There is no greater challenge that exists today than creating safe schools. It is difficult for children to learn in an environment that is unsafe and when they feel at risk. It is hard to keep staff on task when they fear for their own safety. One out of twelve students who stay away from school do so because of fear. In an ideal world, you would like to prevent all school crime and ensure the safety of students and each staff member. There are so many things outside the control of the school administrator that such a task is almost impossible. To predict the potentially disruptive behavior of students, a staff member, or the intruder who comes to your campus is unrealistic, but being armed with the knowledge that this could happen to you could can lead to do several things to prepare for a crisis, avoid a crisis, and preclude successive crises. Restoring our schools to tranquil and safe places of learning requires a great commitment. It involves placing school safety at the top of the educational agenda. Without safe schools, teachers cannot teach and students cannot learn. School administrators have a host of opportunities and strategies that can be implemented to make a difference. The difficulty often is in effectively analyzing the problem, and then deciding what can be done about it. A safe school is in place when students can learn and teachers can teach in a warm and welcoming environment free of intimidation and fear. It is a setting where the educational climate fosters a spirit of acceptance and care for every child; where behavior expectations are clearly communicated, consistently enforced and fairly applied. A safe school is a function of community will, priorities and interests. It requires partnerships and cooperation. The components and people involved are limited only by the imagination, creativity, energy, and commitment of the local community. Very important people include students, educators, parents, law enforcers, judges, probation directors, mental health leaders, and...
School Safety: the safety of school settings, such as the incidence of harassment, bullying, violence, and substance use, as supported by relevant research and an assessment of validity. School safety is extremely important at Edgewood. Some statistics about Edgewood’s safety plans and routes include building objects, like staircases, AEDs and exits. The 5 staircases at Edgewood are labeled: A, B , C, D, E. They go clockwise. Also, the number of lockers is important. On the first floor there are 420 lockers (only 195 in use), on the second there are 308 (only 151 in use), and on the third there is 425 (only 1...
Talley, R. C., Walz, G. R., National Education Goals Panel, W. C., ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Student Services, G. C., & National Alliance of Pupil Services, O. n. (1996). Safe Schools, Safe Students. Proceedings of the National Education Goals Panel/National Alliance of Pupil Services Organizations Conference on "Safe Schools, Safe Students: A Collaborative Approach to Achieving Safe, Disciplined, and Drug-free Schools Conducive to Learning" (Washington, D.C., October 28-29, 1994).
Vossekuil, Bryan. The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States. Washington, D.C: The Secret Service, 2002. Print.
School violence has become a very popular issue nowadays. From tragic school shootings to unexpected stabbings, each school’s safety is being placed in jeopardy. From Columbine High School shooting in 1999, to Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012 and the recent stabbing in April, school violence has not decreased. It is time to do something now, if further action is not taken these issues will continue. Before school violence becomes too common to students and intruders, restrictions and plans must be implemented now.
Mitchell, Martin L., and Larry K. Brendtro. “Victories Over Violence: The Quest for Safe Schools and Communities.” Reclaiming Children & Youth 2013: 5+. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.
Community service has been around since the existence of communities because communities often cannot exist with out the participation of their members. As stated before, community service began to be required in school systems in 1997 in Maryland. According to Kate McPpherson, director of Project Service Leadership in Vancover, WA, community service “… emphasizes the habits and skills of volunteerism” (McPherson 2002). While community service sounds good and beneficial for strengthening skills and membership in the community, it was met with poor results and strong opinions against its requirements. Simply requiring students to fulfill a certain amount of community service hours wasn’t enough, many students did not cooperate. It was found that incorporating community service activities into a class room sett...
Schneider, Tod, Hill M. Walker, and Jeffrey R. Sprague. Safe school design a handbook for educational leaders applying the principles of crime prevention through environmental design. Eugene, OR: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, College of Education, University of Oregon, 2000.
Homan, M.S. (2008). Promoting Community Change: Making it happen in the real world. (5th Ed.). Belmont, CA. Nelson Education, LTD.
Raising community awareness to students will teach them the importance of being involved in the community. Students being able to give back to the community will prepare them for their journey to being a positive role model or servant leader.