School Safety

After the Sandy Hook, there were countless ways for students to be safe at school. In Preparing for the Unthinkable: School Safety after Sandy Hook news article, Vicki Bauman said, “ Instead of gates, guns, and metal detectors, let’s invest in the things we know will make us safer: counselors, health care, teaching positive behavior, and making sure we have services to reach out to disconnected youth and pull them back on track.” Therefore, violence is not the answer to any question or issue. The community and school system should take a stand and get the necessities that the schools need to have a safe environment for the students and faculty and staff. The school can invest in law enforcement. The law enforcement will be able to conduct a consistent search through a metal detector. The law enforcement will help the students to avoid bringing prohibited weapons to school as well as, there to protect the school.

Whereas the causes of school violence are mostly theoretical, the effects of mass school shootings are stark and terrible. In the past twenty years there have been many incidents, both small and large scale, of shooting in schools. Two of the most well known of these are the Columbine shooting in 1999 and the Sandy-Hook shooting in 2012. Twenty-six people were killed in the Sandy-Hook shooting and thirteen in the Columbine shooting (“School Safety Timeline.”). One boy described his experience at the Sandy-Hook shooting as, “I saw some of the bullets going past the hall that I was right next to, and then a teacher pulled me into her classroom” ("What Happened in Newtown”). It is hard to imagine the terror and life-long effects that such an incident would cause among children. These stories cause a fear in many students that makes it difficult to create an environment for learning. It is obvious that something must be done to protect children of all ages in public school.

The intention of this paper is to look at and present some issues and strategies that members of a school community think about when trying to create safer schools. Particularly when addressing an active shooter in a school setting. A major issue to consider when trying to keep all schools safe, is the simple fact that no two schools are the same. Understanding this can lead us to the conclusion that it is impossible to have one global plan or program that can be 100% effective in all schools. “Violence prevention programs work best when they incorporate multiple strategies and address the full range of possible acts of violence in schools. For any set of policies to work, it must be established and

Schools are no longer a safe havens for furthering knowledge; instead violence is occurring at alarming rates. Common occurrences in schools include: physical altercations, severe property damage, and bullying behaviors. According to “ThefutureofChidren.org,” youth violence in schools costs the public 158 billion dollars each year. In this decade, that rate of children inflicting violence on other children and teachers is staggering. Today’s teachers are being trained on gun safety, school lobbies are being installed with bullet proof glass, and counselors hold

If you recently picked up a newspaper or turned on to see the news you may have question what is happening in our schools and begin to think whether our schools are still safe places for children. Recent school shootings have set feared in many parents about their children's safety in our schools. Since last year number of school shootings by students have occurred regularly. On Tuesday February 29, 2000 in Mount Morris Township, Michigan a six-year old boy shot his classmate to death in their first grade classroom. Police reports show that the two youngsters had an argument the previous day. A single shot was fired inside the classroom at Buell Elementary School around 10 a.m. The young boy said he brought the gun to school to frighten

There were over 200 school shootings in America from 2013 to 2015 — an average of nearly one a week. In all, these incidents resulted in 59 deaths and 124 non-fatal gunshot injuries. A staggering statistic considering that protecting children at schools has been and will be one of the top priorities for all Americans. Americans disagree on many topics and have diverse social and economic beliefs , but we all agree on providing safe and secure learning environments for our students. Government officials and school administrators face substantial altercations balancing parents’ expectations on keeping the students safe, and understanding the best available solutions with limited funding. These

The NH LEND program partners with the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies to provide the opportunity for trainees and fellows in the State of Maine to train in leadership roles within an interdisciplinary and culturally diverse professional network. Our work strives to improve the health and quality of life for infants, children, and adolescents who have, or are at risk for developing autism and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. The program is funded by a grant from the Maternal Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). It is administered by the Association for University Centers on Disability (AUCD).

Columbine, Sandy Hook, and the UT Tower shooting are just a few examples of the terror parents, teachers, and students face today. More and more massacres and threats are affecting our schools on a daily basis. No one should fear to receive an education and certainly no parent should fear their child entering the doors of an elementary school. What can we do to prevent these tragedies from happening again? How can we strip the worry from the men, women and children involved in our educational systems at work today? The only options to putting an end to the untimely and unfair deaths of our teachers and students is tighter security, psych evaluations, and armed personnel. This means of security should not only be present in high schools or Jr. Highs, but should be present in all of our educational buildings, including colleges, elementary schools and child care centers. All of the places listed should be aware and willing to respond with any force necessary to protect their lives and the lives of others. More security cameras, attending at least one anti-bullying program per school year, teachers need training to psychologically assess a troubled student, and armed teachers should all play a role in defending and keeping our schools safe. This is not taking our freedom but protecting our right to live and learn.

