Hundreds of educators gather to learn about preventing violence in schools
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Missouri School Board Association and FBI divisions in St. Louis and Kansas City co-hosted the state's first Summit on School Threat Management.
The summit was held Wednesday and Thursday at the Stoney Creek Hotel in Columbia and had roughly 250 educators, law enforcement officials, administrators and more come attending. They all gathered to better understand the threat of violence that is impacting schools around the country and to learn how to stop it.
"I've responded to seven school shootings in my career," said Chief operations officer for the Center of Education John McDonald. "And along the way, the one thing I learned is that it's always better to live in a world of prevention than try to live in a world of tragedy because tragedy is just too hard."
McDonald is one of the many experts who spoke at the summit. He discussed how teachers and other educators can keep schools safe and how to identify when a student is displaying signs of violence.
Signs can include a change in behavior, fascinations with weapons, statements of intent to harm someone and more.
"Some of the warning signs that we see as isolation, a student that becomes isolated and is struggling. We watch for severe bullying," McDonald said. "Teasing happens in every school in this country, but no student should have to go to school and feel threatened, bullied, harassed or intimidated."
Melissa Reeves -- who is the former president of the National Association of School Psychologists and K-12 threat-assessment expert -- told ABC 17 News that after COVID-19, many students are behind on social, emotional, and communication skills.
"When we can build those skills early on and individuals develop those skills, they don't go on to wanting to harm others because they themselves feel connected to others, know that others care about them," Reeves said. "And really it's that connectedness and relationship is the best form of prevention we have."
Dewey Cornell, who is a professor of education at the University of Virginia, said 60% of schools in the U.S. reported having some type of threat-assessment program. Cornell said studies show the program decreases bullying rates, teachers feel safer, and suspension and expulsion rates reduce.
"You know, a lot of schools rely on zero tolerance where a student is automatically removed from school. That creates racial disparities," Cornell said. "It creates disparities for students with disabilities. And what we found in multiple studies, if schools use a threat assessment approach, their suspension rates go way down. And we can reduce, if not eliminate, the disparities that we see across students in school discipline."
According to Cornell, the federal government has a Stop School Violence Program and provides millions of dollars to schools and states across the country over the last six years. The University of Missouri aslo has had grants in order to provide threat assessment services.
