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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Vanya Jones, PhD, MPH, School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, 600 N. Wolfe Street, 354 Park, Baltimore, MD 21287, 410-502-0770, vjones@jhsph.edu and Tina Cheng, MD, MPH, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 200 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287.

The No Child Left Behind Act requires state boards of education to identify schools that are unsafe by first identifying objective measures to determine trends or patterns of incidents that may threaten the health and welfare of children in their school district. Schools that are identified by measures such as suspension and expulsion rates are subsequently labeled “persistently dangerous.” To our knowledge there has been little research that attempts to characterize fighting behavior among youth who may attend schools designated as “persistently dangerous.” Two hundred and thirteen sixth grade African American boys and girls attending two urban middle schools on probation for “persistently dangerous” status were included in this study. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were employed to investigate differences in fighting behavior based on age, gender and the presence of non-parental adult mentorship. The results of this descriptive study suggest that among early adolescent African American students attending urban schools at risk for “persistently dangerous” status, 41 percent of students fought in the thirty days prior to the survey. In addition, among those who reported low non-parental adult mentorship, females were significantly more likely than males to fight (OR: 1.41, CI: 1.41-1.42). Fighting was less likely among sixth graders older than twelve (OR: .91, CI: 89-.92), those who live with both parents (.81, CI: .79-.83), and those who live with neither parent (OR: .60 CI: .40-.92). Fighting is common among sixth graders who attend schools on probation for “persistently dangerous” designation and non-parental adult mentorship appears to influence fighting behavior, most noticeably among girls.

Learning Objectives: After participating in this session on “Persistently Dangerous Schools”, participants (learner) will be able to

• Articulate the how the No Child Left Behind Act relates to “Persistently Dangerous” schools.
• Critically analyze the vast differences in the “Persistently Dangerous” school designation.
• Articulate the importance of fighting in defining “Persistently Dangerous” schools.
• Identify modifiable factors that are associated with youth fighting.

Keywords: Youth Violence, School Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered