As state legislatures increasingly turn their gaze to education and school policy, one intervention that is particularly concerning is the proposal to arm civilian school personnel. Under the guise of school safety, these policies suggest that allowing teachers, who often have little if any training, to carry weapons on school grounds may deter a…

Lockdowns have become a ubiquitous solution to the problems posed by school safety and dealing with an active shooter. However, the emergence of this new technique has not been adequately discussed or theorized. The present article will address this gap by using a school board in Canada as an empirical site to map out how the turn to risk…

School violence, and particularly, school shootings, remain a serious concern among parents, community members, educators, and governmental leadership at the local, state, and national levels. While school shootings periodically dominate media coverage of school safety issues, schools are among the safest places for students in the community. This…

Using the state of Georgia as a backdrop, this paper highlights the current state of the GFSA (Gun-Free Schools Act) in the United States of America, initially enacted in 1994, 30 years later. The progress of school-based ZTPs (Zero Tolerance Policies) in practice shows that progress remains slow a quarter of a century later. In response, this…

A conservatively-minded campus, Liberty University's administrators have, like many college campuses, struggled with creating an appropriate weapons policy. The policies in existence prior to 2011 were more traditionally anti-weapon, while those created after 2011 have been more forgiving. This article examines the background, both national and…

Gun violence in American and Canadian schools is an ongoing tragedy that goes substantially beyond its roots in the interlocking emotional and behavioral issues of mental health and bullying. In light of the need for effective policy development, Dianne T. Gereluk, J. Kent Donlevy, and Merlin B. Thompson examine gun violence in schools from…

Twenty-three State legislatures in 2011 considered bills to permit the carrying of firearms at their public institutions of higher education, and some public colleges in at least six states now allow weapons on college grounds or in college buildings. The lawful possession of guns on campus is a recent and limited phenomenon, but decisions by the…

This report presents findings on crime and violence in U.S. public schools, using data from the 2005-06 School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS:2006). Developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and supported by the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools of the U.S. Department of Education, SSOCS asks public school principals…

This report summarizes evaluation results for AISD's federally-funded Title IV safe and drug-free schools program activities for the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years.