Recalibrating school security: measuring the adequacy of school security intervention and prevention strategies in comprehensive high schools -- a survey of high school administrators in Orange County, California

Restricted until 16 July 2009.The purpose of this study was to collect information on violence from a sampling of California school administrators concerning rates of violence, prevention measures, the impact of the violence, and the resources needed to stem the violence. Violence is still a too frequent occurrence in American public schools. Although there has been a decrease in recent years, it continues to concern educators and the public.; Many of the initiators of violence have referred to bullying and harassment as a reason for striking out violently. Research indicated that teachers often do not identify and/or do not respond to bullying. Another identified cause of violence is depression. Students who have caused violence have frequently been identified with relevant symptoms. Staff training on the recognition of the characteristics of depression is not a frequent occurrence. In addition, acts of violence are characteristically planned in advance.; According to school administrators, nearly 40% of the communities in this study have experienced a crime rate increase during the past 12 months. This evidence suggests that some school administrators recorded higher rates of violence than did other school administrators. The results from this study also suggested that there might be limited knowledge and/or working relationships between schools and police authorities in some locations. Also indicated was that neither school nor police administrators frequently involve students directly in their prevention measures. Suggested in this study was that school administrators implement the bulk of violence prevention measures much more so than law enforcement officials.; The findings from this study can guide two major initiatives to increase the safety of public schools. The results can assist in the planning of safety initiatives used by school administrators. They can also guide future studies into areas that required additional information on which to build conclusions for both student safety and student achievement