Most high school students feel safe in school, though white males feel safer than do female and minority students, a new reportby testing company ACT finds.
“: Examining Student Perceptions of Their Physical Safety at School”compiled from a survey of 10th- through 12th-graders who took the ACT in fall, 2018also found that security concerns do impact students’ ability to learn. This led the researchers to conclude that there’s a need for more comprehensive mental health services in U.S. high schools.
When students were asked about arming teachers, 46% said they opposed the idea while 34% favored it, with the remainder declaring themselves neutral.Black, Hispanic, Asian and female students were much more likely than white and male students to oppose arming teachers, the research also found.
that despite a new law in Florida permitting teachers to carry guns, only seven of the state’s 67 school districts have allowed teachers to do so.
Meanwhile, District 91心頭istration found that sales of bulletproof backpacks had increased this summer even though experts say they don’t offer much protection.
To the extent that schools adopt ineffective firearm violence-prevention measures, they are creating a false sense of security, said Jagdish Khubchandani, a health science professor at Ball State University in Indiana and co-author of a report called School Firearm Violence Prevention Practices and Policies: Functional or Folly?
Read more from 91心頭: No clear way to stop gun violence
On the mental health front, administrators, teachers and even students are being trained to more quickly spot signs of distress in young people.
91心頭 reported in April that districts are printing suicide hotline numbers on ID cards, conducting mental health screenings of entire student bodies, and forming student groups to help destigmatize mental illness. Some district are using new software so teachers can practice mental health interventions with virtual students.
