School Safety
Uploaded by cooksterj on Oct 26, 2011
This paper discusses school violence and programs that may help to prevent it. (9+ pages; 4 sources; MLA citation style.
I Introduction
The growing violence in U.S. schools causes many problems. Certainly there is the fact that students and teacher feel unsafe, and may face the threat of actual injury; in addition, the violent climate in many schools makes it impossible for them to fulfill their mission of educating their students.
This paper discusses ways in which school personnel can reach out to all students to make them feel welcome and safe in school. It touches on the influence that peers and cliques have on students, and factors that should be considered in helping students accept one another. Finally, it briefly mentions a long-neglected aspect of school safety, the physical plant.
II Outreach Programs
School violence has become a widely recognized problem, thanks (if ‘thanks’ is the word) to high-profile cases such as the Columbine school shootings. If nothing else, such horrific incidents served to bring the problem of school violence into specific relief, and programs evolved to meet it.
Any program dealing with behavior in school has to be flexible. First, it must provide appropriate intervention in cases of extreme behavior; second, it must provide support to those students who are not causing problems. In short, it has to function on several different levels simultaneously. (O’Neill, PG).
O’Neill’s article discusses one such program, the comprehensive behavioral specialist (CBS) program. This course has evolved because studies found that teachers in general feel unqualified (1.71 out of 5.0) to handle disruptive students, particularly when that disruption includes a significant component of violence. In addition, the teachers felt that the support available to help them deal with disruptive students was very poor (1.27 out of 5.0). (O’Neill, PG).
The answer is the CBS program, a two-year Master of Science course based in the Special Education Department. (O’Neill, PG).
“The first year of the program involves a two-semester sequence of on-campus coursework and related field experiences. The two primary on-campus core courses … cover a broad range of behavioral assessment and programming strategies.” (O’Neill, PG).
O’Neill goes on to describe the degree requirements in general, but what it most important is that this program trains participants in assessment, management and programming. That is, they learn to assess what sort of behavior they’re facing (mental illness, learning disability, emotional problems)...