Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of teacher and administrators' involvement in school violence and take an in-depth look at the perceptions administrators hold regarding the preparedness of their teachers to handle school violence, and the perceptions teachers hold regarding their own preparedness to handle school violence. Secondly, the study was to identify what teachers and administrators perceive as necessary skills in order to be prepared to handle school violence in the areas of: (a) defusing a violent situation; (b) protecting themselves from assault; (c) reporting acts of violence after they occur. Methodology. A written questionnaire, developed by the researcher, was used to collect perceptions and opinions from administrators and teachers from selected southern California school districts. Findings. Both teachers and administrators perceive that: (1) They do not know how to defuse violent students nor do they perceive themselves knowing how to handle violent situations that occur in the classroom or on the school campus; (2) Teachers are not receiving in-service training in techniques and strategies that address the issue of school violence; (3) Teachers need to become trained in handling violent student/violent situations that may occur in the classroom and/or on the school campus; (4) Defusing violent students and violent situations has become a more frequently used skill in the everyday work routine of a teacher; (5) Teachers are willing to participate in a training program to teach teachers how to handle violent student/school violence; (6) Receiving training of protective physical strategies and techniques should be a primary component of a teacher preparedness program; (7) Most teachers do not know how to defend themselves physically against a student assault/battery; (8) Teachers have encountered situations with students where they feel they might have to defend themselves physically; (9) Teachers have had an increase in reporting acts of violence in the classroom and on the school campus over the past five years. Conclusions. Some conclusions: (1) Teachers are more likely to be involved in physical assaults from students in the classroom or on the school campus. (2) Both teachers and administrators have experienced very little training in the area of preparedness against school violence and or violent student behaviors. (3) Violence in schools is increasing in frequency and seriousness and school staff are increasingly vulnerable and liable. Recommendations. A training program to train teachers in handling school violence should be implemented at individual school sites that provides training in the basic techniques of handling violent students, classroom management during violent crisis, physical protection techniques for teachers, and properly reporting and following up of violent incidences and violent students.