While educators have limited control over the broader geo-political challenges and physical violence affecting school safety, mental and emotional distress that students experience must also be considered. There are ways to keep children safe and calm fears in the face of the growing unease associated with school shootings in the United States,…

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…

Arming teachers remains a divisive issue in the United States. Since one goal of this policy is to improve perceptions of safety, it is important to understand how arming teachers impacts students. Using survey data from six Midwestern school districts, we apply Ferraro's risk assessment model to explore how individual and school conditions impact…

Calls to weaponize teachers with guns as a means of enhanced school safety and protection against a school shooting have intensified in recent years. Arguments for and against arming teachers are relatively well-established, but a paucity of scholarly research exists regarding its effectiveness and whether teachers generally support carrying guns…

It's hard to imagine anything more devastating than a deadly shooting at a school. The setting (often thought of as among the safest places in our communities) and the ages of both victims and perpetrators are particularly troubling. The intense media coverage that typically follows a school shooting reinforces how disturbing such events are. As…

In this qualitative case study, I examine pre-service teachers' experiences with school shooting policy. Analysis of individual interviews, group discussions and reflective memos with preservice teachers (n=7) in seven Massachusetts districts shows that pre-service teachers, while deeply concerned about the possibility of school shootings, viewed…

As a result of extensive media coverage, the tragedies at Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are etched into the collective memory of American society. Shortly after the events at Sandy Hook, the National Rifle Association (NRA) presented a program to address student safety by arming…

Although school violence statistics indicate that schools are safe places, anxiety over school shootings continues to influence school safety reform to the extent that security measures in American public schools include the arming of schoolteachers. Furthermore, not only have youths' perceptions of school security been relatively unexplored,…

The 2020 Texas Educators' Needs Assessment Regarding School Safety and Victims Services included responses from educators across the state of Texas regarding school safety. This needs assessment generated data that provided researchers with the unique opportunity to analyze the school safety issues in Texas (Fuller et al, 2020). The purpose of the…

The Federal Commission on School Safety has proposed a number of school security measures, including that trained teachers be allowed to carry concealed weapons at school. Prior to implementing such a policy, legislators and school administrators would be well advised to understand the potential effects of the policy on students. The current study…

According to a national [2017-18] survey conducted by National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), school counselors overwhelmingly oppose efforts to arm educators as a response to gun violence in schools. Nearly three-quarters of 2,251 counselors who responded were either "somewhat opposed" or "strongly…

Recently, states have enacted teacher-carry laws. While controversial, little scholarship has tapped public attitudes toward such reforms. Because public opinion shapes policy, the public is an important stakeholder in this debate. Thus, we investigated three questions. First, how supportive is the public of arming teachers? Second, what…

This article addresses the importance of highlighting teachers' emotional labor within teacher education programs. Given the changing landscape of schools in the 21st century, teachers' emotional labor now includes participating in annual safety drills and lockdown trainings, in addition to responses to violence (threatened or actual). This study…

Gang affiliation is not something that students leave behind when they come to school. Gang members do not leave their behaviors, attitudes, and conflicts outside the school environment. Gangs, unchecked and unidentified in a school setting, often engage in threat and intimidation; physical and cyber bullying; fighting; recruiting; and criminal…

If students and teachers do not feel safe, it is difficult for learning to occur. But how safe do they really feel? And what do teachers think would improve that sense of safety? Is it another security camera, an additional active shooter drill? A social-emotional learning program? Resources for student mental health? What are schools doing now to…