Community Violence IS School Violence

Conflicts that start in neighborhoods often spill into schools. Disputes, group conflicts, and cycles of retaliation don't pause at the school door. 

School fights, threats, and shootings are often rooted in disputes that began in the community. 

School violence prevention and community violence intervention are two sides of the same coin. 

When CVI strategies interrupt cycles of retaliations in neighborhoods, schools automatically become safer. When schools invest in mental health, credible messengers, and relationship based supports, communities benefit too. 

Both targeted school violence and cyclical urban gun violence are fueled by the same risk factors: trauma, lack of of opportunity, isolation, easy access to guns, and retaliation.

Addressing one without the other leaves the root causes untouched. 

Urban gun violence disproportionately impacts Black and Brown youth, yet receives a fraction of the resources and attention that rare but high-profile school shootings do.

If we care about keeping students safe in classrooms, we must also care about keeping them safe in their neighborhoods and community. 

Students exposed to community violence, even outside of school, show lower attendance, lower test scores, higher disciplinary issues, and higher risk of involvement in violence.

A single homicide in a neighborhood can ripple into classrooms, lowering student outcomes across the entire community. 

It is all connected. Shared risk and protective factors link multiple forms of violence. 

Coordinated strategies prevent more than one outcome at once.