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Keeping
schools safe
Secret
Service study explores early detection in school shootings
While
violent deaths at schools are extremely rare events,
the Department of Education is partnering with the
Secret Service to develop training aids for school
administrators, local law enforcement personnel and
others to help prevent further attacks at schools.
These incidents of "targeted violence" -- in which
an attacker > selects a particular target prior to
a violent attack -- are the focus of an ongoing research
project that began approximately two years ago.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting
national leaders including the President, shared its
expertise in threat assessment for a review of 37
U.S. school shootings that date as far back as 1974.
Findings are available in Report
on the Prevention of Violence in Schools.
The report warns that "the use of profiles carries
a risk of over- identification" and advises schools
and communities to redirect their focus to student
"behaviors and communications" to determine the probability
for a violent attack.
Conclusions drawn in the report confirm that:
*
Incidents of targeted violence at school are rarely
impulsive. The attacks are typically the end result
of an understandable and often discernible process
of thinking and behavior.
* Prior to most incidents, the attacker told someone
about his idea and/or plan.
*
There is no accurate or useful profile of "the school
shooter."
*
Most attackers had previously used guns and had access
to them.
* Most shooting incidents were not resolved by law
enforcement intervention.
* In many cases, other students were involved in some
capacity.
* In a number of cases, having been bullied played
a key role in the attack.
Studies
Report Declining Rate of School Violence
Although several high-profile shootings over the past
decade have created the perception that schools are
no longer safe, overall school violence continues
to drop, according to an annual report card on school
crime.
Since 1992, crime against students -- including theft,
rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault
and simple assault -- has decreased by nearly a third.
There were 101 incidents per 1,000 students in 1998,
compared to 144 crimes per 1,000 nine years ago.
One
of several related studies released this past October,
the 2000
Annual Report on School Safety
-- jointly authored by the U.S. Departments
of Education & Justice -- confirms that schools remain
among the safest places for children & youth. This
past school year, 90 percent of the nation's schools
reported no serious violent crime, and 43 percent
say they experienced no crime at all.
"We
need to strike a balance between holding all students
accountable for their actions & ensuring that all
students are > provided with the resources necessary
to succeed to the highest standards," said Bill Modzeleski,
director of the Department of Education's Safe & Drug-Free
Schools program. "We need to be able > to respond
to early warning signs in troubled students without
unfairly stigmatizing kids."
A companion document to the report, Indicators
of School Crime & Safety 2000, reveals
a significant decline in the number of students in
grades 9 through 12 who reported carrying a weapon
to school one or more days during the previous month
-- from 12 percent in 1993 to 7 percent in 1999.
These
reports are available only online. They can be downloaded
from the
Safe
& Drug-Free Schools' website which provides
links to each publication.
##
Tips
for Creating a Safe School
-
from the 1998
Annual Report on School Safety published
by the U.S. Government
1.
Provide strong administrative support for assessing
& enhancing school safety.
2.
Redesign the school facility to eliminate dark,
secluded & unsupervised spaces.
3.
Devise a system for reporting & analyzing violent
& non-criminal incidents.
4.
Design an effective school discipline policy.
5.
Build a partnership with local law enforcement.
6.
Enlist trained school security professionals in
designing & maintaining the school security system.
7.
Train school staff, including support staff, in
all aspects of violence prevention.
8.
Provide all students access to school psychologists
or counselors.
9.
Provide crisis response services.
10.
Implement schoolwide education & training on avoiding
& preventing violence & violent behavior.
11.
Use alternate school settings for educating violent
& weapon- carrying students.
12.
Create a climate of respect.
13.
Provide appropriate educational services to all
students.
14.
Reach out to communities & businesses to assist
in improving the safety of students.
15.
Actively involve students in making decisions
about school policies & programs.
16.
Prepare an annual report on school crime & safety
& distribute to the public.
Out
Of Harm's Way: Keeping the whole child safe in Wake
County, North Carolina
The
Wake County Public School System in North Carolina
believes that creating a safe school requires more
than instituting metal detectors & stockade fences.
In fact, it employs neither of these two measures.
To have healthy students, thus safer schools, Wake
County aims to ensure students' physical, mental &
emotional well-being. The school district has put
into place clinic-like centers in elementary schools
that offer young children everything from immunizations
to early language development programs.
In addition, Wake County schools adopted a number
of national programs that teach students about empathy
& anger management, making friends & preventing violence.
