Deborah Herrington-Parker
University of Louisiana at Monroe
April 15, 2003
Safe School Program and Resources
The chapter on Promoting Safe Schools in Best Practices IV suggests that more training is necessary for school psychologist in order to taking a lead role in designing and implementing violence prevention/safe school programs. To assist in this endeavor, a summation of the chapter is presented along with a brief review of current programs and additional resources are provided that may.
According to the authors of Promoting Safe Schools, the data on school crime does not support the perception that schools are unsafe or that violence has increased. Nevertheless, The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence reports that nearly 3 million index crimes occur on or around American school campuses, which is 16,000 crimes per school day or about 1 every 6 seconds when schools are in session. Regardless of the statistics, you choose to acknowledge the pressure from the community and the Courts has forced schools to find ways to address this issue. As a community within itself, school is where children spend a significant proportion of their time. School staff and the surrounding community at large are legally and morally accountable for student safety. Best Practice points out that little has been done in implementing academic programs to address this issue. It is important that teachers receive in-service training in using prosocial skills, modeling appropriate behaviors, teaching citizenship, problem solving, and social skills in the classroom.
Several steps must be taken in order to create safe schools. The initial step is to develop a School team/task force to prepare a plan that address the steps necessary to facilitate a positive and physically safe environment, curriculum that addressees violence prevention and aggression. This should be addressed by implementing social skills and conflict resolution programs, developing violence prevention and intervention programs, and intervening with victims and perpetrators. A school wide team/taskforce should be prepared to respond to any crisis situation and to focus on individuals identified in need of services. The task force should be made up of all stakeholders including representatives from the community, parents, students, and a complete representation of school staff. Positive environments should foster close, caring relationships between students and staff.
It is important to create a code of conduct that is not punitive, but positively enforced as standards of living. Code of conduct must be created with the assistance of student representation. Including students helps to create a sense of community where they feel a sense of belonging and it also helps adults to identify students needing intervention. In order to establish a physically safe environment many schools have incorporated law enforcement presence onto their campus� utilizing the metal detectors, increased police presence, searches, identification cards, school uniforms. The feeling of safety is an important precursor to academic success. Other methods of securing the school that should be addressed is increased supervision, modifying bell schedules and staggering meals times to limit student from congregating in unsupervised areas.
It is suggested that violence in the schools is largely a reflection of the community. Students who demonstrate violent behavior in school are frequently the same students who exhibit behavior problems in their community making school environment critical to school safety. Although, we must be careful not to stereotype students who have been adjudicated by the courts it is important for School Psychologist to be aware of whom they are and provide appropriate interventions. According to the Louisiana Department of Probation and Parole�s most recent statistics, over 5,000 students have already been adjudicated by the courts and are on parole or probation. These students should be identified and intervention provided, however, the key is to identify these students prior to incarceration and provide adequate proactive kinds of interventions.
To be effective in creating safe environment for students one must address why violence is an issue in our schools by setting up a task force to deal proactively with all issues related to be successful. Some maintain that students who are prone to violence have a different understanding of negotiating and social skills. It appears to be a disparity between developmental ability and social maturity. In review of school shootings and other crimes committed on school grounds, it is obvious that there is no single behavior that can decisively be considered indicative of concern. As evident from the behaviors listed below there is a broad range of behaviors of concern from student withdrawal to aggressive acting out. It has been suggested that violence at school may be representative of a breakdown of this sense of identity, belonging, and community. Regardless, Identification and awareness of early warning sign is necessary for safety.Practice suggests the following list of possible indicators:
1. Social withdrawal
2. Poor peer relations, feelings of isolation and/or rejection
3. History of victimization, gang involvement, or intolerance of differences
4. Poor academic performance and school attendance
5. Verbal, drawn, or written expressions of violence or intimidation
6. Uncontrolled or unwarranted anger
7. Serious threats of violence or a history of violent, aggressive, bullying, or disruptive behavior toward peers and others
8. History of discipline problems
9. Access to firearms
10. Drug and alcohol use
In addition, Best Practice suggests that for school staff �do no harm� and should avoid stereotyping and observe the warning signs with in a developmental context. It is important for school psychologist and other staff to look for multiple warning signs and to understand the antecedents that contribute violence and aggression such as peer rejection and poor social skills.
