Society has become increasingly violent, and schools reflect society. Many children carry guns to school, even more miss school due to fear of injury or attack, and school personnel are seeking early retirement in many cities because they do not want to deal with the increase in school crime and violence. The combinations of prevention, intervention, and punishment that have been used against drug abuse and smoking could be used successfully in a national effort toward violence reduction. These efforts should focus on four causal factors: poverty, easy access to weapons, domestic assault, and explicit violence in the media. 19 reference notes