Prevention Works

Truant Tracking

Lawmakers in Prince George’s County, MD, are desperately trying to address the issue of rampant truancy among the county’s youth.  And though it is a very serious problem for the region, Prince George’s officials are considering some disproportionately extreme tactics to address it.  If the current legislation being considered is signed into law, then the worst student offenders could be forced to wear electronic monitoring devices, such as ankle bracelets, so their whereabouts can be tracked.  But, as it often goes, this strategy only serves as a bandage for the wound, when we should all be more focused on preventing the injury in the first place. 

The root causes of truancy can involve a number of different factors, including fear of attending school, family problems, and economic problems.  We need more than satellite monitoring devices to truly address this issue.  Student offenders should be invited to the table when policymakers are discussing the issue and possible solutions.  The school system should involve parents, their communities, social workers, and nonprofit organizations to come to a more rational conclusion than to require students to submit to Orwellian practices. 

Luckily, the bill was put on hold until the conclusions of a truancy study are released in May.  Perhaps that will give people enough time to come to their senses, and realize that we should be addressing the root of the truancy problem, rather than criminalizing our nation’s youth.

Take Your Family to School

Next week, from February 11–17, schools across the country will be celebrating National PTA Take Your Family to School Week.  The event will involve such activities as career days, reading nights, and parents vs. faculty ball games in schools in every state.  And, not that any parent should ever need an excuse to be involved in their children’s lives, this week of parent/teacher involvement will provide parents with just that.  The PTA Take Your Family to School Week offers a fresh opportunity for all parents to learn about and help out with school safety in their communities.  Visit the PTA website for more information about how to participate.

We here at NCPC want to remind everyone that an official week of parental involvement at their children’s schools is not needed for parents to engage their kids.  Every parent should take time every day to talk with their children and learn about their thoughts, feelings, problems, and fears.  It often helps greatly for a child simply to be able to speak with someone else, especially their parents.  Speaking with your child about topics related to school, friends, and interests can also yield valuable insights. 

So talk with your child about violence—and how to resolve conflicts peacefully.  Then, set an example, and show your child that you can settle conflicts without violence.  Also, show your support for school policies and rules.  If your child feels that a rule is wrong, explain how that rule can increase school safety. 

For more school safety information and resources, check out our Be Safe and Sound program.

School Safety: Everyone's Responsible

Safe schools are essential for young people to learn and develop healthy relationships, but recent school shootings in Colorado, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania have prompted a national debate about school safety. Students and parents have questioned school safety plans, security procedures, and emergency guidelines.

A comprehensive school safety plan will combine immediate solutions, long-term prevention planning, and prevention programs tailored to the specific school facility, and may incorporate extra security technology and training staff. Some best practices have been listed by the National School Safety and Security Services for school safety security and emergency preparedness planning. They include

• Train the school administration, teachers, and support staff on school violence
• Evaluate and refining school security measures
• Update and exercise school emergency preparedness plans often
• Strengthen partnerships with public safety officials.

School safety cannot just be left to schools; parents and students must also be involved in order for schools to be truly safe.

• Students must make a commitment to not contribute to violence by bullying, teasing, or spreading gossip; to never carry guns; and to lead initiatives in school safety by joining or launching their own nonviolence groups.
• Parents must also be involved and informed both about school policies and  goings on in their children's lives. Parents should ask schools how the school controls access of visitors, request information about the school's emergency plan, get to know school staff, and request to have periodic meetings to review school safety plans. Parents need to be sure to be involved in their child's school life by discouraging name-calling and teasing, looking for warning signs of troubled teens, and asking their children about their concerns.

For more information on school safety please visit the NCPC website, order NCPC's Safer Schools and Caregivers Guide to School Safety and Security publications, or visit the US Department of Education school safety website and the National School Safety and Security Services website.

Don't be afraid to make a difference in school security. Students, parents, teachers— don't wait until it's too late to get involved.

Standing Together To Stop the Shootings

The events in our schools over the past week have been appalling. With a sudden barrage of inexplicable violence, such as the school shooting yesterday in Pennsylvania, it is difficult not to feel bewildered and powerless. However, through vigilance, courage, and cooperation, we can help prevent such atrocities in the future.

Vigilance and common sense can go a long way in preventing such violence, as they did last week when a student overheard classmates planning an attack. This student’s report to authorities helped avert a potentially horrific event. We were not so lucky yesterday. It is important for adults to be watchful of one another, too. If you notice sudden changes in the behavior of someone you know—especially changes such as despondence followed by sudden calm, like the changes that Charles Roberts’s coworkers noticed in him recently—they could be signs that this person intends violence toward himself or herself or others. Talk to the person or his or her family and work to ensure that he or she receives help before something unthinkable happens.

