During Safe Schools Week, schools and communities across America will focus their collective attention on the importance of empowering youth to prevent violence in the places where they learn and socialize. With the support of several national organizations, including national leaders in the fields of education, violence prevention and school safety, National Safe Schools Week events bring together key school and community members who are concerned about protecting our youth.

The LearnSafe™ Initiative, the founder of Texas Safe Schools Week, in conjunction with its sponsoring partners, currently provides support to National Safe Schools Week through several programs:

• Anti-bullying campaigns – The continuing education received through LearnSafe’s training programs will enable school teachers, staff, and administrators to be able to identify threats well in advance of a situation, intervene based on proven research and create an environment where students do not have to resort to violence to express their emotions.
• Anti-gang campaigns – LearnSafe, through its partners, trains school administrators on gang issues that they may face on a daily basis. The training updates them on the latest threats, trends, and best practices so that they can ensure that their school remains safe for both students and staff.
• Proactive Anti-violence campaigns – Violence at schools is rarely a sudden, impulsive act. In many cases, there are behavioral signs of potential violence before it occurs. It is critical that those in the school environment learn to recognize these signs and take steps to prevent them. Ultimately, it will be your staff that helps create and sustain a safe school climate.

Additionally, the SPEAK UP campaign is another national initiative aimed at preventing weapons-based violence in schools.

FACTS:

• Young people are carrying weapons at an alarming rate. Over 3,000,000 high school students in the United States reported carrying a weapon in the past 30 days and of those students, over 896,000 reported that the weapon they carried was a gun.***
• In 2005, over 1,000,000 (6.5%) high school students across America brought a weapon to school each month.***
• Over 1,300,000 (7.9%) High School students in the United States reported being threatened or injured with a weapon at least once in the past 12 months and just under 1,000,000 (6.0%) High School students missed at least one day of school in the past 30 because they felt unsafe.***
• Thankfully, recent figures suggest that there is only about a one in one million chance of a student dying by homicide or suicide at school. However, the odds that a high school student will be injured or threatened with a weapon are about 1 in 14.*
• A little more than half of students surveyed said they knew of at least one incident of a student bringing a weapon to school. Of these students who knew, 60% did nothing. Only 20% told a teacher, principal or other school official about it.**
• In 81% of attacks in schools, the attacker told at least one other person first. In almost 60% of attacks, he or she told more than one person.*
• In 93% of cases, the person who knew was a friend, schoolmate, or sibling. Some knew all the details of the attack, including the time and date, while others only knew that something “big” or “bad” was going to happen.*
• Research indicates that 93% of school attackers developed a plan to harm people at school before the attack. Some planned out the attack only a few days prior but analysis reveals that 51% of attackers began to develop the idea at least a month before hand.*
• When surveyed, 56% of students said they would “definitely” report a weapon-related threat of violence and another 30% said they would “probably” report it.**