe in school, citing various threats from fellow students. When they feel unsafe in school, or when they are preoccupied with violent behavior, kids don’t learn. Reducing violence in schools is important for all kids, whether they are directly involved or not.
How Does SBVIP Help Kids?
SBVIP can take many forms, from the sort of individual mentoring offered by Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) to school-wide social-emotional learning (SEL) initiatives. SEL provides students the tools to understand and regulate their emotions—critical skills in approaching life’s problems without resorting to violent responses.
A literature review by the CDC found that SBVIP reduced violence, regardless of race, crime rate, and so on, by an average of 29% for high-school students. Amounts varied, but violence was reduced at all grade levels.
Social-emotional learning is a vital component of NMBLC’s annual Roots Summer Leadership Academy (RSLA), an example of how these skills can be taught in group settings. “RSLA…. has 60 students,” Campbell says. “That's an opportunity.”
Reading Is Fundamental
Learning to control violent behavior, and thus to learn when they are in school, is crucial for children’s futures. According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 70% of adults in prison cannot read at a fourth-grade level.
Campbell says, “I think that the more literate you are, the more confident you are…. We see a lot of students who lash out because they don't know any other way to express themselves. Just like a baby cries because they can't tell you that they're hungry.”
How Is This Related to Liberation?
SBVIP is associated with many benefits for students: reduced violence and bullying, as well as improved academic and mental health outcomes.
Being released from the cycle of violence allows young people to reach for their true potential.
Or, as Campbell visualizes it, “putting them in a position to succeed in something… and in the process gain knowledge and skills, which is liberating—because then you can go create and do for yourself.”