It is important to understand the importance of social skill training in creating safe school. There have been many studies on social skills to improve academic and behavior states. An article written by Welsh and Bierman on Social Competence address the developmental stages involved. They define Social skills as a child's ability and knowledge of how to use appropriate social behaviors at any given interpersonal situation that are pleasing to others in each situation. This article provides some important information for school psychologist and other staff about the benefits of social skills improving social competence. Children who have trouble in peer relations may experience a lack in development of social competences. Peer rejections and victimization contribute to significant stress, loneliness, and low self-esteem. Children who are excluded from a normal peer interactions develop adaptive social behaviors. Childhood peer rejection can be a direct predictor of a variety of difficulties in later life, including school problems, mental health disorders, and antisocial behavior. Peer rejection has been proven to be a more sensitive predictor of later mental health problems than school records, achievement, and IQ scores or teacher ratings. Social skill training can help unpopular children learn how to deal with their peers in positive ways. The type of program depends on the age and type of children involved. Helping, sharing, and cooperation are commonly taught skills. In addition, skills taught may include anger management, conflict resolution, and problem solving skills. Skills may be taught individually or in groups. Several key signs that peer difficulties may indicate whether temporary are long term include, the nature of the child's social behavior, children who are actively disliked or teased are at more risk.
A publication sponsored by the US Department of Education on �Bullying� report that bullying is very common among schoolchildren. In fact, a study of secondary students report over 76 percent had been a victim, while 88 percent have observed others being bullied and 14 percent reported severe reactions to abuse. Of 6,500 elementary students, surveyed one in four had been bullied in the 3 months prior to survey. Resources suggest a comprehension approach involving core elements such as school-level interventions, classroom activities, individual interventions, community activities, action steps for administrators, strategies for teachers, students, and parents. Innovational approaches to include in comprehensive curriculum materials have been developed and utilized in many areas such as No Bullying, Bulletproof: A Teacher�s Guide on Teasing and Bullying for Use with fourth and fifth grades students, Quit IT! A Teacher�s Guide on Teasing and Bullying, and Second Step. These programs along with other programs have shown significant difference.
A study conducted by Nelson, showed that Effective Behavioral Support (EBS) made significant difference in subjects. EBS is a school wide approach that focuses on increasing development and pro-social behaviors to achieve socially important behavior change across all school environment and in order to address challenging behaviors. It is a proactive school wide discipline approach, which integrates two key ideas, first, that all personnel working with students at school and community members understand the school�s behavioral expectations, and provides consistent reinforcers. Secondly, that all students know the expectations and have the prerequisite skills to meet these expectations in a predictable environment. Intervention and support for students is an important component and is present across all environments including classrooms, common areas, and across the school wide setting. Behavioral expectations are defined, taught, acknowledged, and behavioral errors are corrected proactively. The program is evaluated and the team makes adaptations. More information can be found on the Elementary and Middle Schools Technical Assistance Center (EMSTAC) webpage located at http://www.emstac.org/registered/topics/posbehavior/index.htm), which provides interventions for special education students.
Best Practice provides a review of a couple sites including Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (http://www.colorado.edu/cspv). This site provides links to research literature and resources on prevention and causes of violence, technical assistance in evaluation and development of violence prevention programs, resources on the prevention and causes of violence, and a research component through data analysis of effectiveness of interventions programs. This site is also home to Colorado Anti-Bullying Project. Best Practices also provides a link to the National Training and Technical Assistance Center�s Safe Schools Healthy Students Action Center located at (http://www.nttac.org/catalog/projects/nmhaP1.cfm). A visit to the website reveals that some changes have been made and this site since publication of Best Practices. The site is now in association of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. This site provides good information for those needing funding to start a program.
