The vast majority of the nation's students will complete their
schooling without ever being touched by peer violence.
Nevertheless, recent school attacks carried out by students have
shaken the image of schools as reliably safe and secure
environments in which the qualifications of teachers and the
efficacy of the educational curricula are the most pressing
concerns of educators and parents. Televised images of frightened
and injured students fleeing school grounds have imprinted
themselves on the American consciousness. "Columbine," the
Littleton, Colo. high school that on April 20, 1999, was the scene
of the most violent of the school attacks recorded to date in the
United States, has entered contemporary vocabulary as a national
symbol of the violence that claimed the lives of 14 students and a
teacher on that day. Incidents of targeted school violence occurred
in 37 communities across the country between December 1974 and May
2000. Compared to the other types of violence and crime children
face both in and outside of school, school-based attacks are rare.
While the Department of Education reports that 60 million children
attend the nation's 119,000 schools, available statistics indicate
that few of these students will fall prey to serious violence in
school settings. However, highly publicized school shootings have
created uncertainty about the safety and security of this country's
schools and generated fear that an attack might occur in any
school, in any community. Increased national attention to the
problem of school violence has prompted educators, law enforcement
officials, mental health professionals, and parents to press for
answers to two central questions: "Could we have known that these
attacks were being planned?" and, if so, "What could we have done
to prevent these attacks from occurring?" For example, what should
happen when a student comes to attention for saying something or
behaving in a manner that causes concern, as in the following
instances? "The kids are saying that Johnny told his friends not to
go to the cafeteria at noon on Tuesday because something big and
bad is going to happen." Marty, who has appeared withdrawn and
irritable the past few weeks, handed in a story about a student
putting a bomb in an empty school. Sandy brought bullets to school
to show friends. Rafael, who got pushed around again after gym
class, stormed out in tears, shouting "You're all going to pay "
Casey, who was suspended last year for bringing a knife to school,
left a "hit list" on his desk. Terry submitted an essay in which an
assassin blew up the school, attacked the governor, and then killed
himself. Given the enormous concern about targeted school violence,
these reported statements and behaviors cannot be ignored. But how
should school officials and other responsible adults respond? This
publication, Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing
Threatening Situations and to Creating Safe School Climates, is the
product of an ongoing collaboration between the U. S. Secret
Service and the U. S. Department of Education to begin to answer
these questions. Its focus is on the use of the threat assessment
process pioneered by the Secret Service as one component of the
Department of Education's efforts to help schools across the nation
reduce school violence and create safe climates. As developed by
the Secret Service, threat assessment involves efforts to identify,
assess, and manage individuals and groups who may pose threats of
targeted violence.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(1)
(1)
