Activity Description and Summary There is a need to make the school campus the safest place for students in order to advance their education in a safe environment. Issues such as bullying, violence, hate crimes, family issues, and natural disasters such as earthquakes or tornadoes are just a few issues that the school has to develop a plan to address if and when the need arises. Williamson and Blackburn (2010) posit that “the organization of your school can affect your ability to improve student learning” (p.65). Therefore, there has to be procedures in place to deal with these issues so that the teaching and learning process can be conducted in a safe environment. Our school’s operations manager alongside the principal are in charge of school safety and so I worked with them as they put together the school’s safety plan. This plan involves creating an overall respectful culture, evacuating the school building in case of an emergency and responding to lock down signals. For the first week of school the focused was on culture, the second week of school teachers were given a document which gives an outline as to the route the individual class would take to evacuate the building as well as lessons to teach the children how to respond to the different signals that are used. There was also a schedule as to when each floor would practice the evacuation exercise. As the teachers practiced, the times were recorded as to how fast they got out of the building and a check
6. As an administrator, building supervision and student/staff safety has to always be at the forefront in planning for the school day. Not doing so, can lead to the unthinkable like this situation, a school
Improvement in security will also contribute to a safe environment. High schools should implement the use of metal detectors as well as random searches. Although, it may be tedious to remove all metal and coins from your pockets, it will ensure safety. This security measure can be specific to each school. An example being to make the checks random throughout the week or only require it for students to have a late arrival. Random searches can also be specified such as only searching lockers or classrooms. Motion sensored cameras can also be a very effective with safety. In many school’s cameras are only in the hallways and lunchroom, but what happens when violence occurs in a classroom? All evidence will be based off hearsay. This is not an effective way of assessing the incident considering there are 3 sides to every story. Adding motion cameras to classrooms will make evidence accurate. Not only will student-student altercations be recorded, but teacher-student altercations will be recorded. Security guards themselves should also be improved. Security guards should be posted in hallways upon children arrival, during passing periods, and upon school dismissal. Security guards should also be fit enough for the job. “The results indicated that utilization of multiple security measures reduced the likelihood of exposure to property
The effort of this paper is designed to provide an audience with the basic framework in preventing, reacting to, and recovering from a school shooting. By analyzing the crisis of a school shooting, this paper will lay out the practical steps in preparing schools, communities, and local agencies for a tragedy that has already shook many communities across the nation. This paper will also follow the steps necessary to implement and evaluate a school shooting preparedness plan. In concluding this paper, school staff, local agencies, and families will be able to take the practical steps towards providing a safe and comfortable learning environment for students.
It would be a wise idea for school administrators to have a comprehensive security assessment of the school’s physical design, safety policies, and emergency procedures. Once again this must be conducted with the cooperation of school staff, emergency personnel, students, and other school community members. Every school has different needs and safety plans may vary. According to the IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police), there are twenty recommended actions that can be used to prevent violence in a school setting.
Safety: Students know that they are physically safe and that they are not in danger in the classroom. Safety also includes students emotional and mental well-being, meaning that they will be free from emotional damage such as bulling or name-calling.
What the school will do to keep all children and young people safe and how it will respond to concerns, stating the procedure for this.
Since the establishment of public education in the United States, schools have provided a sense of security and belonging to their students. Although sitting through lectures and doing homework may not be the most exciting thing in the world, students will always have a lunch to eat, a roof over their head, and a supportive teacher or counselor that they can talk to. Despite the “safe” environment and presence of authoritative figures on school campuses, trouble always finds a way to break out. Simple misbehaving and occasional fights are a common occurrence on most school campuses, however a new breed of troublesome and violent students has hatched. The
“Not just safe in terms of physical and emotional safety, but also in terms of students feeling safe enough to take intellectual risks.”
