Opinion | Understanding school safety in Michigan: How can we keep schools safe?

With the new school year underway, safety is at the forefront of many conversations. In the news, there are increasing reports of severe acts of physical violence, which are devastating and have negative ramifications for everyone in communities nationwide and in Michigan.  

Those acts of violence are horrible and traumatic, but it is also just the tip of the iceberg of what schools are experiencing. Below the surface, students and teachers face safety challenges in the form of bullying, mental health concerns, substance abuse, aggression, discrimination, and trauma. It is crucial to address all these forms of violence that school communities are experiencing to ensure everyone feels safe physically and emotionally.

For the past year, our team at The Michigan School Safety Initiative (MSSI) has worked with Michigan schools to select, implement, and sustain school safety efforts to prepare and respond to school violence. One way we have sought to improve school safety is by asking school-based personnel from across the state of Michigan what their top safety priorities are. 

We know that keeping schools safe requires more than physical security measures and takes more than reacting to events that have happened. These sentiments were echoed through data and perspectives from across the state. 

Top safety priorities reported in the state of Michigan included:  

1. Student depression/mental health 
2. Student social emotional skills 
3. Bullying
4. Social media
5. Teacher mental health 
6. Early detection/surveillance 
7. Student physical conflicts 

These concerns are not just about physical safety. They include aspects of schools' social environments, but also an important facet that many people overlook - what we call attentive environment, or approaches such as early detection programs that identify issues early before they grow into aggressive and violent acts (e.g., anonymous reporting systems like Ok2Say, threat assessment, mental health first aid).

To keep schools safe, we need to implement evidence-informed strategies that influence multiple environments of the school that work together toward a proactive, comprehensive model of school safety. Inclusive school safety efforts should involve various stakeholders including educators, parents, law enforcement and policymakers and should consider how programming attends to diverse student needs and experiences.

By addressing student social and emotional needs, programs can enhance positive school climate, strengthening connections between students, teachers, and families. Ultimately, by listening to the needs of school-based personnel in our state, we can work collectively to develop strategies that support positive youth development and ensure students concentrate on learning while in schools; not on staying safe.