In an Education World e-interview, national school crisis expert Scott Poland discusses the multiple causes and similarities of school violence, and he offers specific strategies that may help prevent more school violence. A member of the National Emergency Assistance Team that responds to school shootings across the nation, Poland is presently on location in Santee, California, the location of one of the most recent school shootings. From there, Poland offers Education World readers his unique insight about the causes of and solutions to school violence and threats of violence. Included: Remedies for the multiple causes of school violence!
Education World: For the past few years, you and other members of the National Association of School Psychologists have offered advice on how to prevent school violence. What do schools need to do differently to help prevent more violence?
Scott Poland: Districts continue to build large schools that create environments for student anonymity. Even though schools must be designed to accommodate large numbers of students, they need to be made to seem smaller. Obvious ways to create a sense of ownership and belonging are to
Our law enforcement and educational staff must work at developing relationships with students that encourage them to come forward when they know something is about to happen. Our students need to know that their concerns will be honored. We need to end the bullying that happens in our hallways, playgrounds, bathrooms, and lockers. Those signs that say "No Drugs, No Weapons" should also say "No Bullying," and we should mean it!
EW: What do parents need to do differently?
Poland: Parents need to get more involved, especially in the lives of their teenagers. As adults, we need to recognize that what we do, our children will copy. Gandhi said, "What we do speaks so loudly that when we talk, our children cannot hear us."
We also need to stop setting up our children's rooms like little kingdoms. When they have their own televisions, telephones, computers with Internet access, and music, they have no reason to leave their rooms and interact with us. Parents should monitor the activities their children are involved in and who their friends are. As parents, we also need to practice responsible gun ownership. Be certain that your gun is not accessible to your child! Be more involved at school and serve on school or district safety task forces. Talk to your children about tough issues, but "reach, don't preach."
EW: Schools are microcosms of our culture. What can others -- those outside of schools and families -- do differently to stem school violence?
Poland: Society needs to recognize the origins of youth violence, which are
EW: Why are more children troubled today?
Poland: Children today are under extensive pressure to academically achieve more than they have ever achieved before. Television and theater productions have changed so dramatically that viewers are exposed to extreme amounts of media violence. More children have access to guns in the household than ever before, and there is increasingly less parental supervision as adults put in longer hours in the work world.
EW: As part of the National Emergency Assistance Team, you have responded to the tragedies in Littleton, Jonesboro, West Paducah, and most recently, in Santee, California. Reflecting on those schools, on the shooters, and on the communities in which the tragedies happened, do you see more similarities or differences?
Poland: I see similarities in the shootings in these communities. Someone always knew about the violent plans of these perpetrators, because they talked about what they were going to do. We need to help children "end the conspiracy of silence" by developing relationships with students that creates an environment for them to feel compelled to tell an adult when they hear anything suspicious. Many of the shooters were bullied and many were suicidal; we must be more active with strategies to prevent teen suicide, and the suicide prevention initiatives from the Surgeon General need to be funded by Congress!
EW: As you travel around the country as NASP president, what do you see a big need for?
Poland: More mental health professionals in schools would be a start toward meeting the needs of our teenagers today. Counselors see themselves primarily as schedulers and special education assessors. Willy Sutton, the bank robber, was asked, "Why did you rob all those banks?" He replied, "Because, that's where the money is." Why should we deliver mental health and medical services at school? Because that is where the children are every day of the week. But counselors are told not to pull the students out of academic class periods because they might fall behind! Remember Maslow's hierarchy: the needs of safety and security must be taken care of before children can concentrate on learning.
Finally, Congress needs to pass the School Counselor Education Act,
which will increase funding for mental health professionals such as school
counselors and social workers.