Shooting events and threats of shootings have come to shape the educational environment of many schools across the United States in recent years. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of threats alone rose by 60 percent, and most of these threats were made anonymously on various social media platforms commonly used by youth. While the overwhelming…

Violence in South African schools has various negative effects on learners. These effects include loss of concentration, poor academic performance, playing truant, and depression. School violence also affects the psychological well-being of learners, leading to absenteeism and difficulty in paying attention in class. Furthermore, school violence…

In the United States, school shootings have become an increasingly prevalent and publicly salient social problem. School social workers play a central role in developing understanding of their etiology and intervening to prevent their further occurrence. Even though nearly all school shootings are committed by white students, no etiological theory…

In this article we report on a South African study conducted with 1,779 learners aged 11 to 18 years from 8 schools in urban areas in and around Johannesburg. These learners' perspectives on school safety confirm that South African learners experience their schools as unsafe. Their primary concerns related to coercion and violence against learners…

In response to fears regarding high-profiled school shootings and firearm violence, schools transformed dramatically, implementing school safety measures such as school police, armed security, metal detectors, and active shooter drills. This study used nationally representative data to assess the relationship between school safety policies and…

Although metal detectors, guards, and law enforcement officers are intended to protect students and maintain a safe educational environment, the actual effectiveness of such measures is unclear, especially when it comes to protecting Black students. Charles Bell interviewed Black students from urban and suburban schools across Michigan and learned…

On April 20, 1999, two Columbine High School students started a shooting rampage, ultimately killing 12 students and one teacher, wounding 21 victims, then completing suicide. Using media frame analysis (MFA), we examined 265 transcribed major network television news stories aired during the 48 hours following the shooting. In these stories, we…

Purpose: The overall quality of education may be compromised due to the limited availability of safety and security (S&S) courses in professional teacher education. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main safety-related training needs of a higher education institution, which may provide insights for improving the quality of education…

The view that colleges are generally safe has been challenged by threats of violence on campuses across the country, causing fear among stakeholders. Community college faculty are not immune to crime-related fear on campus; however, the research has largely ignored this population. This research serves to fill that gap. The purpose of this…

We utilize original survey data to examine factors influencing parental assessment of schools. When asked a series of questions about their evaluation of hypothetical schools in a survey experiment, respondents were given the option to select "don't know" and explain in their own words what additional information they would want to know…

Institutions of higher education (IHEs) have been federally mandated to prevent and respond to reports of sexual violence on campus via Title IX for over 30 years as the trauma that results from campus sexual assault is considered prohibitive to accessing education. Yet, students may not be the only parties harmed when sexual violence is…

Background: Although less than 2% of all homicides among young people are school-associated, since 1970 1373 K-12 school gun violence incidents have injured 1403 people and killed another 728. These incidents have changed the education landscape. Informed stakeholders must work together to prevent school gun violence. Methods: We reviewed the…

Sexual violence continues to be an issue that impacts student safety on college campuses. Approximately a quarter of students directly face violence in higher education. In the last several decades, college professionals have implemented a variety of sexual violence prevention programming and policies. However, these efforts have not decreased the…

This exploratory descriptive research study examined elementary school staff perceptions of ALICE active shooter response training and how participating in the training impacted staff perceptions of their own preparedness and their perceptions of their school's level of safety. This study also examined elementary staff experiences of ALICE…

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has indicated that schools are vulnerable to school shootings. Understanding the experience of school members who have experienced such tragedies provides important context for further developing much-needed preventive and responsive measures. Using narrative inquiry, we explored the experience of a…