Final answer:
The debated approach to school violence is the a) Zero Tolerance Policy, a strict policy mirroring Zero Tolerance Policing that advocates for punishing all infractions to prevent serious crime, but is controversial due to potential harsh consequences and inequality.
Step-by-step explanation:
The recent approach to dealing with violence in schools that has been debated among researchers is known as Zero Tolerance Policy. This policy is derived from the Zero Tolerance Policing strategy, which was based on the principles of the Broken Windows Theory. Under these policies, there is a strict enforcement approach that advocates for the punishment of minor infractions in the hope of preventing more serious crimes. Critics argue that this often leads to harsh consequences for minor offenses and can disproportionately affect certain communities. The policy suggests that no act of disobedience or violation, regardless how minor, should be overlooked in schools, aligning with the same principles used by some police departments. However, its effectiveness has been challenged by studies showing that crime rates in cities without Zero Tolerance Policing have also declined and that addressing visual blight could have similar positive effects without the associated issues.