Safe LearnersLearning Support :

Students and staff learn and work best in schools that are safe, disciplined and caring. Policy, programming and curricula can be applied to create climates and cultures of safety and respect in schools. Providing students with social emotional skills, resources and caring adults increases school safety, school connectedness and academic achievement.

The US Department of Education describes “cultures and climates of safety” as “environments in which teachers and administrators pay attention to students’ social and emotional” as well as academic needs. There is an emphasis on “emotional intelligence,” and “daily teasing and bullying is not accepted as a normal part of the adolescent culture.” (Threat Assessment in Schools: a guide to managing threatening situations and to creating safe school climates, 2002.)

Most evidence based programs for school climate take a comprehensive or “whole school” approach. That means that the entire school is engaged in creating positive school climates, including the staff, students and family members: all receive training and instruction, and with programming that extends throughout the school year. Whole school also refers to primary, secondary and tertiary prevention: education for all students, directed programmings for some students and interventions for the few students who need the most attention to help them succeed in school. For example, the American Psychological Association (APA) identifies three programs that make a strong contribution toward maintaining school safety and the integrity of the learning environment: “bullying prevention (primary), threat assessment (secondary), and restorative justice (tertiary).” (APA Zero Tolerance Task Force Report, 2006)