John Devine

In this practical manual, the authors demonstrate the important relationship between social emotional and ethical education and school safety. They combine traditional crisis management and emergency planning with all of the principles that have become the cornerstones of the field of evidence-based, social emotional learning and character education. Featuring real-life examples and best practices, they cover widespread concerns, ranging from student behavioral issues such as bullying and social exclusion to gang-related violence and other tragic events. This essential resource will help schools be proactive in preventing tragedies, as well as effectively reactive when they occur.

Escalations in student violence continue throughout the American nation, but inner-city schools are the hardest hit, with classrooms and corridors infected by the anger, aggression, and criminality endemic to street life. Technological surveillance, security personnel, and paramilitary control tactics to maintain order and safety are the common administrative response. Based on years of frontline experience in New York's inner-city schools, this text seeks to demonstrate that such policing strategies are not only ineffectual, they divorce students and teachers from their ethical and behavioural responsibilities.