Early Warning, Timely Response
A Guide to Safe Schools
Letter
Dear Principal and Teachers:
On June 13, after the tragic loss of life and injuries at Thurston High School in
Springfield, Oregon, President Clinton directed the Department of Education and the
Department of Justice to develop an early warning guide to help "adults reach out to
troubled children quickly and effectively." This guide responds to that Presidential
request. It is our sincere hope that this guide will provide you with the practical help
needed to keep every child in your school out of harm’s way.
America's schools are among the safest places to be on a day-to-day basis, due to the
strong commitment of educators, parents, and communities to their children. Nevertheless,
last year’s tragic and sudden acts of violence in our nation’s schools remind us
that no community can be complacent in its efforts to make its schools even safer. An
effective and safe school is the vital center of every community whether it is in a large
urban area or a small rural community.
Central to this guide are the key insights that keeping children safe is a community-wide
effort and that effective schools create environments where children and young people
truly feel connected. This is why our common goal must be to reconnect with every child
and particularly with those young people who are isolated and troubled.
This guide should be seen as part of an overall effort to make sure that every school in
this nation has a comprehensive violence prevention plan in place. We also caution you to
recognize that over labeling and using this guide to stigmatize children in a cursory way
that leads to over-reaction is harmful. The guidelines in this report are based on
research and the positive experiences of schools around the country where the value and
potential of each and every child is cherished and where good practices have produced, and
continue to produce, successful students and communities.
We are grateful to the many experts, agencies, and associations in education, law
enforcement, juvenile justice, mental health, and other social services that worked
closely with us to make sure that this report is available for the start of school this
fall. We hope that you and your students and staff, as well as parents and the community,
will benefit from this information.
Sincerely,
Richard W. Riley
Secretary
U.S. Department of Education
Janet Reno
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Source: U.S. Department of Education
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Additional Information
Treatment
of ADHD
Parenting
Styles
Positive
Discipline
Anger
in Children
Fostering
Resilience
Fostering
Responsibility
Children
and Divorce
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