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Students Talk About Safety -- Focus group interviews reveal school differences
Readings on Safe Schools -- Two books and two surveys on ways to reduce violence
Most students are safer in the classroom than in their parents automobiles. However the legislature and Governor want to respond as strongly as they can to the nationwide spate of school shootings, provided that the cost is not too great. The political question is: what to do about rare tragedies that might strike during anyone's watch?
Last year, AB 1113 (Dean Flores, D., Fresno) provided $100 million in grants for long- needed counselors, staff training, and other violence prevention programs affecting students in grades 8-12. This year, AB 1738 (Carl Washington, D., Los Angeles) proposes to extend similar funding to the elementary grades, in recognition that the most important violence prevention work must be done early in life,
In addition, two school safety task forces are recommending ways that schools can cope with violence on and near the campus. One group was created by SB 1113, has four co- chairs, and is staffed by the Office of Criminal Justice Planning. The other was jointly established by the Attorney General and Superintendent of Public Instruction. The two groups have somewhat different visions, and differing horizons for action.
[Cartoon: Education is Priority #1]
The task force established by SB 1113 is broadly charged to make policy recommendations on coping with violent acts in or near schools, and directed to consider responses that do not require added resources. It was directed to make a report by April 10. The other task force is making periodic reports, and is concerned with improving relationships between law enforcement and schools, with their joint responses to critical incidents, and with ways that safe school climates can prevent violence.
At several hearings, the SB 1113 task force heard of a wide variety of programs thought to have improved school safety. Some of these programs increase civility, eliminating "put-downs" and bullying. Others enrich connections between youths and adults on the campus. Still others address particular kinds of conflict arising from real or perceived biases based on ethnicity, social class, nationality, or sexual orientation.
In addition to holding hearings, focus group interviews were conducted throughout the state to find out how students, teachers, and law enforcement officers experience violence in schools,. The student focus groups demonstrate that even though life-threatening violence is rare, fistfights, bullying, shoving, and similar incidents are endemic in many, but not all schools. It was also clear that students in some schools feel much safer than in others, and it may take some time to determine just why. [See Sidebar]
Some violence prevention programs appear to be more effective than others, when evaluated in a school setting. A few schools are making effective use of research-based techniques that enable children to be more resistant to gang influences and substance abuse. The research suggests that the best programs are woven into each student's everyday routine, and foster cognitive, emotional, social and imitative competencies in students. Ineffective programs tend to be those that reach only a few students, rely on several weeks of instruction, or highlight (and thereby reinforce) unwanted conduct.
The following types of programs appear to be effective:
Bully-proofing. Bullying is a frequently-mentioned reason why students feel unsafe. Harm-prevention programs create a school culture that is intolerant of bullying, and intervene with bullies, victims, and parents. Teachers are able to consult with trained professionals to resolve difficult cases. Ongoing research is considering the factors that cause boys to value power and dominance, while avoiding outward display of emotions other than anger. In addition to preventing victimization these programs appear to improve self-discipline and attitudes toward school work, while reducing vandalism, fighting, theft, and truancy.
Improving Peer-Relationships. Impulsiveness, and inability to deal with anger, often leads to dangerous situations. When students in the primary grades are systematically introduced to the skills of emotional literacy they develop self-control, social competence, improved peer-relations, and better ability to solve personal problems. Teachers find students who have had this training are more cooperative, and contribute to an improved, and safer school environment.
Empowering Students. Students who feel powerless can mistake violence as a solution to problems. School-wide programs that actively involve parents as well as children to show them their actions and words have an effect can have impressive impacts. Pupils begin to see how their behavior actually changes the world around them, directly producing social and material rewards. One example of such a program is the PeaceBuilders program in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties; it is considered to have cut elementary school discipline referrals in half and virtually eliminated suspensions and vandalism.
Improving Conduct. Disruptive students are problems not only for educators, but to themselves. Such behavior is best addressed early, and by programs that involve parents as well as the school and individual student in controlling anger, using consistent and effective discipline methods, and improving academic competence. It is important to deliver parent training, home visits, social skills training, and academic tutoring at appropriate times from kindergarten through sixth grade, with the emphasis on the early years. These programs reduce aggressiveness, and disruptive behaviors in the classroom, and improve relationships between children and parents.
After School Programs. The importance of safe and productive after-school activity is now widely recognized. As the number of two-earner families has grown, it has become critical for nearly all schools to have on-site recreational and tutoring programs that serve the surrounding neighborhood. It was also noted that the entire community needs to address hazards on the trip home from school, which are likely to be far more significant than those on the campus.
A few things become evident:
1. Schools that are safe tend to be those that have established healthy levels of self- respect, cooperation, and easy communication among students and staff. Civility and academic performance are valued attributes. These schools seem to be safe places as a by-product of their focus on being good learning environments.
