Dec. 18, 2000

Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129

EUGENE–If you think your children are safe when you send them to school, think again.

"Before they reach high school, children are more likely to be assaulted or harassed at school than anywhere else," says Jeff Sprague, co-director of the University of Oregon’s Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior.

Some schools have responded to this reality by hiring security guards who check students with metal detectors before letting them in through locked gates.

Sprague says this creates a prison-like atmosphere that is not only chilling to education, it doesn’t work particularly well.

The UO institute offers another alternative in a new guide on school safety published by the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) at the UO College of Education. The book was written to offer guidance to educators and school boards.

"Safe School Design: A Handbook for Educational Leaders," written by Tod Schneider, a Eugene Police Department crime prevention specialist, in collaboration with Sprague and institute co-director Hill Walker, provides practical advice on how to make schools as safe as possible without turning them into fortresses.

The guidebook focuses on the physical design of schools and outlines practical ways to correct weaknesses using a set of principles known as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).

CPTED is based on three basic premises.

First, buildings should be designed so legitimate users can easily see what’s going on around them. Second, officials should control building access in a way that forces visitors to come in through the main entrance, where they’re likely to be seen. Third, students, faculty and staff need to feel they have a say in the way their school operates so they’re more likely to speak up when they see problems developing.

The authors recognize that school districts don’t have unlimited money to improve school security.

"Most of the schools in America were built when security wasn’t really an issue," Schneider says. "Most schools weren’t designed to keep intruders out. CPTED offers proven and efficient ways to retrofit these schools to meet today’s security needs."

The guide includes photos and diagrams that identify physical weaknesses in school security. Examples of common weaknesses in school design include classroom doors left unlocked or ajar that lead to hallways or the exterior of the building; windows covered with announcements, blocking natural surveillance; or office furniture positioned so that staff have their backs to the hallway.

"These are problems that can be solved without major building redesigns," Schneider says.

The authors are quick to point out that, by itself, the guide can’t make schools safe.

"Safe and effective schools also need to provide a positive school climate and atmosphere," says Sprague. "For CPTED principles to work, school leaders also need to provide clear and high performance expectations, a climate of inclusion for all students, high levels of student participation and parent involvement, and school-wide conflict resolution strategies," he says.

To obtain a copy of "Safe School Design: A Handbook for Educational Leaders," contact ERIC, (541) 346-5044. The books retail for $18 apiece.

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