School Safety: More Than One Dimension

When you think of school safety, it’s hard not to think of school shootings. And there is no question that gun violence in schools is tragic, harrowing, and gut wrenching. It shatters our vision of schools as a sanctuary. And yet, gun violence, while way too common, is still exceedingly rare, and there are many ways that kids are harmed in our schools on a daily basis that don’t generate the same attention. Dr. Meg Caven, a passionate educational researcher, focuses on issues of safety and equity in the educational landscape. With particular attention on school discipline and its impact on racial inequity, Dr. Caven’s work highlights the importance of addressing social and emotional safety in addition to physical safety. As a queer-identified individual, she draws from her own experiences of freedom and safety in her educational journey to advocate for a more holistic approach to safety in schools. In this episode, Dr. Caven pushes us beyond the one-dimensional conversation around gun violence in our schools, to consider a broader and more expansive view of what it means to be safe in school. From mental health to emotional health, from protection from bullying and structural violence, from disrupting the school to prison pipeline, she argues that a nuanced, multi-dimensional view of school safety is what is required if we truly care about equity, and want to see schools live up to the ideal of being incubators of democracy. LINKS: Dr. Caven’s article in Kappan (https://kappanonline.org/school-safety-for-all-students-caven/) The Education Development Center (https://www.edc.org/) Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum‘s (https://www.beverlydanieltatum.com/) quote about the smog of racism is from Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria (https://bookshop.org/a/18658/9780465060689) Ani DiFranco – To The Teeth (https://open.spotify.com/track/1oQ5gfL3mMri9jBY9tf2IU?si=b6c426d01fbd4738) News story on a “rapid deploy bullet-proof safe room” for schools (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11863775/Alabama-school-debuts-shocking-rapid-deploy-bulletproof-safe-rooms-protect-mass-shootings.html) ACTION STEPS: Expand your idea of safety Talk to the young people and other caregivers in your life about what it means to feel safe at school Don’t use “safety” as an excuse to not enroll in a particular school Engage in conversations in your school communities about what I means for kids to feel safe enough to feel free to discover themselves Use these links or start at our Bookshop.org storefront (https://bookshop.org/shop/IntegratedSchools) to support local bookstores, and send a portion of the proceeds back to us. Join our Patreon (http://patreon.com/integratedschools) to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further. Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls (https://twitter.com/integratedschls) on twitter, IntegratedSchools (http://facebook.com/integratedschools) on Facebook, or email us podcast@integratedschools.org. We’re proud members of Connectd Podcasts, a network dedicated to helping shows like ours grow and thrive. For more info, or to check out their other amazing shows, head over to their website (http://connectdpodcasts.com/). The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits. This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Val Brown. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits. Music by Kevin Casey. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy