Creating a positive learning environment is the first step towards creating a safer school. There are a number of ways in which your school can modify its environment making it both a better place to learn and more in tune to the safety needs of students and teachers.
- Take an objective and non-emotional assessment of the state of school safety at your school before enacting changes.
- Create a vision for a learning environment that is more positive emphasizing a secure and peaceful culture both inside and outside the classroom.
- For students, promote democratic principles of respect for every individual and equal opportunities to learn.
- Assess the physical environment - make smaller and more manageable spaces, open up classrooms with exterior and interior windows, cluster classrooms around central media or library room instead of long empty hallways.
- Add positive and proactive technology enhancements (such as microphone/speakers in classrooms and key-card swipe locks on all doors). This may make a huge difference in safety and the perception of safety.