As students enter the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, they're greeted not with a gauntlet of metal detectors and security guards, but with cheers, hugs, and breakfast. Most are from low-income families, and prior to enrolling in the school, they were scoring so low on achievement tests (in the 1st and 2nd percentile) that former teachers wrote them off as lost causes. The unorthodox greeting is part of a comprehensive effort to create a loving environment for these students in grades 1–8—an approach that, as it turns out, reflects emerging research on school safety and supporting the needs of today's learners.
Understanding Today's Learners
Studies show that today's learners bring many psychological and emotional burdens to school. An analysis of data for nearly 100,000 U.S. children found that 48 percent under age 17 have endured at least one adverse childhood experience (exposure to violence; emotional, physical, or sexual abuse; deprivation, neglect, or social discrimination; or family discord or divorce) (Bethell et al., 2014). Such experiences can create post-traumatic stress disorder, similar to what combat soldiers often experience, and leave children less trusting, less able to focus on learning, and more prone to aggressive or violent behavior.
In addition, today's youth feel more anxious, more depressed, more detached, and less hopeful about the future than previous generations. Researcher Jean Twenge (2018) notes, for example, that individuals born after 1995 are witnessing a growing chasm between the haves and have nots in modern society and are thus feeling more anxious about the future. At the same time, today's teens spend an average of 9 hours per day in front of screens (phones, computers, and TVs); yet many studies, including Twenge's own, have found a causal link between teens' screen time and mental health issues, including increasing depression and anxiety after just one hour of screen time per day. All of this adds up to a generation of students that is, in general, more fragile, detached, and depressed than previous generations.
"Hardening" Schools in the Name of Safety
These same students often find themselves in schools that, as one researcher put it, have become "hardened" (Hoover, 2019), equipped with sealed doors, cameras, metal detectors, and school resource officers. Studies suggest, though, that while such measures may remove immediate threats, they do little to change students' behavior or feelings of safety.
For example, a study of a North Carolina program that added school resource officers in 471 middle schools to reduce disciplinary referrals found the officers' presence in these schools did not reduce such infractions (Anderson, 2018). Similarly, a study of random metal detector searches for weapons and drugs in two Florida districts found that it led to fewer students bringing weapons to school or selling drugs, but didn't reduce fights on campus or make students less likely to skip school out of concern for their safety (Bhatt & Davis, 2018).
A More Holistic Approach
In the aftermath of school shootings, shoring up the physical safety of schools makes sense—as does consistent enforcement of disciplinary codes. Yet studies suggest the most effective approaches to school safety also address students' emotional and psychological safety.
One such whole-school intervention, the Friendly Schools program, seeks to improve school climate and reduce bullying by showing students how to engage in positive social interactions, training school personnel to manage bullying behaviors effectively, and engaging families in support of the effort with take-home activities and newsletters. A rigorous study found this intervention reduced bullying behaviors as well as student depression, anxiety, and loneliness, while increasing students' positive perceptions of school safety (Cross et al., 2018).
The best approaches, therefore, appear to be multifaceted responses that focus on creating positive school cultures to support students' well-being, providing power under kids rather than asserting power over them. Creating school environments where students feel emotionally safe and valued as individuals not only helps with mental health issues and preventing violence and bullying, but also supports better student achievement. A study of New York City high schools (Davis & Warner, 2018), for example, found that students' perception of school climate affects academic achievement more than socioeconomic characteristics.
Such is the case with the I Promise School, where students, who are called the "Chosen Ones," are making significant strides in learning—4th graders moved from the second percentile in mathematics achievement last year to the 30th this year.
Yes, the school (a regular public school) has an important benefactor, basketball star LeBron James (Green, 2019). Its walls are bedecked with his posters and inspirational quotes from James, and he has funded a fully stocked food pantry. Yet its principal, Brandi Davis, notes that the sense of safety, security, and support her school provides students is something money can't buy. "It doesn't take money to build relationships," she notes. "It doesn't take money for you to teach students how to love."
