Violence directed against K-12 teachers is a serious problem that demands the immediate attention of researchers, providers of teacher pre-service and in-service training, school administrators, community leaders, and policymakers. Surprisingly, little research has been conducted on this growing problem despite the broad impact teacher victimization can have on schooling, recruitment, and retention of highly effective teachers and on student academic and behavioral outcomes. Psychologists should play a leadership role in mitigating school violence, including violence directed toward teachers. There is a need for psychologists to conduct research accurately assessing the types and scope of violence that teachers experience; to comprehensively evaluate the individual, classroom, school, community, institutional, and cultural contextual factors that might predict and/or explain types of teacher violence; and to examine the effectiveness and sustainability of classroom, school, and district-wide prevention and intervention strategies that target teacher violence in school systems. Collectively, the work of psychologists in this area could have a substantial impact on schooling, teacher experience and retention, and overall student performance.

Understanding and Preventing Violence Directed against Teachers: Recommendations for a National Research, Practice, and Policy Agenda.

This study examined the moderating role of school violence and peer victimization on the association between sexual orientation and mental health. The sample consisted of 11,794 high school student...

Peer Victimization and Dating Violence Among LGBTQ Youth: The Impact of School Violence and Crime on Mental Health Outcomes

Violence in Schools

Problem Statement: School culture and school climate describe the environment that affects the behavior of teachers and students. School climate reflects the physical and psychological aspects of the school that are more susceptible to change and that provide the preconditions necessary for teaching and learning to take place. In addition, school climate is a significant element in discussions about improving academic performance. The most important component of school climate is safety. However, incidents of bullying are frequent occurrences for many children at school and in the community. Children who are bullied fear coming to school, and they believe school to be an unsafe and distressing place. Purpose of Study: The primary purpose of the present study is to investigate the feelings of both elementary students and their teachers about the school climate in terms of their perceptions of safety in the school. It is also of importance to describe the types and the prevalence of bullying, and possible incidents where bullying occurs, where they feel safe, and whom they tell about bullying. Methods: 688 students from the 4th through 8th grade from one elementary school and 58 randomly selected teachers were presented a questionnaire called the Colorado School Climate Survey. The data was analyzed in terms of frequencies and variance. Findings and Results: 41.3% reported that over the last month they were bullied at least once in a week or more. The results showed an average school climate scored 42.5 points out of a 56 point maximum. 25.4% of the students were found to be neither bullies nor victims. 41.3% of them were victims, 3.3% were bullies, and 29.9 % were bully-victims. Conclusion and Recommendations: Bullying is a serious problem in many schools and there seems to be no one single solution for every student. It is known, however, that the social context and supervision of the school play a major role in the frequency and severity of bullying problems.

Bullying and School Climate from the Aspects of the Students and Teachers

A History of Violence in the Schools

School Violence Prevention: Strategies To Keep Schools Safe. Policy Study No. 234.

School violence is a serious problem, especially in public schools. Improving the quality of American education is difficult without also addressing school violence, since regardless of how good the teachers or curriculum are, violence makes it difficult for students to learn. School violence wears many faces. It includes gang activity, locker thefts, bullying and intimidation, gun use, assault—just about anything that produces a victim. Violence is perpetrated against students, teachers, and staff, and ranges from intentional vendettas to accidental killings of bystanders. Often, discussions of school violence are lumped together with discussions of school discipline generally, as both involve questions of how to maintain order in a school.

Alexander Volokh

Papers

School Violence Prevention: Strategies To Keep Schools Safe. Policy Study No. 234.

School Violence Prevention: Strategies to Keep Schools Safe (Unabridged)