Joe Bishop navigates school safety and policing with scholars and researchers Heather Meyer Reynolds and Ron Avi Astor. 

When you think about school safety, do you automatically think of school shootings? Heather and Ron have been researching school safety since before the 1999 Columbine shooting in Colorado. They share how recent studies show school violence is actually decreasing despite the increase in school shooting coverage in the media. They give insight into how fear and the media’s focus on the shooters influence our reactions and lead to the over-policing of schools. They also expand our understanding of what school safety is. 

How should we approach school safety as parents, educators, and as students? Are the school safety policies in place currently working? 

Special Guest: Heather Meyer Reynolds, Ph.D., is a Professor of Teacher Education in the SUNY Empire State College School for Graduate Studies where she works as a teacher and researcher focused on creating safe, engaging, and welcoming school/classroom environments.  

Ron Avi Astor, M.S.W., Ph.D.,is the Crump Professor in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs department of Social Welfare with a joint appointment in the UCLA School of Education. His work focuses on the socio-ecological influences of society, family, community, school and culture on different forms of school violence. Astor’s studies have informed school safety policies across the globe. Findings from these studies have been published in more than 200 scholarly manuscripts.

Follow Ron and Heather on Instagram @Ronaviastor and @reynoldsh68. Check out UCLA’s website on school safety here. You can also connect with Ron and Heather on Facebook.

Our Children Can't Wait is a podcast by the Center for the Transformation of Schools in the School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. Joe Bishop is the host. Elizabeth Windom is the Producer. Julia Windom is the Associate Producer. Geneva Sum is the Creative Director, and Senior Producer is Jay Woodward. Our Children Can't Wait is a companion to the book of the same name, Our Children Can't Wait. Available now from Teachers College Press and Amazon. Our Children Can't Wait is produced by Windhaven Productions and Bluejay Atlantic.

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