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Media
Kit: Resist Media
Kit: Research Media
Kit: Software |
Past
Press Release
Technology
is promising as scaleable tool for violence prevention That's the opinion of violence prevention expert Alice Ray, a member of the Academic Advisory Council to the National Campaign Against Youth Violence. Fifteen years ago she oversaw development of Second Step, a widely tested and clinically validated violence prevention curriculum, that too often, she says, ends up sitting on classroom shelves, or missing the most teachable moment-an individual child's time of intense personal need. She has since turned her attention to new methods and new media to reach more kids, more of the time. "There's not one strategy that works for every kid, all the time, there are hundreds of strategies, each of which work, in some situations, with some kids. Technology offers a way to get more of what works, to more kids who need it, more of the time," Ray says. "It's counter-intuitive to think that computers could teach empathy, or assertiveness, or impulse control to kids," says Ray, "but the evidence is pointing in that direction." Initial results from a study by Columbia and NYU investigators suggest that she's right. If so, help may be on the way for troubled teens, who research shows trust their computers, more than their own parents. In a pilot study involving three groups of 7th and 8th graders from a New York City public school, researchers from Columbia and New York Universities confirmed that an innovative social learning software program from San Francisco-based Ripple Effects, Inc.(co-founded by Ray with technology innovator Sarah Berg) dramatically reduced aggressive behavior among a randomly assigned group of students, when compared with a control group. Students who used Ripple Effects for Teens several times a week during their free time, without any teacher intervention, showed 32% less aggressive behavior and 77% more positive behavior than the control group. Reports to Ripple Effects from school nurses and counselors suggest that the program had also been helpful in prompting students to disclose serious problems - from anorexia to child abuse. "It's both hopeful and a little frightening to think that software could help prevent school violence" says Ray. "But technology is a powerful tool. And the computer is there. Like guns are there. There's something terribly wrong, when we allow kids access to guns, but not to the strategies that could prevent their picking up those guns to use on their peers - and themselves." More information is available online at: http://www.rippleeffects.com. For further information, please contact: Sarah
Berg or Alice Ray |
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