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Preventing Campus Violence

Isaiah Clements

Bethune-Cookman University
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Preventing Campus Violence

The rising cases of serious violent crimes have not only overwhelmed the police agencies

but also raised a specter of serious violence on college campuses. Data compiled from schools

across the country are showing increased cases of sexually related crimes, murder, and

aggravated assault. While understanding crime rates is important for the entire population, it’s

especially important for college students. Students, who go away from home for the first time,

may not have the experience to be street savvy. The longtime effect on violent crimes on

campuses poses long term effects both psychologically and physically. It is therefore important

when institutions raise awareness and prevent future violence. Preventative measures to curtail

college campus include psychological methods, Technology, law, mass notification and most

importantly student personal protective measures

Methods Used To Prevent School or College Campus Violence

Mental health status is one of the major determinants of criminal tendencies. To ensure

mental health in campus specialized education programs concerning causes of suicide attempts,

drug abuse, eating disorders should be offered in all schools. Other generalized services should

also be encouraged as most students may opt to handle their issues alone. Mental health is a step

to curtail crime in general. To lessen harm faculty and campus staff should be able to support

victims overcome the trauma and further counseling sessions to help them cope. Survivors of

sexual violence who seek help or intervention from their college or university should encounter a

system that provides coordinated, confidential support and addresses their needs in a non-

judgmental environment. Students should be made to feel confident and safe in reporting policies

and accessing available resources. The initial step in creating a healthy mental environment on

campus is to query reporting student with unusual academic history as well as criminal records
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Technology is another method used to prevent violence. Physical and electronic security

such as CCTV cameras has been used to solve many crimes. Video footage retrieved from these

sources can narrow down the search for perpetrators and sometimes even identify them.

Emergency signaling installed in classrooms can help students stuck in danger of alert

emergency teams. Exterior doors should be properly constructed and lockable. Some schools

have exterior doors in need of repair or replacement; which poses a possible threat to the

students. To ensure the success of technology in preventing crime, the response team and police

should be well trained in the use of specialized firearms. The police should also be able to gain

forcible entry into locked rooms and buildings.

School preparedness and mass notification is a way to create awareness that violence will

not be tolerated in schools and colleges (Basile, DeGue, Jones, Freire, Dills, Smith, Raiford,

2016). Policies outlining how staff respond and refer to students have the potential for violence,

is one way to preparedness. Protocol in times of crisis and training of staff in identifying risk is

mandatory. The school should further collaborate with outside agencies especially the police.

When it comes to criminal law should be followed and perpetrators should always be punished

for attempt or committing the crime. Sensitizing students on prevention by introducing basic

crime prevention courses for every undergraduate is a necessary part of mass notification.

We must not, become complacent and ignore the potential for violence, When such

incidents of extreme violence occur, they receive intense and long-lasting media focus. This

attention produces a contagion effect when others identify with the perpetrators, rather than with

the victims and their families, increasing the likelihood of copycat violence.
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References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014). Preventing sexual violence on college

campuses: Lessons from research and practice. Retrieved June 6, 2015 from

https://www.notalone.gov/schools/.

Basile, K.C., DeGue, S., Jones, K., Freire, K., Dills, J., Smith, S.G., Raiford, J.L. (2016). STOP

SV: A Technical Package to Prevent Sexual Violence. Atlanta, GA: National Center for

Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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