Drs. Cornell and Bradshaw Join Coalition Issuing Call to Action to Prevent Gun Violence

Charlottesville, Va., Feb. 28, 2018 -- In response to the Parkland school shooting, a national, interdisciplinary group of violence prevention experts, including Drs. Dewey Cornell and Catherine Bradshaw from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education, developed a “Call for Action to Prevent Gun Violence in the United States of America." The group laid out a three-tiered public health approach to protect children and adults from gun violence, which includes eight policy recommendations around implementing gun control legislation, improving mental health services and threat assessment, and making broad improvements to school discipline and school climate.

“While security measures are important, they are insufficient,” said Dr. Dewey Cornell, Bunker Professor of Education at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education. “We need to shift our mindset and policy from reaction to prevention, which begins long before a gunman enters the school.”

In less than a week, the statement has won the endorsement of 57 national organizations that represent over five million professionals, including: American Federation of Teachers, American Psychological Association, Coalition for Juvenile Justice, Committee for Children, National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Education Association, National PTA, and Society for Prevention Research. This call-to-action advocates for three levels of prevention that include:

• Universal approaches to promoting safety and well-being;
• Practices to reduce risk and increase protective factors for youth experiencing difficulties; and
• Interventions for individuals where violence appears imminent.

Each of these levels offers a distinct set of policy recommendations, beginning with a national call-to-action to promote positive school climate and a ban of all assault-style weapons. Along with improved mental health services and threat assessment practices, the authors of the statement also call for policies such as: universal background checks, removal of barriers to sharing safety-related information, and gun violence protection orders.

Leading organizations and individuals from across the country are signing on to build national consensus around the plan—and compel state and federal legislatures to enact these prevention-focused policies.

“This important call to action reflects the input and support of numerous researchers and professional organizations spanning multiple fields,” said Dr. Catherine Bradshaw, professor and associate dean at the University of Virginia Curry School of Education. “It is our sincere hope that this report helps to focus policies, programs, and resources on issues related to the promotion of school safety and mental health, and address community gun violence more broadly.”  

To learn more about the approach, and sign onto the statement today, please click on the links for organizations and individuals here.

About Curry School of Education

The University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education located in Charlottesville, Va., is ranked among the nation’s top 20 graduate schools of education. To its 2,300 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the school offers nationally-ranked degree programs in education and health centered around human development. Through 3 research centers, nearly 20 labs, and dozens of individual projects, faculty and students at Curry conduct rigorous, practical research that supports both the quality of teaching, learning and clinical practices and the decision making of district, state and national leaders.

Interdisciplinary Group on Preventing School and Community Violence

(statement author names in alphabetical order)

Ron Avi Astor, Ph.D., University of Southern California 

George G. Bear, Ph.D., University of Delaware

Catherine P. Bradshaw, Ph.D., University of Virginia  

Dewey G. Cornell, Ph.D., University of Virginia  

Dorothy L. Espelage, Ph.D., University of Florida

Daniel Flannery, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University

Michael J. Furlong, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara  

Nancy Guerra, Ed.D., University of California, Irvine

Robert Jagers, Ph.D., University of Michigan

Shane R. Jimerson, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara 

Matthew J. Mayer, Ph.D., Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick 

Maury Nation, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

Amanda B. Nickerson, Ph.D., University at Buffalo, State University of New York  

Pedro Noguera, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

David Osher, Ph.D., Takoma Park, MD

Russell Skiba, Ph.D., Indiana University

George Sugai, Ph.D., University of Connecticut 

Daniel W. Webster, Sc.D., Johns Hopkins University

Mark D. Weist, Ph.D., University of South Carolina

Attachment:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0944b91d-661f-45c6-9950-397e069fd742

Dewey G. Cornell, Ph.D.
University of Virginia
[email protected]

Dorothy L. Espelage, Ph.D.
University of Florida
[email protected]

Shane R. Jimerson, Ph.D.
University of California, Santa Barbara
[email protected]

Matthew J. Mayer, Ph.D.
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
[email protected]