NCJ Number
186043
Date Published
2000
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article reviews facts and perceptions of school safety and provides an overview of a comprehensive school safety plan.
Abstract
Schools are the social setting in which children are least likely to experience harm. Only 7 percent of serious assaults and 4 percent of robberies occur at school. However, rates of weapon possession among student and assaults on students and teachers are increasing. School safety varies by community as well. In addition, children, teachers, and parents have shifted their perceptions regarding the safety of school and are more preoccupied than before about potential harm. Most schools have a small percentage of high-risk students who need early identification and intervention due to their likelihood of becoming involved in fighting, bullying, and other violence. Schools need to organize community support, manage high-risk students, and address the more general contributions of social organization to risk. Two important strategies on which schools should focus are the undermining of tolerance for aggression and preventing aggressive and violent incidents. Preventing violence in inner-city communities may require a greater emphasis on school and community norms about violence, increased community safety standards, and other approaches. Schools also need to address crucial implementation features, including readily accessible and usable support for staff and service providers and manageable caseloads for staff working with high-risk youth. Overall, the appropriate three-pronged approach to school safety involves identification and intervention with high-risk youth, establishment of a set of norms committed to nonaggressive problem-solving and behavior management, and violence prevention strategies for the students not at high risk. 24 references