Introduction

Politicians, the media, and parents consistently comment that "school's used to be safe havens for our children," but based on our history, is this reality or fantasy? Of course, one could argue that referring to schools as safe havens was neither reality nor fantasy but an idea of what we believed schools should be. Unfortunately, a belief based on a denial of facts does not protect schools, students, or educators. In fact, the denial of these facts have placed our schools at greater risk of victimization and targeted violence. Denial, whether intentional or unintentional, deprived us of 237 years between the first-known incident of targeted school violence in the United States, which occurred at Enoch Brown Elementary School, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, July 26, 1764, and the research undertaken by the USSS and USDOE in its 2001 SSI ("School Violence Around the World," n.d.; U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, U.S. Department of education, & National Institute of Justice, 2000).

This discussion is reflective in nature and designed to allow you, through research, to provide your opinion as to whether the phenomenon of targeted school violence was minimalized over the years and whether this minimization resulted in the extreme targeted school violence and contagion of violence we are experiencing today.

By following the instructions below, you will be addressing several of the course competencies, as well as solidifying your understanding of the historical and current knowledge of targeted school violence up to this point in the course.

Instructions

In your main post:

• Provide two explanations you found in your readings that explain the public's misconception of schools being safe havens.
• Describe why parents are likely to ignore or miss pre-warning communications.
• Explain how your local and state boards of education address threat assessment in their secondary school plans.

Discussion Objectives

The competencies addressed in this discussion are supported by discussion objectives, as follows:

• Competency 1: Assess the phenomenon of school violence.
  • Provide two explanations you found in your readings that explain the public's misconception of schools being safe havens.
• Competency 2: Explore offender-related communications relative to school violence pre-event, during the event, and post-event.
  • Describe why parents are likely to ignore or miss pre-warning communications.
• Competency 4: Explain the use of threat assessment in pre- through post-secondary education.
  • Explain how your local and state boards of education address threat assessment in their secondary school plans.

Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of two peers. Compare your reflections and opinions with others. Are you seeing similarities or differences? If you see differences, do they influence you to take another look at your own conclusions?

APA citations are not required for discussions. However, if outside material is used, you are required to cite the sources.

References

Angels of Columbine. (n.d.). School violence around the world. Retrieved from http://www.columbine-angels.com/School_Violence.ht…

U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, U.S. Department of education, & National Institute of Justice. (2000). Safe School Initiative: An interim report on the prevention of targeted school violence. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED447392.pdf

PLEASE NOTE…..THIS IS ONLY A DISCUSSION AND REQUIRES ONE REFERENCE