Ten years have passed since the tragedy at Columbine High School in April, 1999. For many educators, students, and parents, the unforgettable imagery remains seared in our minds and provides visceral evidence that the school cultures we create truly matter.
Sadly, last month’s school shooting in Germany reemphasized the devastating consequences wrought when a youth in the depths of emotional darkness sees no outlet but violence.
It provides another heartbreaking reminder of the fundamental lesson that Columbine and other tragic school shootings have taught us: although acts of extreme violence are usually caused by multiple factors (some of which schools cannot control), they almost always reflect a failure to establish a meaningful connection between the student and the collective community.
While remembering the victims of these tragedies can contribute to healing, the most useful legacy of Columbine is the mosaic of positive changes that schools across the country are making to connect with students and their families.
Rigor, relevance, and relationships – the modern three R’s of education-provide guiding principles for educators in crafting structures and programs for schools. Relationship-building results in schools that are welcoming and encouraging safe havens where every student and staff member feels a sense of belonging.
Clearly campus security, comprehensive crisis response plans, and staff training are vital aspects of school safety.
However, positive school climate and connectedness are central components of an emerging concept in school safety literature referred to as “psychological safety”, where relationship-building and prevention-oriented engagement promotes physical and psychological safety for students and staff.
Indeed, a report released this month, Five Critical School Safety Issues, emphasizes addressing school climate, persistent challenges within the school-student culture, and family-community connectedness among its recommendations on school management practices that impede or facilitate school safety.
Over the past decade, educational leadership organizations like the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) and the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) have advocated for schools where learning takes place in a personalized and supportive atmosphere.
This includes research-based practices related to student engagement, positive behavior and school climate, and social-emotional supports.
Many groups have focused this effort around a call to support and educate the whole child. Embedded throughout are the qualities of trust, respect, and personalization of the school experience.
How the various aspects of such personalization improve not just school safety but also academic achievement are articulated in school reform recommendations, such as NASSP’s Breaking Ranks II (2006) and Breaking Ranks in the Middle (2007) and NASP’s Ready to Learn, Empowered to Teach: Excellence in Education for the 21st Century (2008).
In general, experts agree that the following practices are critical to establishing highly personalized schools that promote safe and effective learning environments:
“Students who have a sense of belonging and who feel they have a voice in the school do not engage in negative and destructive behavior directed at the school or each other.
Educators must advocate for students who have no voice, which requires knowing who is at risk and reaching out to them. This also is critical to recognizing students who are suffering from serious mental health or other problems. Taking a basic inventory of which staff members know which students by name is a good place to start.
“Each student needs a significant adult advocate, whether it is a teacher, school psychologist, coach or advisor, with whom they have a connection. Adult advocates assist students in developing a positive view of their future.
By helping identify choices and options, advocates help students see a future of possibilities and a supported path for getting there. Additionally, adult advocates can serve as trusted confidants to whom students can turn when they have a problem. This is a key component of responsible reporting and school safety.
“School policies must reinforce the values of trust, respect, and positive school climate. Prevention of bullying and harassment of any kind must be a prominent part of the school culture and a priority for students, staff, and families.
Adults are an important part of this equation, which goes beyond slogans and written policies to include skill-building and positive reinforcement when individuals stand up non-violently against unkind or unsafe behavior.
“Educators must take students seriously. They cannot ignore cries for help or assume that someone else is responsible for problem-solving. For some students, school is the only safe, clean, orderly, and inviting place in their lives. No student should be allowed to flounder academically, socially, or psychologically. School staff must intervene.
“Schools need the resources to intervene appropriately and effectively. Many times schools are the only accessible support system for providing the additional help students need.
School psychologists, counselors, and social workers are essential to helping administrators, teachers, and parents meet students” academic and mental health needs. They also provide critical links to community services when students require more intensive supports.
“Engaging families is paramount. Research and federal policy highlight family involvement as an important factor in a positive school experience.
Research also indicates that students at risk for harmful behaviors do best when adults connect across family, school, and community environments, in essence forming the student’s safety net.
Outreach efforts must be culturally responsive and designed to meet families’ busy lives. Successful family engagement is essential to maintaining open lines of communication and encouraging reporting of any concerns.
There are no guarantees of preventing extreme violence, just as there is no panacea for the array of problems that students bring to school. These stem from societal challenges that are the responsibility of all of us to address, within and beyond school walls.
But schools have the unique ability to reinforce students’ sense of value as a part of the community, build upon their strengths, and identify when they are at risk for any reason.
This is a day-in and day-out commitment that requires school leaders and policies that make knowing and serving the whole child a priority. Failure to address these issues seriously and systemically creates significant barriers to genuine school safety and learning.
Any effort to honor the memory of Columbine victims should look beyond the pain to the promise offered by the lessons learned.
Schools across America are successfully promoting learning and school safety by implementing personalization practices.
This is the vision that should guide our sense of purpose as educators, parents, and policymakers. Schools can and must enhance physical and psychological safety, thereby creating oases of belonging and hope for all of our children.
Gene Cash, PhD, NCSP, is President of the National Association of School Psychologists, a Florida licensed psychologist, and a faculty member at the Nova Southeastern University Center for Psychological Studies in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. He can be reached at Gcash1@aol.com
Gerald N. Tirozzi, Ph.D., is president of National Association of Secondary School Principals, and he’s also a nationally recognized leader in education reform, having served as Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education (1996-1999) prior to joining NASSP.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
