Munroe-Meyer Institute Seminar Focuses on Complex
School Safety Issues
In the aftermath of any one of Americas tragic school shootings during
the last several years, there was usually one consistent reality — absolutely
nobody saw it coming. The issue of school safety will be addressed during
a Feb. 25 seminar being sponsored by the University of Nebraska Medical
Center and its Munroe-Meyer Institute. The seminar is titled, AStrategies
for Improving School Safety: What Works, What Doesn’t and What We’re Not
Sure About.
Even before the Columbine High School incident, there was a growing
call for school district safety programs due to previous violent assaults
on school grounds, said Mark Shriver, Ph.D., a child psychologist at MMI.
But now there is a federal mandate for all schools to formalize safety
guidelines plans that also will be evaluated for their effectiveness.
“The Strategies for Improving School Safety” seminar will be held from
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Best Western Regency Hotel in Omaha.
A $50 early registration fee is due by Feb. 21, and the fee will be $65
on the day of the seminar. The topics to be discussed include: conflict
resolution and peer mediation; student-based problem solving; bullying
and intimidation; utilizing school resource officers; developing a school
safety plan; legal issues surrounding safety planning; and metal detectors,
surveillance cameras and dogs.
“Munroe-Meyer already provides a lot of services tailored for individual
children in our public schools, Dr. Shriver said. What we are trying
to do now with a seminar is to encourage people to think ahead more, to
plan more, and not merely be reactive, as we have seen in the past.
Advanced planning is second nature to the seminars guest speaker, T.
Steuart Watson, Ph.D. While still a doctoral intern at MMI in 1990, he
published several papers. Watson went on to receive his doctorate in school
psychology and applied behavior analysis from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
in 1991. In 1998, the American Psychological Association chose Watson as
the recipient of the Lightner Witmer Award for outstanding research by
a young scholar.
Dr. Watson is nationally recognized for his research in developing programs
that focus on school safety, improving the academic and behavioral functioning
of children, enhancing the delivery of psychological services in schools,
and designing effective treatment procedures for a wide range of social,
emotional and behavioral problems in children. He is the author of several
books including Crime in the Schools: Reducing Fear and Disorder Through
Student Problem Solving and Handbook of Child Behavior Therapy. In
addition, Dr. Watson currently co-edits a nationally disseminated journal
with Dr. Shriver, titled, Proven Practice: Prevention and Remediation Solutions
for Schools.
“In a previous study, we found that most significant school problems
may not be what we often imagine, said Dr. Watson, now professor of Counselor
Education/Educational Psychology at Mississippi State University. Instead
of gangs, drugs and armed agitators, most of the conflicts uncovered concerned
everyday school interactions.
Moreover, methods for responding to school violence were based on variations
of just three distinct approaches B target hardening, violence prevention
and student-based problem solving. These approaches cover conflicting programs
often designed to accomplish dramatically different results. The path selected
will critically affect students, staff and the educational process itself,
Dr. Watson said.
The MMI department of pyschology staff has a long history working with
school administrators, teachers and parents to understand and assist various
individual students with issues. Offering their expertise and concern
to the field of school safety is a natural progression for Dr. Shriver
and his colleagues.
“We hope that the seminar will encourage even more school officials
to recognize our availability to assist them in tailoring their safety
plans to meet the needs of individual students, Dr. Shriver said.
“We know that nobody has all the answers to the incredible problems
facing today’s school children. But we also know that a big part
of developing effective effective safety plans is better communication
between all the community resources concerned with school problems, including
police, social service agencies, school administrators, community leaders
and local clergy.
For more information or to register for the seminar, contact the Munroe-Meyer
Institute, Department of Psychology at (402) 559-6408.
MMI provides a unique range of medical services for individuals who
have disabilities. These services are provided through outreach clinics
in the Omaha area and throughout Nebraska, in area school systems and in
the home setting.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education, outreach and patient care,
UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for
cancer research and treatment, solid organ transplantation and arthritis.
Nearly $32 million in research grants and contracts were awarded to UNMC
scientists during the past fiscal year. In addition, UNMCs educational
programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing
in Nebraska than any other institution.