Impact of Violence Prevention Programs on the Attitudes Towards Guns and Violence Among Third Through Sixth Grade and Seventh Grade Students in the Bowling Green Independent School District

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of violence prevention programs on the attitudes toward guns and violence among students in grades three through seven. This study represents an attempt to prove that third through sixth grade students who receive anger control training and seventh grade students who receive conflict resolution training will show a significantly lower attraction towards guns and violence than students receiving no such training. By understanding interrelation between adolescents\u27 attitudes towards guns and violence and their psychosocial functioning, the public can seek out ways of preventing violence. To measure the impact and to provide information about the program\u27s strengths and weaknesses, the Attitudes toward Guns and Violence Questionnaire (AGVQ) was used. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was utilized to assess the differences in attitudes towards guns and violence between groups that participated in violence prevention programs and those who did not. Anger control training and conflict resolution training, as conducted in this manner and in this setting, did not lead to a significantly lower attraction towards guns and violence