The article traces approximately four decades of school disciplinary techniques and attempts to explain their growth and decline. The techniques range from corporal punishment of the past to the medicalization of disruptive young people in the present. Conflict resolution and peaceable school movements are surveyed. Findings from a number of studies are reviewed to provide a synthesis of current research and lay the basis for a set of recommendations for constructing orderly school environments and reducing violence. The recommendations concern the development of model disciplinary procedures, procedures to separate academic from disciplinary problems, and an award structure that recognize positive behavior. The author also recommends increased student and teacher training in conflict resolution and mediation be provided, mandatory parental involvement be encouraged to include enhanced teacher-parent communication, monitoring and supervision of student spaces be improved, and disaster preparedness training be conducted to deal with extreme acts of violence. 39 references and 1 note