Examines responses of 40,435 students from the "Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey" and uses student self-reported school risk behaviors to "predict" recent weapon possession at school. Although school risk behaviors were moderately correlated with school weapon possession, many frequent weapon carriers displayed zero…

Moshing (intense crowd dancing) and other physical activities common at youth and rock concerts are discussed from the perspectives of safety and of the responsibility of sponsoring organizations, especially colleges and universities. Considerations in creating a safe environment at student events, planning the logistics of such an event, and…

A recent study surveyed the extent and sources of educators' relevant legal knowledge, their consultation patterns, and everyday legal problems confronting them. Areas of greatest concern were school safety, teacher liability, child protection, and custody and access issues. Training and professional- development implications are discussed.…

Step Nine focuses on establishing and maintaining a safe, secure, learning environment. The classroom focus arrests early unacceptable behaviors, identifies habitual rule-breakers, and preserves environmental integrity for self-disciplined learners. Chief elements are simplicity, consistency, communication, parental involvement, and progressive…

Discusses the implementation of a safe school initiative at an East Greenville, Pennsylvania middle school, following gun violence at the school in 1993. Considers the role of teachers, students, parents, and community in the initiative, changes to curriculum and student activities, special safety measures, and alternative programs for conflict…

Presents a review of the literature on social attitudes of school children. Includes studies on bullying, self-esteem, teacher respect of children, student achievement, and integration of caring across the curriculum. Contains seven reviews. (NB)

As shown by a West Virginia case involving allegations of student touching, principals are challenged to provide a safe environment for both students and staff members. Although court decisions generally favor school districts, they reveal the importance of a documented warning, a prudent investigation, and a sound board decision. (MLH)

Investigated how European, national, and local goals of the European Network of Health Promoting Schools (ENHPS) have been realized in Finnish schools. Teacher surveys highlighted the substantial development related to health promotion in Finnish ENHPS schools. Safe school environments were emphasized. Networking with other schools was encouraged…

Describes legal standard of reasonable suspicion for school officials to conduct student searches in public schools and court cases interpreting that standard. Discusses probable-cause standard for student searches by law-enforcement officials, voluntary student searches, and individual versus random searches. Recommends two practices to reduce…

Based on data from a survey of 121 baccalaureate and master of social work students at a western university, this study explores students' perspectives of "safe" and "unsafe" classroom environments. The majority reported that being in a safe classroom changed both what and how much they learned. Students offered a wide range of instructor, fellow…

This paper explores the issue of teacher vulnerability at a time of "child panic". It does so by first elaborating risk-consciousness as a powerful social and cultural rationality for producing moral climates and organisational identities, and then investigating how this rationality works through the fraught issue of teacher touch.…

This paper examines how school connectedness and school climate work together to influence students, and whether the relationship between connectedness and climate reveal information about the interaction of social context and the individual. School connectedness generally includes the sense of attachment and commitment a student feels as a result…

Studies have indicated that as many as 80% of students experience some form of sexual harassment in public schools. Such statistics are troublesome, considering that peer sexual harassment can have long-term psychological effects on student victims. Public schools have a responsibility to provide a safe educational environment free of peer sexual…

In this article, the author talks about how to confront racial tensions that sometimes arise among students from different racial groups. Here, the author presents a four-year study conducted by the Social Policy Research Associates, funded in part by Carnegie Corporation of New York, on school-based strategies for addressing intergroup relations…

This article is an attempt to reflect on the doubting process as an emerging perspective in school change. After introducing the notion of doubt and its importance to school change, the author describes conditions influencing the doubting process. She reflects on these conditions in a case example of a secondary school principal who doubted the…