SCHOOL SHOOTINGS AND PREVENTIONS

School Shootings and Ways to Prevent School Shootings

School Shootings and Ways to Prevent School Shootings

Introduction

Research shows that small schools are safer schools--and several real-world examples help explain why. (Meier, 2005) Educators and the communities that they serve are increasingly turning to small schools, academies, school-within-schools, and smaller learning communities as strategies for enhancing school safety and reducing school violence. Because parents place safety high in their list of school concerns and because families feel more comfortable with small schools, such schools are gaining popularity in many communities where violence is perceived as a threat.

Public schools are generally safe places for students, and statistics demonstrate that school violence has been on the decline for nearly a decade. (Levine, 2002) The fear and insecurity stemming from world events, gang violence, and headline-grabbing school shootings have had a significant impact, however. Of even greater concern among parents, students, and teachers is the smaller-scale, ubiquitous violence--bullying, intimidation, and racial conflict--as well as self-inflicted violence and suicide. Student suicides, which rarely make the headlines, far outnumber school shootings. For every adolescent who opens fire at a school, thousands more commit or attempt suicide. (Meier, 2005)

The Case Against Big Schools

More than one in four secondary schools nationwide now enroll more than 1,000 students, and enrollments of 2,000 and 3,000 are not uncommon. We keep building large schools despite abundant research showing small schools to be safer environments. The most recent NCES report (1999) confirms the findings of the earlier study. It shows for example, that large schools (those with more than 1,000 students) are eight times more likely to report a serious violent incident than small schools (those with fewer than 300 students).

The 1998 NCES study found larger schools are more likely to use police or security officers and to rely on such security measures and devices as metal detectors and random locker searches to maintain control (Meier, 2005)

The Small School Alternative

The difference between large and small schools, according to much of the research, lies not in the schools' concern for student safety but in their ability to implement effective strategies that produce desired outcomes. Whereas large schools rely much more on external measures for controlling student behavior--metal detectors and security guards--smaller schools stress engagement of the faculty, school community, and students.

A two-year study of Chicago's small schools conducted by the Bank Street College of Education found the district's small schools to be safer than larger schools and linked this positive effect to the "increased sense of identity and community" that small schools promote. "Students feel safer in their schools because they are learning the skills of conflict management and democratic citizenship" (Wasley et al., 2000, p.35).

Small schools advocate and principal Nancy Mohr (2000) provides a case in point as she describes her experience in trying to provide a violence-free environment at University Heights School in the Bronx (New York). At first, the school adopted a strict, impersonal, punitive nonviolence policy. Eventually, however, Mohr realized the school was not teaching students how ...