To help go beyond common sense, NCPC offers resources to help individuals and communities in their prevention efforts. Pamphlets such as Making Children, Families, and Communities Safer From Violence (PDF) offer valuable guidance on individual, family, and community action to help prevent and reduce violence. Through our website (see School Safety), we also offer a variety of other publications for caregivers and policy makers to help provide students with a safe place in which to learn and to help institute policies that foster safety. To help those affected most directly by violence, we offer information on Reaching and Serving Teen Victims, with insights specifically for helping teens cope with tragedy and violence. NCPC also offers a comprehensive program, Be Safe and Sound, designed to raise awareness of school safety and security issues and to provide stakeholders with concrete measures to make schools more safe and secure.

At NCPC, we are deeply saddened by the events of the past week and mourn the loss of so many innocent lives. We must remember, however, that together we can prevent crime and build stronger and safer communities.

School Attack Averted After Student Report

A student's report to an associate principal led to the arrest of two teens from East High School in Green Bay, WI on Thursday, September 14.  When police searched the teens' homes, they found guns, knives, and ammunition.  The courageous student made the report after hearing one of the teens threaten to attack the school. 

As adults concerned about school safety, we need to realize that students are powerful allies.  They provide the eyes and ears that observe what is happening at school—where bullying takes place, where youth tend to get into fights, and where individuals sell or even use drugs.  Despite stereotypes that youth are disengaged, self-centered, and apathetic, most young people care about their communities and want to make their schools and neighborhoods better places. 

We can capitalize on that energy and commitment to help us make schools safer.  If the school in your community has a safety committee, ask if it includes youth representatives.  Find out if the school ever surveys its students to identify safety issues.  Resources from NCPC, such as the School Safety and Security Toolkit, can help schools involve youth in school safety efforts.  Student groups can also come together to design poster campaigns, peer mediation programs, and presentations for other students.  NCPC’s Youth Outreach for Victim Assistance project (managed in partnership with the National Center for Victims of Crime) and Youth Safety Corps program have helped young people in communities across the United States to implement projects that raise awareness of safety and help young people take steps to protect themselves. 

When adults provide opportunities to youth to get involved and voice their ideas, young people not only rise to the occasion and help to make the community safer, but they build trust and confidence that adults can and will protect them from harm.  That trust is essential if we want young people to come to us when they are being bullied, when they are pressured to use drugs, or when they hear a threat of school violence.  Working together, adults and youth can form a strong safety net for their schools and communities. 

Is Dictating "Appropriate Dress" Appropriate?

The idea of regulating school dress codes might have stemmed from the once-popular phrase "dress right, act right."  Hoping to create a more professional learning environment, public school administrators began prohibiting girls from wearing slacks, dictating the length of girls’ skirts, and discouraging boys from wearing blue jeans and leather jackets in the 1950s. (Of course, students in parochial and many private schools wore uniforms much earlier.) Later, with the proliferation of gang activity in the 1980s, school administrators began considering stricter dress codes and the adoption of school uniforms in areas with significant gang activity, as attire has long been used to identify gang members.  So, according to the Clearinghouse on Educational Policy and Management, the Baltimore, MD, public school system became the first in the nation to adopt the use of school uniforms in 1987.  Finally, in 1996, then-president Bill Clinton endorsed the idea of public school uniforms in his State of the Union address, and they were immediately implemented at tremendous rates in urban areas across the country. 

Of course, dictating students’ dress codes raises many first amendment issues, and there are some pros and cons to consider.  First of all, while requiring students to wear uniforms does, according to some, "equalize" the students, there is no room for individuality or freedom of expression.  It also places a burden on families that cannot afford the uniforms, and in some school districts, uniforms could impose unnecessary control over the wearers. Therefore, many school officials agree that the use of strict dress codes or uniforms should only be enforced if they are deemed necessary to preserve a safe and professional learning environment. 

On the other hand, if the safety of students in a particular school district is threatened by gang activity or violence, strict dress codes or uniforms could help to keep weapons out of schools.  Requiring students to tuck in their shirts, for example, prevents them from carrying weapons on their waistlines.  As this dramatic video (Windows Media format) demonstrates, it is easy to hide weapons under plain, loose clothing.  Dress codes and school uniforms would also go a long way toward eliminating gang affiliation and recognition at school. However, it is not enough to prohibit vaguely defined "gang-related clothing," as students and administrators would probably disagree about what that is. It should not be left to the students to decide what the school considers "gang-related." That’s a decision for school administrators.