Although school-based youth homicides and student fear of attack or harm at school have slowly decreased over the past two decades (Musu-Gillette et al., 2018), students are not free from worry; violence is still present in schools. School violence refers to acts of physical force, harm, or power that occur on school grounds or at school events…

Despite mounting evidence that zero-tolerance policies do not deter misbehavior, teachers and administrators continue to respond to a range of student infractions through punitive measures, such as ticketing, expelling, and suspending students. Black boys, black girls, and Latinx students are most adversely affected by discipline in the era of…

Ensuring that children are safe is imperative for any educational institution. This case presents a realistic scenario of the safety concerns of leaders and staff in a middle school concerned with potential gang activity. Inspired by actual events, this case illustrates burdens that many middle school leaders across the nation face on a daily…

A study examined student perceptions of the school environment in a small, rural high school in southeastern North Carolina. Surveys returned by 417 students in grades 9-12 suggested that the presence of gangs and unsafe or hidden areas were not major problems. The fact that 46 percent indicated that vandalism was a problem suggests that vandalism…