Best Ways To Prevent Violence In Schools
As more and more school shootings and other incidents of violence have been occurring in schools across the country in recent years, parents and educators alike are beginning to get more and more concerned. If you have children who are in school, or if you work in the field of education, you also have something to worry about. Regardless of how safe a school might seem, you never know when something tragic could happen. Not only do you have to worry about large-scale, serious attacks, but you also have to think about how individual children and their families can be affected by fighting and other violence. Therefore, it is important for parents and educators to work together in order to find the best ways to prevent violence in schools.
The truth is that there are a lot of different threats out there, and it is literally impossible to completely abolish all threats of violence in a school. This doesn’t mean that parents and educators should stand by the wayside, hoping that something will not happen in their schools, however. Although there is no one way to completely combat and prevent violence, there are a lot of things that can be done in school systems to help cut down on violence, and taking these precautions can help prevent serious tragedies from occurring and individual students and faculty members from becoming the target of an attack.
Whether you are a parent or someone who works in the school system and if you feel as if safety and violence prevention is not being taken seriously in your school system, you should speak up as soon as possible. Many people do not like to think about the prevalence of violence in schools because it is a frightening and unsettling topic; however, ignoring school violence will not do anything to help the situation. Instead, parents, faculty members and those on the school board should work together to do what they can to help prevent violence in the school systems that they work in or send their children to. Even those in the community who are concerned about school violence but don’t have school-age children should consider speaking out and working to make a change in area schools. In the long run, it can help protect innocent students and the faculty members who work hard to educate and protect them, and it can make the community feel safer as a whole, for parents, students, educators and those who simply live or work in the community.
If you are wondering what the best ways to prevent violence in schools are, you should consider reading these tips and trying to find ways to implement them in your local school system. You can also do a bit of online research; you might be surprised by just how much information and just how many statistics are available for you to read and learn about. Professionals who work in the field of security equipment sales and installation can also help you determine what your school needs in order to be safer, and these professionals may even be willing to talk to those from your school system to help you make a change. Since sitting back and not doing anything will not help you move toward making the schools in your area safer, you should consider working toward making these changes as soon as you can; not only will you feel safer, but others in your community will, as well. In fact, you could even save lives or help prevent innocent children from having to deal with the pain and repercussions of violent attacks at school.
Inform the Community About the Danger of School Violence
The first step to making changes and implementing the best ways to prevent violence in schools is to ensure that others who live in your community realize just how serious school violence can be. Many people do not realize just how often fights, stabbings, shootings and other attacks happen in schools, but children get hurt in school on a regular basis. Not only do you have to worry about violent attacks like the ones you hear about in the news, but you also have to realize that other dangers can be prevalent in your area schools as well. Educating others is the best way to make sure that your entire community is willing to make a change.
Attending school board meetings and PTA meetings is one great way to share this information with other parents and faculty members. Even if the subject of school violence has not been mentioned in one of these meetings in the past, you should consider bringing it to the attention of others at the next meeting that you attend. A lot of people may have been thinking about school violence as well but did not have the voice to speak up about it, and you might be surprised by just how many people are willing to help with your cause if you bring it to the attention of the community as a whole. Having others who agree that changes need to be made in your school system is a good way to get things done, and it can help encourage parents do discuss school violence and what can be done about it with teachers, school administrators, others in the community and even their children. As the word is spread, more and more people will begin to realize just how important it is to take safety at school very seriously, and they might be willing to help you implement some of the best ways to prevent violence in schools into the schools in your local community. Since there is strength in numbers, you shouldn’t hesitate to spread the word about this dangerous epidemic.
