In Japan there were decapitations. Hangings in Norway. Group stabbings in Israel. Some say the problems are worse in Italy.

School violence isn't confined to the United States. But until recently there was little communication across borders between researchers, even though some countries like England, Norway and New Zealand have been effectively dealing with violence in schools for decades.

Ron Avi Astor of the University of Southern California and Rami Benbenishty, a visiting professor at USC on leave from Hebrew University, will be proposing a worldwide research agenda at the fourth annual World Conference on Violence at School and Public Policies in Lisbon, Portugal, from June 23 - 25. The conference, co-sponsored by the United Nations, will bring together 500 researchers from more than 50 countries to compare notes, share ideas and present 203 studies.

"We don't want to recreate the wheel or repeat mistakes," said Astor, one of three co-chairs of the scientific committee. "This is an issue we can all work on. There is a sense that together we can all make a difference in the lives of children."

School violence isn't a recent phenomenon, either. Though there was widespread coverage of recent tragedies, the deadliest act of mass murder at a U.S. school occurred in 1927 in Bath, Mich., when a farmer blew up a school because of a tax levy.

"This is not something that has emerged; it's something we've discovered," Astor said. "There was no awareness and this was not categorized as a form of violence."

Astor notes the first national study on bullying wasn't released until 2000 and the first journal dedicated to school violence was published in 2001.

"This is a new way of thinking about violence in schools," said Astor, a professor in the USC School of Social Work and the USC Rossier School of Education.

This relatively new field of study is spurring research all over the world and the results are pouring in from places like Romania, Iran, Slovakia, China and Brazil.

"The similarities of what causes different forms of school violence are much more common than we had thought," Astor said. "Often it's the friends you have. Think of school violence in terms of family violence or sexual harassment and how prevalent those are all over the world."

One paper from Spain that will be presented at the conference covers antisocial behavior programs for kindergartners and another from Australia uses pod casting for insight into bullying.

Just over a decade ago, there was perhaps one proven program that reduced school violence, Astor said. Today there are dozens of evidence based programs that may work depending on setting and implementation.

Some countries and cities have already demonstrated that it is possible to reduce school violence acts such as bullying by up to 50 percent, Astor said.

"A lack of school safety is connected to poor academic outcomes," Astor said. "It's not shocking that schools with high violence rates also have high truancy and drop-out rates. I would drop out, too, if I were afraid to walk into school. You need a safe school before you move on to reading and math. And at the best schools, it's not just that there is less violence but there's also a demonstration of caring for the students."

The conference sponsors include UNESCO, the Science and Technological Foundation, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

For more on the conference: http://www.fmh.utl.pt/icvs2008/ingles/index_ingles.htm