2. Civility is an important component of education, and it matters not just to teachers, but to the rest of us. Respectful and frequent conversations between teachers and parents can be a major factor both in improving student performance, and in insuring that students feel safe and accepted. Students need to learn to put themselves in the shoes of another person if democracy is to survive. This requires some imagination, and there is some concern that the electronic media does not encourage young people to develop an active imagination.
3. Small schools tend to be more successful in addressing the underlying issues that make for safety. Schools with 300 students are more likely than those with more than 1000 to avoid isolating, and excluding vulnerable pupils. Young people in smaller schools are likely to find it easier to form close relationships with other students and faculty members. Disciplinary issues are more easily individualized. Large schools need to consider the advantages of "school-within-school" arrangements that assure all students can get the individual attention they need when they need it, and that no one is lost in the shuffle
4. A few schools with long traditions of violence and gang activity have not only become safe havens, they have transformed their neighborhoods. Students who used to see themselves growing up to be wealthy drug lords or hookers now see themselves as future teachers or business owners. Those that once carried guns for protection no longer fear being beaten by their adversaries. Parents who distrusted the police find it easy to talk with the principal and school security officers. Neighborhood merchants that formerly sold gallons of paint to cover graffiti are marketing more useful things. We can learn from these schools, and we should study them more carefully.
5. The neighborhood school has often served as a natural center for services to address domestic violence, child abuse, and other conditions that often lead to increased levels of violence in the school and community over time.
What You Can Do:
AB 1738 (See the beginning of this article) appropriates long-overdue funds that can improve the climate of safety in schools, because the shortage of counselors is as severe in elementary schools as elsewhere. FCL urges support, and also suggests that local school personnel need encluragement both from policy makers and from citizens to emulate those few schools that have served as beacons of safety for their students and communities.
With a little encouragement and leadership many more schools can served as catalysts, not only to safeguard their own students, but also to improve significantly the safety of their surrounding neighborhoods. When all schools actively teach non-violence, and their students take home consistent lessons of civility, spreading them to their own parents and siblings whole cities can become safer.
Clearly, school violence cannot be fixed as one would repair a broken wire in a washing machine. It is time to acknowledge the real possibilities inexpensive and transformative changes in school cultures that will permits us to overcome concerns about disruptive individuals, weapons, and skimpy budgets.
[Graph: Crime Prevention Strategies Used by California Schools]
The School Safety Task Force staff conducted 20 focus group interviews with 6 to 12 students each, to discuss their school experiences, and ways that they could feel more safe at school. These interviews revealed striking differences between schools. Some displayed a high degree of racial harmony and mutual respect. At others, students felt stereotyped and mocked by their teachers, for whom they showed little respect. In the stressed schools, second and sixth graders discussed concerns about fighting and bullying. Sixth and eighth graders discussed threatening graffiti in the bathrooms. Twelfth graders discussed conflicts with security personnel.:
The groups drew some memorable quotes, when asked "what do you dislike about school:"
- "Knowing every morning that I will be harassed at school...because of my skin color."
- "When you try to answer a question in a classroom [but answer incorrectly] your classmates will laugh at you, you don't know, but try"
- "Bullies"
- "Some teachers don't like to teach"
- "They never take time to notice the good students, always the bad students...they should have an assembly to [acknowledge] the good students."
- "The administration...is on a power trip...the rules at this school are useless."
The following are some answers to the question: "What do you worry about concerning school?"
- "On my way home from school, I pass homes that have pit bulls. These homes have low fences and they leave their dogs out.
- "The Security guards make their own rules..."
- "Last week a teacher cut my hair...for no reason."
- "I would go to my friends first if I had a safety problem...the security guards would stop them and then me...it is screwed up."
- "Off campus police are roaming like flies...like cockroaches...they have nothing better to do than give tickets to jaywalkers and skateboarders."
The focus groups pinpointed some problems affecting peer mediation and conflict management programs. The leadership for such programs needs to include students who are well-known and respected by the majority of students, and mediation is less likely to succeed when people in a conflict feel they are forced into it. An online report on these focus groups is posted by the CRB.
What makes for a safe school? The characteristics of a safe school environment are explored by Dennis Embry and Daniel Flannery in "Two Sides of the Coin: Multi-level prevention and intervention to reduce youth violent behavior" (in Youth Violence Prevention, Intervention and Social Policy [1998 American Psychiatric Press]).
How do teachers encourage character development? The theme of empathic listening as an avenue for growth in moral courage is explored by Carol Bly in Changing the Bully Who Rules the World (1996 Publishers Group West).
Surveys of Conflict resolution and school security programs were conducted during 1999 by both the State Auditor, School Safety: Comprehensive Resolution Programs Help Prepare Schools for Conflicts(available from the Bureau of State Audits, 555 Capitol Mall #300, Sacramento CA 95814 [http://www.bsa.ca.gov/bsa/]) and the California Research Bureau, Security and Crime Prevention Strategies in California Public Schools (CRB-99- 012, available from the California State Library, P.O. Box 942837, Sacramento 94327 [http://www.library.ca.gov/]).
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