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School violence rises in California
Thirteen died in the attack at Columbine High School last year
California has reported a rise in violence in its schools - as the latest murder of a pupil raises concerns across the United States about school safety.
The state's annual assessment of school safety has found a 7% increase in violent incidents and an 11% increase in drug and alcohol offences.
The state's annual assessment of school safety has found a 7% increase in violent incidents and an 11% increase in drug and alcohol offences.
School shootings |
December 1999: four pupils shot and wounded in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma
November 1999: pupil shot dead in Deming, New Mexico
May 1999: Six pupils shot and wounded in Conyers, Georgia
April 1999: 12 pupils and a teacher shot dead in Littleton, Colorado
May 1998: two pupils shot dead in Springfield, Oregon
May 1998: Pupil shot dead in Fayetteville, Tennessee
April 1998: Teacher shot dead in Edinboro, Pennsylvania
March 1998: Four pupils and a teacher shot dead in Jonesboro, Arkansas
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This comes the day after six-year-old Kayla Rolland was shot dead by a classmate at her school in Mount Morris, Michigan.
This latest gun attack in a school has again prompted authorities to consider how to protect pupils from violence - a concern that has been a priority for schools since the killing of four pupils and a teacher at Jonesboro, Arkansas in March 1998.
The 1999 national annual report into school safety found that there had been 58 violent deaths in school the previous year and a 10-year average for acts of violence against teachers was running at over 130,000 annually.
And there were 3,900 exclusions for bringing a firearm to school - 10% of which were among primary school pupils.
Metal detectors, security guards, curfews, uniform codes that stop youngsters showing gang colours and the requirement that school bags should be transparent - to prevent concealed weapons - have all been attempted as preventative methods.
This latest gun attack in a school has again prompted authorities to consider how to protect pupils from violence - a concern that has been a priority for schools since the killing of four pupils and a teacher at Jonesboro, Arkansas in March 1998.
The 1999 national annual report into school safety found that there had been 58 violent deaths in school the previous year and a 10-year average for acts of violence against teachers was running at over 130,000 annually.
And there were 3,900 exclusions for bringing a firearm to school - 10% of which were among primary school pupils.
Metal detectors, security guards, curfews, uniform codes that stop youngsters showing gang colours and the requirement that school bags should be transparent - to prevent concealed weapons - have all been attempted as preventative methods.
 The attack at Columbine High School has prompted many local anti-violence projects
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Earlier this month, the Chicago public schools service announced an upgrading of its security, with an additional thousand hand-held metal detectors for primary schools.
There are already a minimum of two hand-held detectors per primary school, with all secondary schools also having walk-through metal detectors.
In New York, conflict-resolution and anger management training was introduced into schools, in an attempt at lessening aggression and outbursts of violence.
There were also schemes in Illinois and Connecticut to provide psychological profiling of pupils, with the aim of identifying those pupils at greatest risk of becoming violent.
In Georgia, a hotline was set up so that pupils could ring with information about fellow pupils they fear are about to stage an attack - and parents were given a list of warning signs in case their children were about to become involved in violence.
There have also been federal initiatives to cut violence - with $100m in grants last year for projects designed to tackle aggression in schools.
And another $30m was provided to recruit and train staff to run drug prevention projects.
There are already a minimum of two hand-held detectors per primary school, with all secondary schools also having walk-through metal detectors.
In New York, conflict-resolution and anger management training was introduced into schools, in an attempt at lessening aggression and outbursts of violence.
There were also schemes in Illinois and Connecticut to provide psychological profiling of pupils, with the aim of identifying those pupils at greatest risk of becoming violent.
In Georgia, a hotline was set up so that pupils could ring with information about fellow pupils they fear are about to stage an attack - and parents were given a list of warning signs in case their children were about to become involved in violence.
There have also been federal initiatives to cut violence - with $100m in grants last year for projects designed to tackle aggression in schools.
And another $30m was provided to recruit and train staff to run drug prevention projects.
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