Talk to the Students About School Violence
Not only should you talk to other adults in your community, but you should make an effort as a community to speak to all of the students about school violence. Many children have heard about shootings, stabbings and other attacks that have occurred around the country in recent years, and these children are often frightened that something could happen at their school that is similar to these events. Children shouldn’t be frightened, but they should realize that school violence does happen and could happen at their school. By talking to these children, you and your community can help instruct children which rules they should follow in order to help prevent school violence; for instance, you should instruct children to approach a parent, counselor or teacher immediately if they are afraid that someone has been threatening them or their school. Letting children know that there are things to do in order to cut down on school violence can make a major difference.
Talking to the children can also help bullies and those who are thinking about becoming involved in incidents of school violence understand that school violence is never acceptable. Helping these students realize the pain that is caused by these kinds of actions can make more of a difference than many people think, and it can help keep those in the school system stay safe.
Install Surveillance Cameras in the School
Surveillance cameras are some of the best ways to prevent violence in schools. With surveillance cameras, school administrators can keep a closer eye on what goes on inside and around their schools on a daily basis; since it is impossible for busy school faculty members to keep a close watch on every student and visitor and everything that they do during the day, these cameras can act as extra eyes that will catch and record everything.
It is important for school administrators to use surveillance cameras correctly, however. Making sure that they are posted in important areas, routinely watching the surveillance footage to make sure that nothing is amiss in the school, keeping the camera on record at all times and keeping surveillance footage in the event that it is needed in the future can all make a difference in just how effective surveillance cameras can be when placed in and around the school.
Closely Monitor Those Who Enter and Exit the School
Not only should surveillance cameras be placed in and around the school, but they should also be prominently placed near every entrance and every exit to the school. Not only should the main doors be watched, but other entrances should be under surveillance as well.
This allows school administrators to monitor and control who enters and exits the school during the day, and it can help these professionals in holding people accountable for their actions while they are in school because there is always a solid knowledge of who has entered and exited the school each day. These cameras can also work in the fight against burglary and vandalism in and around the school’s campus.
Monitor the Buses
Violence doesn’t just occur on playgrounds, in hallways or during classroom time. Oftentimes, students get in fights or threaten other kids on the school bus, and it can be difficult for bus drivers to keep a close eye on this type of behavior while they are also responsible for driving and transporting the children safely to and from the school. Therefore, surveillance cameras should be installed in every school bus in order to keep the students as safe as possible.
With surveillance cameras, school staff members can watch surveillance footage to look for bullying, fighting and other issues. These cameras work for evidence, and they can also help ensure that bus drivers behave as they should while they are driving the bus. These cameras can also work as great deterrents for bad behavior that might otherwise occur on the bus.
Bring in Reinforcements
Taking these security steps can make a major difference in how safe a school is, but professional assistance is also sometimes needed. Having security guards or school resource officers on campus at all times during the school day can help keep everyone safe. These professionals can work as a great deterrent for various crimes as well as general misbehavior, and they also have the knowledge and training that is required in the event that an act of violence does take place.
Take Even the Most Minor of Threats Very Seriously
Many people do not realize that kids who taunt and tease others or minor threats can be serious, but they can be. Although there are always instances of children playing around, getting angry and saying things that they don’t mean or picking on a student without serious thoughts of harming the student or anyone else, there are also students out there who start with these behaviors but then proceed to get more violent in the future. Since it is important to take care of this behavior right away, educators and parents alike should watch out for this behavior and take it very seriously.
Also, students who approach staff members or parents with concerns about the behavior of students, staff members or visitors to the school should not be ignored. Although there are surely a lot of children out there who are simply scared, many children do witness dangerous behavior before it escalates. By taking every situation seriously, school administrators can help catch problems before they get too serious, and they can enforce rules in order to ensure that everyone is doing their part to keep the school safe from violence.
Students or others who break the rules and engage in violent behavior should also be subject to consequences. Once school systems let minor things slide, the violence issue at a school can quickly escalate out of control. Therefore, there should be a strict set of rules in place that every student, faculty member and visitor to the school should have to follow; this can make a serious difference in how safe a school is and how long and well people follow the rules that have been put in place. Contact us today to find out how we can make your school a safer place.
