Consequently, schools should have both reactive and proactive responses in place to deal with violence. Schools need to be aware of the role of respect and empathy in diffusing violence. Counselors can be leaders by being an example themselves and by training other school staff. Once a crisis occurs, schools should be able to respond to limit both immediate and long-term impacts of violence. In looking at a range of responses in both reactive and proactive postures for school counselors, teachers, and administrators, the author discusses school violence from an epidemiological perspective and school violence as a reflection of society. He covers reactive responses to school violence that focus on crisis response, secure facilities design and management, violence de-escalation strategies, how to stop a fight, weapon removal, gang awareness, uniformed security presence, bullying behavior, and legal implications of school violence. Proactive responses to school violence are concerned with empathy skills, conflict resolution, peer mediation, continuing education programs, peacemaking curriculum, modeling trust and respect, multicultural awareness, and community involvement. 66 references