Recently a 13yr old teen freshman from Queens who attended a Performce Arts School was a victim of a stray bullet leaving school grounds. There have a been other situations like the fatal teen beating in Chicago caught on tape a couple of months ago as well. It's a growing problem all over the country but I see more people being more reactive than proactive.

What ideas would you suggest to prevent teen violence?

Here are a few of my ideas:

1) Every school needs to have an open door policy for students to report threats or bullying
2) Every threat should be taken seriously
3) Monitor social network sites
4) Constant school wide eduacational and panel dicussions about teen violence and peer pressure
5) All schools should have a strict uniform policy that require a certain type of pants, skirts, and shoes. 
6) More internal suspensions versus external where a student can serve punishments at the school rather than at home 
7) Require every student to take an anger management course
8) More team building sessions among students- year round
9) More after school programs,
10)Mandatory student volunteer activities

@ Mass

These are all great suggestions however, teens are not like they were when you and I were growing up. Teens are more stressed, have a great deal of responsibility and there is just an overwhelming pressure from society. This topic was actually discussed on a radio show in DC.

Anyways, to get back to how we can be proactive rather than reactive:

1. After school programs/Recreational Centers (which you said and I completely agree) A great deal of budget cuts have occurred so music and art programs have been the number one to be cut. Nothing has really been done to restore these programs in some inner cities. I know personally of a few people that have reached out to the school board in Baltimore City to address this concern. 2. Hiring teachers that actually care about students verses those that just want a paycheck. I see all too many situations where a teen is not given the opportunity because he/she acts out. Teachers sometimes have to be parents as well but a teacher. "It takes a village to raise a child". I don't think a lot of people pay attention to that saying.  
3. Incorporate "Study Halls", I noticed that some of the schools have done away with study halls. I use to enjoy that time because I could always go back to my teacher with questions while I was at school and on top of that get my homework done.
4. More parent/teacher outreach. I find it saddening that there are not enough parents engaged in their child's life. I was blessed to have both of my parents in my life but I know some friends that didn't have both parents but at least had that one dedicated parent. I know its difficult for single parents to be at every event or make it known that they are there for their child but its important. When a teacher sees that, your child is less likely to be ignored and passed off as someone that's a "trouble maker" or "another statistic".

-going back to work will finish later

@ mass. Great topic One of the things that has to be on the list is parent involvement. My kids just transferred back to public school and the mentality of a lot of parents is ( school is the babysitter) I am actively involved in my kids school more than they would like. I am at games, coaches know me, teachers know me. During back to school nite only a handful of parents showed.while I agree that more needs to be done with schools. Parents have to be willing particpants as well.
I guess I am old school I am the type of parent I will come to the school and have a word or two if I need to with anyone messing with mines. Since we live in the " country" and the wanna be thugs know I dont play that. I will snatch someones kid if they messin with mines.
I see so many kids that are running the streets cause they dont have the parent at home. I am a single parent but you better believe that I will be at the kids school no matter what.

Mass, man, it is totally out of control out there.  When I read about the behavior of teens, I go back to the parents... a whole lot of f.cked up parents who raised these f.cked up kids.

How to decrease teen violence... I don't know.  I think a whole lot of "hooking up" has gone really bad.

I feel that too many f.cked up parents are all too willing to shield and protect some rediculous actions of their children.

1. Above all other things, there must be more parental invovement. If you are a parent, you must know where your children are and what they are up to; who they hang out with and what those kids (sometimes people) are in to. Parents these days tend to leave that responsibility on society. I know this first hand because of my past community involvement and personal experiences that have left me in some bad spots. Getting ready to go home with my family from practice or a football game and seeing all the black kids still sitting around waiting for their parents to come pick them up after 10pm. When their parents do decide to show up (that is if we haven't already brought them home) they feel nothing of it; they don't care.

2. Provide more progressive activities for kids to participate in, and not just after school programs. Make it apart of their daily repertoire. If you want them to join the band or the track team, make sure there are in class opportunities to engage them in those things before trying to coerse them into the after school thing. Spark their interest.

3. In support of Massappeals 5th point, Uniforms are a must! I went to catholic school my whole life, and it wasn't until highschool that I was introduced to the uniform policy. At first you're like "whats the point" but you learn that there are a great deal of benefits from them: unified communities - there are no -isms, because everyone is the same; professionalism - if you can't follow the standard dress code at school, how will you survive in the workplace; identity - if your kid goes missing or they're found, how will you identify them.

4. Teachers and other dominant figures should stop blamming kids for all the bad dealings that happen in the world. the last highschool I went to ended up being marked as one of the worst school in all of the GTA, and it was only because our authority figures used 911 as a crutch to solve a problem rather than asking "what happened".

ccmartin12 - I think you're on point. I knows kids these days pay too much attention to how they look and not enough about what's going on in the classroom. And the parents really have to take back control. I know it used to be rough in some neighboods back in the day, but these kids are burning other kids with no remorse.