Despite the numerous discussions about the rash of school violence that swept the nation last week, many questions about how to prevent further violence and how schools and police should deal with such incidents are still unanswered.

The only available reports about school violence are from 1999, and they show a decrease in the number of violence-related incidents in schools. According to the report, which was released by the Surgeon General in 1999, arrest rates of young people have declined and have continued to decline, starting in the mid-1990s.

But whether or not the incidents highlighted in the media are representative of a national trend, schools and officials in the commonwealth are not taking any chances.

State Attorney General Mike Fisher has proposed several pieces of legislation regarding school safety since 1995. The last piece of legislation, which was introduced and passed in 1999, asked schools to establish individual action plans in case some type of violence occurs.

As part of the State College Area School District's action plan, assistant principal Joyce Sipple said the school has had an anonymous hotline for two years and has given the State College Police Department blueprints of the school.

"Our main responsibility is getting students to a safe and secure place, and we have places set up as an emergency," Sipple said.

However, within the past year, Fisher has pushed for more legislation regarding the prevention of violence in schools. He has found legislative support.

Included in Fisher's proposed legislation are a parental responsibility bill, a bill requiring psychological evaluations for children who bring a gun to school, and a bill increasing the penalties for a student who brings a gun on school grounds by changing the status of the crime from a first-degree misdemeanor to a felony offense.

Out of these three propositions, all three have found legislative support. Only the parental responsibility proposal has been reintroduced during this assembly session.

Although commonwealth officials have paid more attention to school violence because of recent events, state attorney general spokesman Sean Connolly said, "No legislation can stop every act of violence. Hopefully, though, these steps can identify students prone to violence."

Sipple also hopes these steps can help alleviate school violence. State College High School has almost twice as many students as any other high school in the county and still recognizes certain rural traditions such as no school on the first day of deer hunting season. Because of these reasons, school administrators are especially conscious about the need to remain proactive in ensuring student safety.

Sipple said that along with the security measures that have been in use for the past few years, having students and staff wear visible identification is a possibility. Sipple also said plans are in the works for a practice drill in case of an emergency.

"We need to do it (a practice drill). Police feel we need to do it and find out what the rough spots in the plans are," Sipple said.

Along with enforcing safety plans, preventive efforts such as student mediation are also become more widely utilized throughout the school, Sipple said.

"We're emphasizing on trying to make the school more humane," Sipple said. "Sometimes students aren't as respectful as they should be."

Pennsylvania Department of Education Spokeswoman Jodie Daubert said through conferences held throughout the state, the department is stressing the need to protect kids from the humiliation some students encounter on a daily basis. Daubert said that at a Safe Schools Grantees meeting held last week, students came to tell administrators and teachers the effects of humiliating other students after they themselves participated in the mocking.

"They told the administrators present that 'we used to make fun of kids, but now we see how bad the effects really are,' " Daubert said.