Departments: Health
Breaking the Code of Silence

Students, their network of friends, and trusted adults can be the first line of defense in keeping schools safe. But how can educators persuade students to break the code of silence and tell them of threats? What preventive measures can help ward off potentially lethal situations? NEA staffer Becky Fleischauer shares advice from school safety experts who know.

A hotline tip in Hoyt, Kansas resulted in the arrest of three heavily armed students prepared to take their artillery into school. Law enforcement officials confiscated a semiautomatic rifle and bomb- making materials. An Elmira, New York student passed along a note to a teacher warning of school violence. Police later caught a student in the cafeteria armed with a revolver, a sawed-off shotgun, ammunition rounds, a duffel bag containing pipe bombs, and a propane bomb.

A student in Twenty-nine Palms, California alerted school officials about two troubled 17-year old classmates who had targeted 16 potential victims for violence. The plan was squelched, and all were kept safe. These stories don't always make headlines, but they speak volumes about a powerful force in keeping schools safe-responsive communication and an atmosphere of trust between students and adults. Data show that peers often are the first to know when potential harm is brewing. A recent Secret Service study disclosed that three-fourths of school shooters told some of their classmates about their plans. The U.S. Department of Education reported that out of the 6,000-plus handguns confiscated on school grounds during the 1996-97 school year, 92 percent of the cases were the result of students alerting school officials.

Yet fear, a code of loyalty, and a reluctance to "rat" on their friends often prevent students from telling an adult and getting help. "Our schools and communities must do everything they can to break this adolescent code of silence," says Wolfgang Halbig, president of the National Institute for School and Workplace Safety. "We need to make it easier, and more acceptable, for students to report threats they've heard other kids make."

Breaking the Code
School safety experts like Halbig encourage administrators to take responsibility for creating a nuturing, safe school atmosphere. Many school districts have started character education programs, emphasizing values such as responsibility, courage, and caring. But if these programs do not also emphasize the importance of breaking the code of silence, says Halbig, they are missing a golden opportunity. "You can put as many metal detectors in your schools as you want, but until you have most students working on your behalf, you have a false sense of security," he notes. What can be done to encourage students to speak up? Halbig, a former teacher and state trooper, suggests that schools: n Set up an easy-to-use, anonymous reporting system. A 24-hour, seven-days-a-week telephone hotline for students and parents can be a critical source of information about potential danger in or near school. Enlist business and community support to aggressively promote the hotline both in and out of school. Post student-made posters in hallways and rooms. Make sure materials clearly state that all calls are confidential.

• Solicit students' insight. Invite student participation through surveys, discussion groups, suggestion boxes, and by involving the student council and mentoring programs.
  
  
• Adopt an established protocol so students and staff know exactly how to respond to reports of potential violence. Hold regular discussions about the school discipline code. Make safety and security a topic for a parent open house. Ask students for a formal commitment to break the code of silence in order to prevent harm and save lives.