Schools today have never been more challenged. It is true that school principals are called to effectively cope with numerous problems that threaten the school’s safety and put everybody in it in jeopardy, in more ways than one. Bullying, illegal substances, students carrying weapons, gang-related crimes and crime incidents (Robers et.al, 2013) are just a mere fraction of the challenges schools face on a daily basis, which is why coming up with effective safety measures is very significant, in order to protect the student body together with the educational faculty at schools.
A joined forces between the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, has created a report called Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2012, in June 2013, according to which, 93 percent of public schools have reported to have imposed safety and security measures that included limiting the access to social networking websites from the school’s computers, during school year 2009-10 (Robers et.al, 2013). The same report continues stating that a vast majority of public schools (91 %) have prohibited the use of cell phones, alongside text messaging devices, during the hours students are at school, while the presence of security staff is also a measure adopted by 43 percent of public schools, at least once per week, within the school year (Robers et.al, 2013). Moreover, it is interesting to note that almost the entire U.S public school body (99%) has required visitors to check in or sign in, during school year 2009-10, and most schools have decided to control access to their premises during school hours, by monitoring or locking their doors (Robers et.al, 2013). Unfortunately, things escalate in a more serious way, with violent deaths, including homicides and suicides occurring at schools, among 5-year old students and 18-years old ones (Robers et.al, 2013).
Of course, the aforementioned measures would not be necessary, if school victimization had not reached high peaks. According to the Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2012 report, there has been an increase in crime victimization rates of students between the ages of 12 and 18 (Robers et.al, 2013). In terms of numbers, during 2010 the victimization rate was at 35 victimizations per 1,000 students, while only a year later the rate has reached 40 victimizations per 1,000 students (Robers et.al, 2013). What is more, in 2011 alone, among students aged from 12 to18 there were approximately 1,246,000 nonfatal victimizations at school, and most of them included victims of violence, which is why 77 percent of the student body in the U.S between ages 12 to 18 have reported the presence of cameras within the school’s premises to monitor the school and about 70 percent of the country’s student body have observed assigned police officers and/or security guards (Robers et.al, 2013).
As a means to enhance school safety, the U.S Department of Homeland Security has programs that offer training, funding and necessary resources to make any effort for safer schools more fruitful, like providing school security grants, grant programs that enhance school security by providing the necessary funds to purchase equipment, train or any other measure or supportive means for school safety (dhs.gov). Moreover, they provide free online courses to train school officials to help them be as prepared to cope with emergencies as possible (dhs.gov).
Concluding, school safety is a major concern for all education departments over the globe, and in order to adopt effective measures to enhance school safety it is important that we deeply comprehend the extend of the problems arising. Providing a nation’s youths with safe schooling, leaves students free to use their full potentials. “The best way to have an excellent school is to have a safe school because safety incidents distract from the learning process” (schoolsafetypartners.org). With an even greater array of hazards that schools need to face in recent years and an elevated rate of victimization in schools, it is important that communities and governments help schools with their challenges and allow them to provide the safe platform where students can learn, “parents do not worry about their children at school, and educators can apply their gift of helping our students” (schoolsafetypartners.org). If the power of two is greater than the power of one, imagine what the global society can do in terms of releasing schools from threats and hazards. It only takes the first step and proper training and education for everybody longing for giving new generations unlimited potentials towards education.
References:
Smith, D.L., and Smith, B.J. (2006). Perceptions of Violence: The Views of Teachers Who Left Urban Schools. The High School Journal, 89 (3): 34–42
Nansel, T.R., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R., Ruan, W., Simons-Morton, B., and Scheidt, P. (2001). Bullying Behaviors Among U.S. Youth: Prevalence and Association With Psychosocial Adjustment. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285: 2094 –2100.
Henry, S. (2000). What Is School Violence? An Integrated Definition. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 567: 16 –29.
Crick, N.R., and Bigbee, M.A. (1998). Relational and Overt Forms of Peer Victimization: An ulti-Informant Approach. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66:337–347
Robers Simone, Kemp Jana, Truman Jennifer & Snyder Thomas, Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2012, 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/iscs12.pdf
U.S Department of Homeland Security, School Safety, n.d. Retrieved from: http://www.dhs.gov/school-safety
