School Safety
Creating truly safe schools through relationships, mental health support, and evidence-based approaches—not security theater.
Beyond Metal Detectors
After every school tragedy, the instinct is to respond with visible security measures: metal detectors, armed guards, bulletproof backpacks. But research consistently shows that these measures often fail to prevent violence while creating prison-like environments that harm student wellbeing and learning.
Visible security measures often create more problems than they solve:
- •Metal detectors and bag searches create bottlenecks and delays
- •Armed officers disproportionately harm students of color through discipline referrals
- •Prison-like environments undermine trust and sense of belonging
- •Resources spent on security are diverted from counselors and support staff
- •Fear-based approaches increase student anxiety without improving safety
What Actually Works
Research shows that the most effective school safety strategies focus on prevention and early intervention: strong relationships between students and adults, accessible mental health services, threat assessment teams that identify and help struggling students, and positive school climates where students feel connected.
Schools need adequate counselors, psychologists, and social workers to identify and support students in crisis before situations escalate.
When every student is known by name by multiple adults, warning signs are more likely to be noticed and students are more likely to seek help.
Rethinking School Resource Officers
The presence of police in schools has expanded dramatically, but evidence of their effectiveness at preventing violence is limited. Meanwhile, their presence has led to increased criminalization of normal adolescent behavior, disproportionately affecting Black and brown students. Schools should carefully evaluate whether SROs are the best use of limited safety resources.
Counselors over cops: Invest in mental health professionals rather than law enforcement.
Threat assessment: Evidence-based behavioral threat assessment teams in every school.
Positive school climate: Programs that build connection, belonging, and community.
Address root causes: Gun violence prevention at the societal level, not just school hardening.