Five years after the Virginia Tech massacre prompted a student in Texas to start a Facebook page in favor of the right to carry concealed weapons on college campuses, the resulting group, Students for Concealed Carry, has advanced its cause. In more than a dozen states, legislation has been introduced to allow the carrying of concealed firearms on…

The author knows from teaching young children herself how challenging it can be to face an endless parade of students reporting things to teachers as they're trying to teach. Figuring out how to deal with tattling takes time and energy and, as a result, teachers are often tempted to tell children to keep problems to themselves. Indeed, some…

Educators, school safety experts, and anti-bullying advocates typically agree that bullying is a serious issue. They also agree that anti-bullying strategies should be an integral component of a school's safety plan. However, differences remain in how bullying should be addressed. Those differences have become magnified as bullying has become an…

No school board member, administrator, or teacher wants to see a student suffering from taunts of the student's peers, but with budget cutbacks, reductions in force, and increased class size, teachers and administrators are stretched too thin to easily identify, investigate, and remedy student-on-student harassment. But school districts must…

School systems and police departments are community partners, and ensuring student, faculty, and officer safety is a high priority for both. In Pennsylvania, police departments are being both innovative and proactive by using wireless technology to handle school safety. If there's an emergency, local police departments can increase situational…

Over the past decade, many schools have adopted zero-tolerance policies to curtail negative student behavior. Such policies persist although "there is as yet little evidence that the strategies typically associated with zero tolerance contribute to improved student behavior or overall school safety." Suspension and expulsion result in…

Much has been written about the use of threat assessment. Schools are encouraged to have threat assessment teams and a threat assessment process as part of a comprehensive safe schools effort. Encouraging and enabling members of the school community to report possible threats in a timely manner is an essential component of an effective threat…

Statistically, school violence is rare and declining, but emotionally it is difficult to reconcile with the fact that anyone would purposefully inflict harm on schools and students. Safety experts advocate a thoughtful approach to the problem, noting that much of the information to base school safety policies upon is already out there. Last…

In 2003, Dr. Freddie Thomas Middle School in Rochester, New York, was in serious trouble. In 2000, it had been labeled a "school under registration review" by the state's education department and was under a directive to make significant progress or face serious consequences. Three years later, only 3% of 8th-grade students met state standards in…

This article illustrates how effective a threat assessment program like the Mid-Valley Student Threat Assessment (STAT) program can be in dealing with violent and threatening students. STAT is a a regional system that draws together resources from schools, mental health agencies, law enforcement bureaus, and other youth-serving organizations in…

For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) students, school is rarely a safe space, much less an environment conducive to learning. Seventy-five percent of gay students report being verbally abused at school, and more than a third say they are physically harassed. And research shows that LGBTQ students are five times more…

The racially charged prosecutions of six black teenagers in Jena, Louisiana, captured the nation's attention, with thousands of protesters descending on the town. The author reminds school professionals that the incident was triggered by nooses hanging from a schoolyard tree and presents six lessons: (1) don't ignore obvious signs of trouble; (2)…

In an era where some parents seem unwilling or unable to draw the "clothes" line with their children, where pop culture influences kids' clothing choices as never before, and school safety--including gang violence--is at the top of everyone's minds, school uniforms and dress codes can play a significant role. What that role should be,…

Students attacking other students. Students attacking teachers, support staff, and even community members. Disrespectful and threatening language, overwhelmed or inattentive parents, and an administrative system that often appears unable to bring back order in the classroom. These are stories have become an everyday part of teaching in urban…

In recent years, bullying seems to have become more serious and more pervasive. Research indicates that 15% to 20% of all students are victimized by bullies at some point in their school careers. Clearly, bullying is a problem that schools must recognize and address. Bullying has three distinguishing characteristics: (1) it is intentional; (2) it…