Violence Prevention Program

The 2012 calendar year marks the 25th year that COMPASS has been working with its students and families to prevent violence within their schools, their families and their neighborhoods. In 1987, COMPASS established a Violence Prevention Program and was part of a unique and successful collaborative of civic, educational, religious, and social service agencies that worked together, and with gang members, to create and implement a serious intervention to decrease violence in Boston and its neighborhoods.

The COMPASS School developed a violence prevention curriculum specifically designed for youth and adolescents with special needs and serious emotional and behavioral issues. This curriculum effort earned COMPASS recognition in a WBZ editorial as one of 4 outstanding violence prevention programs statewide. Over the years, COMPASS has been recognized by the Mayor of Boston and by the Legislative body of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for its violence prevention services. Curriculum and methods have been modified to respond to the changing needs presented by our students.

COMPASS Violence Intervention services are provided agency wide. We invite you to take a look at the events and activities being planned this year to honor our 25 year commitment to decreasing violence and to promoting safety and non-violent conflict resolution.

Activities planned to date include the following:

• A T-shirt design contest by students in COMPASS Programs, with winner(s) recognized with gift certificate(s) and the winning design being featured on T-Shirts made and distributed to students, staff, and friends of COMPASS during our annual Violence Prevention and Recognition Day
• Monthly online articles featuring COMPASS programs and services and the ways in which they address violence prevention, intervention and/or treatment.
• A COMPASS Peace Quilt, compiled of sample Violence Prevention T-Shirt designs, will be utilized as part of a puzzle of information about COMPASS' Core Values that relate to violence prevention.
• A Peace Arts project will be integrated within COMPASS Schools classrooms, with results (i.e. art work, banners, door designs and more) on display in the school lobby, on and around the School building, in the COMPASS Cafe, and in messages/pictures distributed in the community and neighborhood.
• Use of COMPASS' focus on 25 years of Violence Prevention as a theme within a program to be hosted at the COMPASS School on behalf of MAAPS (Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools) for members of Massachusetts legislative body, MAAPS member organizations and others.
• Publicity for the book Don't Shoot: One Man, A Street Fellowship, and the End of Violence in Inner-City America by David M. Kennedy, a book that tells the story of Kennedy's role as a criminologist and engineer of the Boston Miracle during the crack epidemic of the 1990s, which describes an approach in which everyone – gang members, drug dealers, cops and communmity members, joins together in what is essentially a giant intervention.
• A Violence Prevention Day that invites families/guardians and community members to share student successes and reinforce the need for Peace in our schools, homes and communities.

About the Program

COMPASS integrates our Violence Prevention Program into the daily activities of our students. This program was implemented by COMPASS staff in 1988 after a student was shot and killed. The main goal of this program is to teach children how to handle potentially violent situations without harming themselves or others. A comprehensive curriculum leads students through a variety of exercises, including workshops and cooperative activities designed to help them learn more about themselves and how they manage difficult situations. All of the students who attend school at COMPASS participate in Violence Prevention Program during the academic year.

Students who participate in the Violence Prevention Program engage in a variety of activities throughout the academic year. Staff members lead students through activities designed to promote cooperation, critical thinking skills and a heightened awareness of how violence affects our society. The curriculum aims at helping students identify and define the many faces of violence, normalize nonviolent anger, and identify positive responses to anger.

The year long program culminates with our annual Violence Prevention Day Ceremony which brings together students, parents, and community leaders. Keynote speakers have included Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Dr. Asa Hilliard. The public is invited to attend! The Violence Prevention Program has been recognized by print and broadcast media as well as by the Massachusetts State Senate and the Massachusetts Legislature.