Student and Staff Victimization. NSSC Resource Paper.

Schools today face serious, daily threats to the safety of students and staff. Students and school employees become victims when experiencing a crime against themselves or when threatened by the perpetration of a crime. On school grounds, these crimes are most often assaults, robberies, and extortion. Recent studies have highlighted the pervasiveness of victimization problems. Through legislation and court decisions, the student's right to a safe school environment has begun to be recognized. To deal with the problem of school safety, educators must assess the nature of their particular problem. A standardized reporting procedure of criminal and violent acts is required. Prevention strategies include clear school policies, workshops and seminars, peer-tutoring corps, adults on campus, community committees, law-related education curricula, in-service training, special student activities, assertiveness training, safe corridor programs, buddy systems, and victim witness programs. Successful intervention strategies include teacher training, arbitration and mediation, community newsletters, and safe school legislation. Response strategies include immediate arrest and media contact, interagency crisis referral team, safe schools/internal affairs department, youth re-entry programs, victimization adjustment classes, school board policies, retraining alternatives, and schedule adjustments. (Local victimization programs, national resource organizations, and sources of relevant literature are listed.) (ABL)