Numerous studies have shown that family involvement is a key catalyst for positive change in a child’s character development and the reduction of school violence. The EKP Institute offers the family-focused Community EKP curriculum, which consists of a workshop series for children and family members/guardians, to address and to ignite this potential for change in a child’s behavior and sense of self. Community EKP has been independently evaluated for years. These studies have clearly and consistently revealed the positive effects of the program. The following statistics are from a study by Dr. D. Greenstein of Cornell University in 2003 using a test having the participants answer the same series of questions, once before the program started and again at the end of the program.
26% positive shift with the question: I am comfortable talking to my child about drugs
32% positive shift with the question: I am getting along with my child
26% positive shift with the question: I am comfortable talking to my child about peer pressure
32% positive shift with the question: I am getting respect from my child
58% positive shift with the question: My child is “acting up” a lot at home
21% positive shift with the question: I am comfortable talking with my child about violence at school
42% positive shift with the question: My child settles disagreements without getting physical
37% positive shift with the question: I am worried about my child’s safety at school
84% positive shift with the question: I have some idea how to defend myself
The implementation of EKP in schools, with its much-heralded character education curriculum, demonstrates what many experts in the field of school violence prevention have been saying for years. According to School Violence and Primary Prevention, “Character Education has been a valued partner in [violence] prevention strategies. Prevention education is seen as a key component in addressing school violence.” (Edited by Thomas Miller Springer Science and Business Media. 2008, page 377) The results from the studies shown below are not only astounding, but they unmistakably illustrate how EKP drastically impacts and reduces school violence.
Dr. D. Greenstein of Cornell University conducted a survey of an entire class of 3rd graders at Campbell Savona who had taken EKP in the late 1990’s. The survey reported a 50% decline in how often a child gets into trouble, a more than 50% decline in child anger, a 80% decline in the frequency of fights between children, and a 25% increase in a child’s self-control.
Another study looked at the VADIR (violent and disruptive incidents report) from 2007-2008 in 15 NYS School Districts that had more than 3 years of EKP in their schools and 15 NYS School Districts that had never had EKP in their Schools, controlling for such factors as school size and relative poverty level. Those school districts with EKP had a 50% lower occurrence of violent incidents in their schools!