The practice of temporarily removing students from school as a form of punishment (i.e., suspensions) remains quite common. This study uses longitudinal data from a large, urban school district in California to assess whether the use of suspensions improves school safety in the following school year. Additional analyses by student race and…

Although there has been an increase in research on support for campus carry laws, few studies have examined how these laws influence campus safety. Using longitudinal data from a university sample, this study compares measures of campus safety before and after the adoption of a campus carry law. We found statistically significant increases in…

School security measures have become commonplace in recent years. Still, little quantitative research has examined how this trend shapes students' perceptions of school. This study examines how students' exposure to school security relates to their sense of school connectedness, with particular attention to the difference between white and…

The aims of the current study were to provide the first Australian prevalence estimates of sexual harassment in adolescents, explore gender differences in form and frequency of harassment, and investigate demographic and weight status correlates. A total of 4098 adolescents (47.3% boys), aged 11 to 19 years from government and non-government…

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine whether alternative school interventions were effective in reducing the incidences of violence in schools and improving attendance and graduation rates, whether positive behavior intervention supports were effective intervention strategies in school violence prevention initiatives, and whether…

Bullying is the most common form of interpersonal violence facing youth in schools, and recent school-based intervention efforts have shown only limited success in reducing such behavior. Accordingly, this article considers the utility of Albert Bandura's theory of moral disengagement in understanding bullying behavior among children and…

School violence and bullying are two public health concerns with consequences for youth in and out of school, for families, students, and community members. In this article, a social-ecological framework is briefly described as a way to understand bullying and school violence; then the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) longitudinal…

This article argues that metal detectors bestow an organizational stigma to schools. One symptom of this is students' heightened level of fear at school. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and a matched-pair design, this study finds that metal detectors are negatively correlated with students' sense…

Reports of serious violence in schools have raised general awareness and concern about safety in America's schools. In this article, the authors examine the extent to which in-school victimization is associated with students' perceived risk and fear of victimization. By expanding on Ferraro's risk assessment framework, the current study explores…

The deterioration of school environments in conjunction with large numbers of dropouts are related issues of national concern. This longitudinal study evaluates student exposure to unsafe public schools during adolescence as a potential risk factor for dropping out by 10th grade. A panel of 13,217 public school students assessed at base year and 2…

This document is comprised of summaries of six papers presented at a symposium on the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, a federal grant to school districts intended to promote health and safety in schools and communities. The Initiative was designed to confront school violence, safety, and mental health needs through the provision of a…