Even with the presence of the recent shooting in Florida, the entire culture of school security has transformed since the 1999 Columbine school shooting. The Columbine massacre was the time when two teens opened fire on other students, killing 13people and injuring more than 20 others before shooting themselves and committing suicide. It was the worst high school shooting in the United States history and initiated a national discussion on gun control and school safety. Since then, the issue of gun violence and school shooting has dominated school safety concern. Also, the incidence initiated a revolution to the school security measures. Todays, schools are far more secure than
During the past decade, school safety has been at the forefront of many school districts safety polices and plans. With recent high profile school shootings, the question school districts continue to ask is how do we keep our schools safe? Administrators face heavy scrutiny when weighing approaches to school safety and student discipline. Likewise, school employees have the right to work in safe environments devoid of life-threatening behaviors (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). America’s founding fathers understood the importance of a public school education. They believed educating its citizens would allow them the opportunity to learn new skills while becoming successful and productive people in society. However, our founding fathers did not predict the severe behavior changes our schools face in educating disruptive and dangerous students. America’s school districts are charged with providing solutions for disruptive and dangerous students (Fenning and Bohanon, 2006; Skiba and Rausch, 2006). School officials must address these issues with research-based interventions and collaborative resources that provide a safe learning environment for all stakeholders (Elliott and Mihalic, 2004; Schoenwald and Hoagwood, 2001). Boards of education continue to support school efforts to rethink best practices for disciplinary alternative middle schools (DAMS). Many school districts focus on research-based interventions and resources that manage aggression and
School violence has become of the most pressing educational problems in the United States. Gang violence and high profile shootings across the nation cause concern within schools. Communities struggle to understand why these events take place and how they can be prevented. The overwhelming response to solve the issue of violence in schools is the increasing societal pressure to execute zero tolerance. Zero tolerance is driven by the educational philosophy, policies, and practices of school communities. Stakeholders expect schools to be a safe place for staff and for students. Stakeholders assume that a positive classroom environment, safe students, and school enjoyment are conditions necessary to create a positive climate where learning takes place. This assumption can be backed with research. A calm classroom environment, teachers’ management of disruptive behavior, and students’ view of school safety are factors that have been found to directly correlate with student achievement in the classroom (Ma & Willms, 2004). Safety and a feeling of not being threatened during school hours have been found to be important to students’ achievement. Failure to remove a disruptive or an unruly student from school has been found to have a negative impact on achievement and creates a great risk to school staff and students (Garbarino et al., 1992). Teachers cannot teach and students cannot learn in an
Providing a safe and secure environment enables students to explore and participate in learning. Students will volunteer answers and ask questions when they feel safe. When students feel safe they are more willing to talk about themselves to others and the teacher. Establish relationships with your students and build a sense of community within your classroom. Students need to get to know each other as well as experience the “human” side of their teacher. This will allow for a safe and trusting classroom environment.
Schools need to maintain a disciplined and safe learning environment. There are many disciplinary actions that are in use today and although some can disagree about the amount of discipline that is best for maturing children, it is reasonable to be in agreement that a positive learning environment begins with physical and emotional safety. School safety includes a broad range of matters, including, fighting, bullying, drugs, alcohol, weapons, and etc. Many schools use varying methods in an effort to maintain school safety. Some schools limit school access and require all visitors to sign in. Physical surveillance is another common method of addressing school safety issues along with use of staff and student identification. Among all these
Violence in our schools is an issue that has become more prominent in the last few years. News articles about violent deeds within the school setting are on the increase. Our society demands that schools are safe for our children. In order to maintain a peaceful environment for all, we must address and inform our schools, children, and parents as well as the neighboring communities about the issue of school violence. As David W. Johnson, the author of Reducing School Violence states, “To eliminate violence and resolve destructive conflicts, schools must first admit that such conflicts are out of control.” (Johnson 7) Schools in general must identify with these issues in order to deal with them.
Unsafe learning environments create a climate of fear and insecurity and a perception and this reduces the quality of education for all students.