Lessons from Columbine: effective school‐based violence prevention strategies and programmes

On 20 April 1999, at Columbine High School in Colorado, two students, Eric Harris (aged 18) and Dylan Klebold (17), embarked on a massacre, killing 12 students and one teacher. The pair then committed suicide. The event provoked vigorous debate around topics such as the gun culture, bullying, violent video games, goth culture and teenage use of the internet and anti‐depressants. In nearby Boulder is the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, part of the University of Colorado. Del Elliott, a world‐renowned criminologist and sociologist, has been director there since 1993. Columbine was the catalyst for Del and a team of researchers, policy‐makers and practitioners to develop the Blueprints for Violence Prevention database of evidence‐based programmes. On 2 July 2009, Del gave the annual Social Research Unit, Dartington, lecture at the Commonwealth Club in London. This article is based on his talk.