A Guide to Safe Schools , which was sent to every school in the United States in 1998. He plans to return to Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District as director of psychological services in Houston, Texas, in the fall. Scott Poland, Ed. D., a nationally recognized expert on school crisis, talked this week with Education World about what schools, parents, and policymakers should do differently to stem the tide of school violence and threats of school violence. For the past few years, you and other members of the National Association of School Psychologists have offered advice on how to prevent school violence.
Districts continue to build large schools that create environments for student anonymity.
Even though schools must be designed to accommodate large numbers of students, they need to be made to seem smaller. Obvious ways to create a sense of ownership and belonging are to involve students to seek solutions for school safety through student pledges, recruit students for participation on task forces, build relationships with students, provide more extracurricular opportunities. We must use a multitude of safety approaches when it comes to keeping the campus safe from violence. Metal detectors and increased police presence are not enough. Our law enforcement and educational staff must work at developing relationships with students that encourage them to come forward when they know something is about to happen.