|
Guide to Safe Schools
Early Warning, Timely Response: Although most schools are safe, the violence that occurs in our neighborhoods and communities has found its way inside the schoolhouse door. However, if
we understand what leads to violence and the types of support that research has shown are effective in preventing violence, we can make our schools safer.
Research-based practices can help school communities-administrators, teachers, families, students, support staff, and community members-recognize the
warning signs early, so children can get the help they need before it is too late. This guide presents a brief summary of the research on violence prevention and
intervention and crisis response in schools. It tells school communities:
- What to look for--the early warning signs that relate to violence and other troubling behaviors.
- What to do--the action steps that school communities can take to prevent violence and other troubling behaviors, to intervene and get help for
troubled children, and to respond to school violence when it occurs.
The information in this guide is not intended as a comprehensive prevention, intervention, and response plan--school communities could do everything
recommended and still experience violence. Rather, the intent is to provide school communities with reliable and practical information about what they can do
to be prepared and to reduce the likelihood of violence.
Most schools are safe. Although fewer than one percent of all violent deaths of children occur on school grounds-indeed, a child is far more likely to be killed
in the community or at home - no school is immune.
While we can take some solace in the knowledge that schools are among the safest places for young people, we must do more. School violence reflects a much broader problem, one that can only
be addressed when everyone--at school, at home, and in the community -- works together.
The 1997-1998 school year served as a dramatic wake-up call to the fact that guns do come to school, and some students will use them to kill. One after the
other, school communities across the country-from Oregon to Virginia, from Arkansas to Pennsylvania, from Mississippi to Kentucky-have been forced to
face the fact that violence can happen to them. And while these serious incidents trouble us deeply, they should not prevent us from acting to prevent school
violence of any kind.
There is ample documentation that prevention and early intervention efforts can reduce violence and other troubling behaviors in schools. Research-based
practices can help school communities recognize the warning signs early, so children can get the help they need before it is too late. In fact, research suggests
that some of the most promising prevention and intervention strategies involve the entire educational community--administrators, teachers, families, students,
support staff, and community members--working together to form positive relationships with all children.
If we understand what leads to violence and the types of support that research has shown are effective in preventing violence and other troubling behaviors,
we can make our schools safer.
All staff, students, parents, and members of the community must be part of creating a safe school environment:
- Everyone has a personal responsibility for reducing the risk of violence. We must take steps to maintain order, demonstrate mutual respect and caring for one another, and ensure that children who are troubled get the help they need.
- Everyone should have an understanding of the early warning signs that help identify students who may be headed for trouble.
- Everyone should be prepared to respond appropriately in a crisis situation.
Below is helpful information for schools, parents, and students, on how to keep your child's school safe.
Visit the following Internet sites for more information on preventing crime and keeping schools safe:
Below are a few books dealing with School Violence. Use Amazon.com's secure server to order:
 The Gorp's Gift: Ages 4-8 - Sherri Chessen. Buy it now through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
Violence Proof Your Kids Now: How to Recognize the 8 Warning Signs and What to Do About Them, For Parents, Teachers, and other Concerned Caregivers: - Erika V. Shearin Karres, Diane Loomans (Foreword). Buy it NOW through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
After Columbine, A Schoolplace Violence Prevention Manual...Written by an Expert Who Was There: - Kelly A. Zinna. Buy it NOW through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
Waging Peace in Our Schools: - Linda Lantieri, Janet Patti, Marian Wright Edelman. Buy it NOW through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
Ready-To-Use Violence Prevention Skills Lessons & Activities for Secondary Students: - Ruth Weltmann, Frank J. Huml (Editor), Ruth Weltmann Begun (Editor). Buy it NOW through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
Dangerous Schools: What We Can Do About the Physical and Emotional Abuse of Our Children: - Irwin A. Hyman (Editor), Pamela A. Snook. Buy it NOW through Amazon.com's secure server!
Click HERE or on the image of the books to give this gift to yourself or someone else!
Copyright © Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice of the American Institutes for Research in collaboration with the National Association of School Psychologists. Reprinted with permission.
|