Practical steps schools can take include:
Communicate to staff, students, and parents that schools are neutral grounds and that gang, drug, and weapon activities will receive priority response
Apply discipline in a timely, firm, fair, and consistent manner
Institute student anti-gang education and prevention programs
Establish a mechanism for student conflict mediation
Train school personnel and parents in gang identification, intervention, and prevention techniques
Obtain input from youth on violence-related concerns and prevention strategies
Establish cooperative relationships and communication networks with parents, law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies, social services, and other community members. Set up mechanisms and structures to promote information-sharing and coordination among agencies addressing youth, gangs, and related public safety efforts.
Gangs are a community problem, but schools are a part of that community and cannot operate in isolation while hoping that the gang members will drop their gang alliances and activities once they cross the schoolhouse door.