Profiles Floyd Wiggins, Jr., veteran school security chief for Richmond (Virginia) Public Schools. Besides a security force, the district uses hand-held metal-detectors and police-dog raids in its secondary schools and is considering use of student identification cards, security video cameras, and a larger parent volunteer force. Wiggins feels…

The National School Safety Center pegs the number of gun-toting U.S. students at 100,000. Unless metal detectors are employed as part of a carefully thought-out school safety plan, their use is likely to be ineffective, controversial, and a legal minefield. Random student searches are becoming common. A sidebar describes a Washington, D.C., junior…

Based on incidents with dangerous men at his and nearby schools, a superintendent in Colorado offers advice for protection planning, which includes being prepared to handle reporters, implementing a two-way radio system, providing an emergency procedures handbook and inservice training, and knowing how your police and fire departments operate.…

The DeKalb County (Georgia) School System has reduced the number of gun-toting students by over 65% by piecing together a program combining education, community involvement, mandatory expulsion, and video technology. Kids do their part by learning the school's discipline policy, discussing nonviolent alternatives, and carrying clear bookbags. (MLH)

Until recently, school executives have been too busy responding to growing school violence to worry about their own safety. Although teachers and students are most common targets, recent murders of three superintendents and an assistant principal show top administrators are vulnerable to misdirected anger and frustration. Administrators should not…

Metal detectors and increased security alone cannot curb violence in today's schools. To reduce school violence in the nation's capital and elsewhere, the home, community, and schools must unite to support young people and teach them responsibility for their actions. One program, the Student Efficacy Initiative, helps students resolve conflicts…