Are devices like metal detectors a good idea to ensure school safety?

John Woodall, Director of the Unity Project

September 14, 2000
Web posted at: 12:32 PM EDT (1632 GMT)

By John Woodall

Answer:

Safety is the absolute precondition for learning. In fact, research shows that we lose the ability to acquire new information in a condition of fear. If a child feels unsafe, she is not going to be able to learn as well. Beyond this fact, it is simply morally and culturally unacceptable to put our children in a position of being unsafe, especially when under the care of a school.

What do we need to feel safe? First, we need to be physically protected. Yet even in the most dangerous situation, people can feel safe if they feel emotionally supported and a part of the community around them. The most important factor in establishing safety for the school, then, is to see the issue in the larger context of creating a unified and supportive environment within which all members of the school community feel connected.

In the model we use in the Unity Project, we invest a great deal of time creating a "Unity Council," in which teachers, administrators, parents, community leaders and municipal representatives come together to assess what is needed to create a united culture for the school. We come to agreement on the basic needs and strengths of the school and clearly define the values we want in place at the school. These values (i.e., scholarship, honesty, appreciation for diversity, mutual respect, civility in problem solving, the dignity of each child, etc.) are clearly stated and reinforced to the students in a number of ways through policies and procedures and in the interactions modeled by staff and expected from students. This common purpose unites the school culture and provides a powerful message to the entire school community. In the therapy field, we call this approach, "the healing power of community." Investing in creating and maintaining this kind of school culture goes a long way to fostering the safe environment we all want for our kids. With this as a backdrop, students can feel trust and safety, the preconditions for learning.

A school with metal detectors might be far more unsafe if there has been no attention to creating this overall school culture. Students might feel they have been made into an enemy to be feared. The worst scenario is that the anxiety caused by this division between students and staff can get acted out in any number of dysfunctional ways, making the situation even worse. But metal detectors can be an important element of a comprehensive effort to stop the real danger of weapons being brought to school if they are a part of an overall plan to create a united and safe school culture. Before they are installed, be sure to seek legal advice as well as broad support from parents, teachers and the school board on what the conditions would have to exist to allow you to take them out once they are not needed.

Dr. John Woodall is a psychiatrist with a specialty in treating psychological trauma. He is on the faculty of the Judge Baker Children's Center at Harvard University and is the Director of the Unity Project Curriculum Initiative, developing pro-social skills in diverse school settings. Dr. Woodall just returned from the State of the World Forum where he presented the Unity Project.