In a new study, University of
Texas at Dallas criminology researchers have found that certain factors affect
students' willingness to report weapons at school.
"A big part of adolescent
development is figuring out your identity, and that does not always mean
talking to grown-ups about what is going on," said Dr. Nadine Connell,
assistant professor of criminology in the School of Economic, Political and
Policy Sciences. "We can't stop students from using weapons if we don't
know about the weapons that are actually out there."
The study, published online in Youth
Violence and Juvenile Justice, used data from anonymous online surveys
administered to students in grades 9-12 at 10 schools in a northeastern U.S.
state between 2008 and 2011.
Connell, lead author of the
study, said the researchers aimed to determine whether reporting behaviors
differ by weapon, which factors affect a student's willingness to report
weapons at school, and to whom students are most likely to report it.
"Understudied are the ways
schools can create positive climates for students to come forward and report
various risky behaviors -- the utmost concern of which are weapons on
campus," said doctoral criminology student Nina Barbieri MS'12, the second
author on the study. "We need to know what we can do to make students feel
safe at school, as research has found if students do not feel physically or
emotionally safe at school, they can become detached and their academic success
at risk."
According to the study, 76
percent of students said they would report a knife to a school official, while
88 percent said they would report a gun.
Across both genders, high
academic achievement was associated with willingness to report knowledge about
guns and knives. A stronger school attachment increased willingness to report a
knife.
Approximately 34 percent of
students reported seeing or knowing about a weapon in school in the prior three
months.
For both genders, previously
seeing a weapon on campus decreased the likelihood of reporting a knife. Among
males, prior knowledge of a weapon at school was associated with reduced
willingness to tell someone about a knife.
Knowledge of school security also
played a part in intent to report weapons. Male and female students who knew
about at least two security measures were more likely to report guns and
knives. Connell said this finding surprised researchers because they didn't
know if students paid attention to security measures.
Connell said that the precautions
-- such as identification badges, locker checks, locked doors and visitor
sign-in sheets -- were not cost-prohibitive.
"We theorize that the
students who knew about the security measures feel safer because they feel like
the adults are doing something to keep them safe," she said. "We
don't often think about prevention efforts as a joint effort between school
administrators and students, but research like this shows students' voices
matter. They are the first line of defense to something like the prevention and
intervention of weapons."
Most students said they would
tell all available authority figures about a gun or knife on campus. Principals
and counselors were least likely to be told. Students said they would report
weapons mostly to parents and family members.
A small subgroup of students
would not tell anyone.
It's encouraging that many students
are talking to their parents, Connell said, but families need a tool to do
something with the information, such as a tip line or email address provided by
the school.
"We really hope the study is
encouraging in that most kids feel that schools are safe, and most kids are
going to report something this serious," Connell said. "It's easy to
think about the kids who won't, but it's important to support the kids who
do."
In a follow-up study, the
researchers plan to examine the relationship between weapons and drugs at
school and students' willingness to report drugs.
No comments:
Post a Comment