Analysis of Safety Policy Making: Implications for School Psychologists
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Analysis of Safety Policy Making: Implications for School Psychologists Angela Mann 1
&
Stephen E. Brock 2
# California Association of School Psychologists 2020
Abstract Despite data indicating that schools are safe, and safer today than they were 20 years ago, it is not uncommon for both the general public and school policymakers to exaggerate safety threats following high-fatality school shootings such as the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Often this leads to reactionary policies not supported by science. This paper reviews current school safety policy making efforts, with special attention directed to a policy analysis conducted by the Education Commission of the States, reviews the literature surrounding school safety approaches, and draws contrasts between the two. Implications for school psychology practice and for school safety advocacy are discussed. Keywords School safety . Policy analysis . Education Commission of the States
While schools are arguably the safest they have ever been (Centers for Disease Control 2019; Kann et al. 2019; MusuGillette et al. 2018), our society is increasingly exposed to intense and dramatic media coverage of tragic events such as the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. From such exposure, we suggest that some have come to view schools as dangerous places. Supporting this observation, the American Psychological Association (APA 2018) recently conducted an in depth look at stress for Gen Z (defined by the survey as those born between 2003 and 1997) and revealed that three in four youth report significant stress over mass shootings. Specific to school shootings, one in five students reported that school shootings were a constant source of stress. Further, there have been significant increases in parental perceptions that schools are unsafe places (Associated Press et al., 2019; Phi Delta Kappan 2018). Finally, approximately 76% of teachers believe a school shooting could occur where they work and 73% report that when school shootings appear in the media, they think of students at their own schools who they believe to be capable of committing a school shooting (Stevens et al. 2019).
* Angela Mann [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, University of North Florida, 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
2
California State University, Sacramento, CA, USA
Stress and worry about school safety have serious impacts. Since 1993, the overall prevalence of US high schoolers reporting having not gone to school because of perceived safety concerns has significantly increased (Kann et al. 2018). According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance system, in 2017, 6.7% of the nation’s high schoolers indicated that during the 30 days before the survey, they did not go to school because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school. This was a significant linear increase from when this question was first asked in 1993 (at which time the percentage indicating such fear was 4.4%). Given these perceptions, it is u
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