Authors of a new book published by Johns Hopkins University are trying to change the conversation around school safety to focus more on mental health and equity instead of violence prevention.
The collection of essays from education and public health scholars, titled Creating Safe, Healthy, and Inclusive Schools: Challenges and Solutions, highlights evidence about the ineffectiveness of common “school safety” measures like hiring police officers and installing cameras and metal detectors.
The authors instead advocate for “asset-based approaches” like restorative justice and social-emotional learning, with a focus on student mental health and well-being.
“Anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, these numbers are increasing rapidly among school-aged children,” said Christopher Morphew, dean of Hopkins’ school of education and a lead editor of the new book. “And in our haste to respond to the incredibly tragic but rare violent events like school shootings, all the oxygen in the room has been taken up by these discussions around school safety that miss the point.”
These punitive measures also take a heavier toll on Black and Brown students and students with disabilities, said Vanya Jones, another lead editor and professor of public health at Hopkins.
For example, in 2019, Black students with disabilities nationwide lost 77 more days of instruction time due to suspensions compared to their white peers, the book says.
“Hardening a school does not make your child want to go to school anymore, that does not make them feel safe, that does not make them feel supported,” Jones said. “In fact, the little bit that we know from some of the information we present in this book, is that's what makes them feel like they are the suspects.”
But school leaders across the country continue to adopt these “hardening” policies in the name of safety, the editors said.
In the past year, district leaders in both Baltimore City and Baltimore County strengthened their student disciplinary codes. Both districts also implemented more advanced weapons-detection systems — including one that uses AI.
Morphew says the knee-jerk reaction to implement these systems, despite the overwhelming evidence against them, comes from the demand for a tangible change.
“When parents — I'm a parent; I have three children — understandably have a visceral emotional response to a school shooting, they want to see action, and they want to be made to feel better as a result of that action,” he said. “And it's a lot easier to do that with a metal detector than it is to do that with a social-emotional response that is going to take months or years to implement properly.”
But Morphew said parents also have “very real fears” of their child suffering a mental health crisis, or their child being arrested for “developmental mishaps” typical to teens.
“We need to be as willing to invest in mental health personnel and approaches as we are in safety approaches, particularly given that the former work and the latter don't,” he said.
Jones said one of the most striking chapters in the book discusses the lack of training received by school resource officers (SROs).
“You wouldn't put a pediatrician in a hospital, and say, ‘Go deal with this issue’ without appropriate training,” she said. “ But we’re putting these police officers, we’re putting sheriffs in schools, asking them to address things that are really fundamentally developmental, appropriate things for young people to do.”
Johns Hopkins University launched its own private police force on campus with a few stationed officers this fall. It will grow to a full staff of 100 over the next few years.
Morphew and Jones both recognize that implementing more holistic solutions can be daunting.
“But my first point is, you're already doing it,” Jones said.
Baltimore County offers free teletherapy to all high schoolers. The district also piloted a new summer meal program meant to reduce barriers with bulk pick-up. Baltimore City schools are tackling chronic absenteeism through strong student-staff relationships and dedicated attendance teams.
“There are lots of ways to fortify what's already happening,” Jones said, like partnering with local nonprofits or universities. “How we get [these strategies] out there in mass and allow them to be proliferated is where I think the challenge sits.”