In today’s society we see more and more cases where somebody threatens a school whether it be a bombing or a shooting. In some cases, these situations come without warning, somebody decides to arm themselves and go terrorize a school or campus. You have instances like the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting where Adam Lanza shot and killed 28 people. Another instance is just recently at Ohio State University a student ran his car into a group of people and proceeded to stab eleven others with a knife. They do so whether they have gone off the deep end and a re psychologically unstable or if they do it in the name of some cause that they think is just, either way they threaten the lives and sanity of students and staff and students alike. So it poses a question onThis poses the question of whether or notwhether schools and campuses should step up security in order toto prevent these kinds of disasters from happening to their schools. Should they make changes to security and be safer now rather thaen sorry later or should they leave things alone in hopes that it will be enough if a situation where to arise?. If they decide to make changes what options do they have to make a safe environment?.

Over the past two decades the US schools have faced serious occurrences of violence. Accordingly, the prevention of school disruption and violence has evolved into an essential and crucial consideration. Beyond the avoidance of toxic violence, it is commonly agreed that on one hand teachers are not able to teach and on the other hand students are not able to learn in an educational institution portrayed by disturbance. A national survey conducted in 2004 declared that parents and educators of secondary and high schools had almost mutual view regarding the necessity of having adequate school discipline and student behavior in order to succeed (Public agenda, 2004). Certainly, schools as educational institutions have the right and responsibility to create an inclusive, effective, and safe learning climate. Nonetheless, there is a tremendous controversy regarding the approaches in keeping inclusive and safe school environment. Instead of traditional ways of dealing with misbehaviour on a case by case basis, analyzing the conditions of each situation, and the repercussions for the overall safety of the school environment, almost each school district in the USA now applies zero tolerance policy that extremely restrict discretion in particular cases, involve law authorities, and designate students from school (Skiba et.al, 2006). These policies generally require out-of-school suspension or expulsion on the first offense for a

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

There are hundreds if not thousands of students in any given school. The sheer size and magnitude of the student population encompassed in these schools leads to complications of school safety. Zero tolerance is a policy which was brought about enforcing school safety more firmly, and aimed to better protect students. However, the way in which these students are protected is highly debatable, making the zero tolerance ideology very controversial. Exactly which approach is most effective in protecting a student, let alone, thousands? Is strictness more effective than leniency? Overly strict policies aim to protect the majority, however, severally punish those who have to deal with the wrath of zero tolerance, those who violate the rules. Overly lenient policies can lead to dreadful events, however, give students a sense of reason, in turn creating an understanding of what they have done wrong. In the long run which method is most effective in protecting students? These type of questions, along with the excess amount of questionable cases, compose a highly controversial topic.

In ‘Zero Tolerance Policies are Ineffective’ Brian Wilson and Laura Finley (2015) argue that Zero Tolerance policies are ineffective since they are often applied to minority and disadvantaged students. Finley and Wilson examine two reasons to support their idea. First, they say that authorities lack common sense with deciding a penalty or punishment for the students who break rules. They argue that many schools have increased the security at school to create a more productive learning environment but this is where the problem is increased. The writers believe that students should be given a chance to explain themselves, if and when they are caught in possession of either drugs, guns, or knives because it can be an innocent mistake. Second, Wilson and Finley, state that the school board members renounce responsibility of making difficult decisions. Wilson and Finley conclude that a punishment should be given on the basis of

School plays a fundamental role in most people’s lives. It provides people with an education that will allow them to succeed in their future careers. Schools, specifically high schools, make a great effort in ensuring their student’s safety. One of the policies they use to ensure safety is the zero tolerance policy, a one-size-fits all policy which punishes students for anything that the school sees as unsafe. The policy was established in 1990 and covers safety issues such as bringing weapons, drugs, threats, and bullying. According to the zero tolerance policy, both people involved in a bully incident must be punished- the bully and the student who attempts to defend themselves. This causes a significant amount of school dropouts, as the students are often suspended or expelled, leaving a permanent mark on their record, even the student who attempts to defend themselves. Instead of punishing a student for their behavior, school officials should reinforce model behavior and examine the student’s intent before punishing.