Acting Out of Fear on School Safety

My View

School safety is a growing concern among education leaders and policymakers as mass shootings in schools have rocked our nation, raising parents’ fears about their children’s safety to unprecedented levels.

These efforts put a face to fear, but fear is counterproductive to the trusting and positive culture essential to foster learning. We must not give in to irrational fears.

A Washington Post survey of every school in its database that had endured a shooting of some kind since 2012 makes the point. Half of the 79 respondents replied there was little they could have done to prevent the shooting. Those who did think they could have done more really didn’t know exactly what that would have been.

When probed further, they emphasized the critical importance of their staff members developing deep, trusting relationships with students, who often hear about threats before teachers do. Establishing school communities with close ties is what hope looks like.