The 22-member Task Force is composed of legislators, law enforcement officials, school representatives, and parents. The task force was divided into three groups, each with a different task. One group addressed issues of importance to students and their families. Another group focused on school-based issues, such as conflict resolution, crisis management, and security policies. The third group dealt with community-wide issues, such as violence in the media, gangs, and the need for safe after-school and weekend activities. This report is divided into four main categories of issues. The four categories are "General" (school safety clearinghouse, program implementation, and program evaluation); school (critical incident response plans, school safety audits, police in schools, conflict resolution, dress codes/uniforms, and truancy); student/parent (trauma's effect on early childhood development, student alienation, parental involvement, and students' "veil of silence"); and community (media violence and Internet safety, accessibility of weapons, gangs, after-school/weekend activities, youth mentoring, and information sharing). Each of the four sections is prefaced by a brief discussion of relevant topics and issues. They are then subdivided by recommendations applicable to each relevant topic area. Available statistics and/or task force testimony follow each recommendation. In addition, "action steps" that indicate possible measures that can be used to address a particular issue are frequently included. When available, examples of programs that target an aspect of the problem are summarized after the recommendation or action step. Appended supplemental resources