The article is about the final report and the findings of the safe school initiative, a research that was done by the U.S. secret service and the department of education on the implications for prevention of school attacks in the United States. Following the incidences of school violence and shootings witnessed in the American schools, parents and other education stakeholders were demanding answers from the various responsible authorities. They wanted to know if the plan for such attacks could be known before their occurrence so that preventive measure be taken. This prompted the collaboration between the secret service and the department of education to research thirty-seven schools. The information was obtained from primary sources such as mental health records, schools, and investigations.
On the safe school initiative research conducted in various schools, it was found that certain productive actions can be taken by the law enforcement officials and educators in response to the targeted school violence. The research indicated that it is possible to get prior knowledge of a planned violence act, which when evaluated through proper threat assessment could prevent attacks from taking place. Its findings showed that the incidences of the school targeted violence rarely happen suddenly; it is planned after some time and therefore conceptualizing the attack can be possible ( Vossekuil et al., 2014) . It also found that before an attack takes place, some people are always aware of the attackers’ idea making it easy to signal the attack.
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The implications of the findings according to the article shows that school-based attacks don’t just happen out of impulse, but it is a comprehensible thinking process and behavior which takes place for some time, well planned and developed. Given that such incidents take time to occur and the plan might be known prior, strategies can be set to prevent the violence from occurring. Before the attack, other students are always aware of the plan and the idea of the attacker, yet the information never reaches the school educators. A strategy can be developed to provide a confidential way by which learners can pass certain information regarding the planned attack by fellow students so that the act is prevented. Given that most attackers hardly make threats before the attack, school administrators should respond promptly to any form of the threat issued by the students. It was also found that most attackers show some strange behavior before the attack. The administrators should be keen on any strange behaviors of students to prevent any attack.
The findings in this article are important in giving recommendations on how to prevent any planned school attacks before the incident. It gives a primary source of information from a thoroughly researched with proven evidence. The findings can be used to improve the safety of the schools through proactive measures that will ensure any possible violence is prevented before it occurs. The researchers further suggested that threat assessment can be used to prevent school violence. Threat assessment is an evidence-based analytical and investigative approach that puts focus on the actions of students and what they say rather than the record of the student. Using a fact-based threat assessment method, educators, law enforcement officials as well as other stakeholders will require various tools and mechanisms that can facilitate their ability to obtain and analyze information regarding the behavior of the students.
In conclusion, the findings from this article provide fact-based methods and strategies that the educators and law enforcement officials can use to prevent school violence before it takes place. It gives a well- researched data with facts and evidence. This research and the findings provide a basis that can help schools move steps ahead towards eliminating violence that has been rampant in schools in the previous years.
Reference
Vossekuil, B., Fein, R. A., Reddy, M., Borum, R., & Modzeleski, W. (2014). The final report and findings of the safe school initiative: implications for the prevention of school attacks in the United States. Washington, DC: United States Secret Service; United States Department of Education; 2002.