"We're
looking at the whole child, that's why we started
out with character education," says Ron Anderson,
grant director of Wake County's Safe Schools/Healthy
Students project. "Character ed basically means asking
'what kind of whole person do we want?' We don't just
want a child who makes good grades. We want a child
who is a good citizen."
Two years ago Wake County received a grant from the
U.S. Department of Education through its Safe Schools/Healthy
Students initiative to combine existing & new services
into a comprehensive, community- wide approach. "The
grant helped us move in dramatically new & bold directions
in those areas," Anderson said.
Pulling
Community Resources Together
The
challenge was bringing together such a diverse community.
Wake County encompasses rural, suburban & urban areas,
with one of the largest gaps between rich & poor in
the state. The county is so large -- with over 600,000
residents -- that the school system is divided into
five regions. Last year, in response to the population
growth, nine new schools were opened.
Nonetheless, Anderson said, the school system was
able to find a consensus for its school safety initiative
because "we looked at this from the perspective of
'what do we want to build?' rather than 'what do we
want to fix?'"
For the grant, the Wake County Public School System
joined with the local human services agency, the Sheriff's
Department, & the City of Raleigh Police Department,
along with a host of partners that include student
groups, parent groups, the media, universities, non-profit
groups, & state & national organizations.
The human services agency, which serves mental health
needs, is a major stakeholder in the Safe Schools
project. The agency trains mentors to work with children
with serious emotional & behavioral problems. Mental
health is a critical element of the safety initiative
because children suffering from depression, thoughts
of suicide & other emotional issues can be prone to
acts of violence.
Anderson points out that partnerships with the community
also strengthen federal dollars, funneling local &
state funds into the Safe Schools project. "Typically
what communities have is not collaboration but cooperation.
Cooperation essentially means 'I'm going to help you
get this job done.' Collaboration means 'we're going
to pull our resources together towards a common goal,'"
he said.
Starting
Early for Safety
At
the center of the Safe School investments are preschools.
In its assessment of the community, Wake County found
that early academic & behavior problems are the number
one risk factor for> securing safe schools. Anderson,
who joined the school system in 1984 as a director
of guidance & social work, said the correlation between
academic success & less juvenile crime makes for safer
schools.
The "Ready to Learn" centers, created over 10 years
ago, provide young children with a variety of health
& early development services on school premises. The
"Parents as Teachers" program, in which trained staff
make home visits, helps parents of newborns learn
appropriate developmental skills.
Another family-oriented program, "Families & Schools
Together (FAST)," works intensively with families
for eight weekly sessions to involve them more in
their children's education. School officials say attendance
is high.
At the elementary level, the Safe Schools project
includes three> curriculum efforts to help children
get along with each other -- the national programs
"Get Real About Violence" & "Second Step," & the research-based
"3-C" project, which stands for "Communication, Cooperation
& Confidence." The curricula is also taught in middle
& high schools, where each school has a student club
called "SAVE" -- Students Against Violence Everywhere.
Physical security is also critical in Wake County
schools, which uses cameras, keypad locks, badges
& resource officers. Additionally, the crisis hotline
"Save-A-Friend," connects student callers directly
to a mental health practitioner.
Student
to Student
Anderson says he feels strongest about the Youth Advisory
Board, a cross-section of 30 student leaders. The
students are heavily involved in outreach, which includes
visiting elementary children to speak about nonviolence,
and sponsoring the annual Teen Summit, which engaged
350 students from all over the county last September.
Youth Advisory Board member Alix Feldman, a sophomore
at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, says her idea
of a safe school is "one where you don't have to worry
about finding alternate routes in the hallway because
there's a fight going on." She added that> it is also
one where the administration is visible and highly
interactive with students.
Wake County also found that youth programs were strong
predictors of academic success, which is why the county
is developing more activities for young people.
"When
kids are in activities, they're meeting with adults
who help build those assets and protective factors,"
said Anderson, referring to the 40 key assets -- such
as positive family communication, positive peer influence
and a caring school climate -- identified in a survey
by the Search Institute of more than 13,000 Wake County
students.
He said the study "helped us look at what kind of
things we want to build for all kids, instead of 'those'
kids. We're talking about success for all children.
If you target children and only talk about the 'problem'
ones, you end up getting a self-fulfilling prophecy."
Wake County received a three-year, $9 million grant
to spread over 122 schools.
For
a brochure on the county's Safe Schools/Healthy Students
initiative, contact Ron
Anderson via
email or at 919-850-1660.
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