Another site US Safe Schools (http://www.ussafeschools.org) provides a significant amount of good information and checklist to assist in preparing safety plans. Topics include how to develop a plan, how to prepare the people, secure environment influencing behavior, crisis management and how to prepare a press release.
A site addressed in Best Practices in Promoting Safe Schools, the Early Warning Timely Response, A Guide to Safe Schools (Dwyer, K., & Osher, D. 2000). can be located at several places including the Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice website (http://cecp.air.org/guide). This guide provides a comprehensive �how to� on designing and implementation of a school safety plan. It includes a checklist for students providing encouraging �action steps� to take ownership of their school and how to provide information to school staff about their observations and concerns. Several other checklists are included for parents, an action plan, and crisis procedures. The chapters are as follows.
2. Characteristics of a School That Is Safe and Responsive to All Children
3. Early Warning Signs
4. Intervention: Getting Help for Troubled Children
5. Developing a Prevention and Response Plan
6. Responding to Crisis
National School Safety Center (http://www.nssc1.org)provides a handout that is brief and concise providing assistance in development and implementation of a school safety plan. The Safety Zone (http://www.safetyzone.org/safe_secure.html) provides a comprehensive manual for development and implementing a school safe plan. This site provides eight guidebooks that help educators in collecting useful and valuable information, which should be taken into account as they develop safe school strategies and positive learning environments.
2. School Policies and Legal Issues Supporting Safe Schools
3. Implementing Ongoing Staff Development to Enhance Safe Schools
4. Ensuring Quality School Facilities and Security Technologies
5. Fostering School �Law Enforcement Partnerships
6. Instituting School-Based Links with Mental Health and Social Services
7. Fostering School, Family, and Community Involvement
8. Acquiring and Utilizing Resources to Enhance and Sustain a Safe learning Environment
Another very comprehensive book that can be downloaded from National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/bestpractices.htm) website is Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A Sourcebook for Community Action. The sourcebook is reported to be scientifically based and drawn from experiences of those who have successfully worked to prevent violence among students. The key areas focused on are parents and families; home visiting; social and conflict resolution skills; and mentoring. It provides a comprehensive directory of resources.
There are many resources available to assist school psychologist to acquire the knowledge about the development and implementation of a school safety plan. They all contain the same principals outlined in Best Practices in that positive and safe physical environment must be established with a sense of community and belonging. It is important to have a proactive approach with staff being knowledgeable about childhood development and early warning signs of distress. In order to have an effective safe school program there must be involvement from all concerned. This includes students, parents, staff, and community resources. The source I have presented will provide school psychologist with a wealth of information to be active in their school�s planning, implementation of a new program or evaluation of an existing program. All sites and sources listed can also be found at my webpage, Psychology Resources (http://www.geocities.com/dapark.geo)where you will find links for the sites mentioned along with resources for providing information relating to interventions, medications, and other school psychology resources.
Learning Disorders Online (1998) Preventing Bullying - A Manual for Schools and Communities Bullying: Peer Abuse in Schools. Washington, DC: US Department of Education. Available: http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/social_skills/preventing_bullying.html
Mcloughlin,C., Kubick, J., & Lewis, M. (2000). Best practices in promoting safe schools. In A. Thomas & J.Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology�IV (pp. 1181�1194). Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists.
Nelson J. R, 2002. Maximizing student learning: the effects of a comprehensive school-based program for preventing problem behaviors. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Retrieved on March 22, 2003, http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m0FCB/3_10/90924932/p1/article.jhtml. .
Quarterly Statistical Performance Report (QSPR). (2002)Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections: Available: http://www.corrections.state.la.us/Statistics/PDF_QSPR/D%20-%20 Probation%20&%20Parole-Juvenile.pdf
Welsh, J. & Bierman, K. (1998) Social competence. Gale Encyclopedia of Children and Adolescence. The Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved March 22,2003. http://www.findarticles.com/cf0/g2602/0004/2602000487/p1/article.jhtml.
