The New Safety Net: How Feeling Safe in School Keeps Kids Physically Safe

With September as National Suicide Prevention Month and October as National Bullying Prevention Month, student safety is at the forefront of our minds. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents and teenagers in the US, a national crisis whose remediation depends on a multi-faceted approach to creating a safer future for our children. With 1 out of 5 students reporting being bullied at school and 1 out of 6 being bullied online, the stakes of our children’s safety has never been higher. 

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Traditional Safety Measures: Are They Effective?

Many school systems in the United States have implemented drastic measures around school safety. Some kids wait in long lines to walk through beeping metal detectors at school, there are uniformed and gloved personnel unzipping kids’ backpacks, searching lockers for knives, drugs, and guns. There are surveillance cameras in hallways, recording student behavior in the hopes that the threat of being caught will prevent negative outcomes. Yet recent research has shown that all of these good intentions might have some unintentional consequences—they may, in fact, make schools less safe.^[1]

A New Perspective on School Safety

In a large-scale study performed by the National Institute of Health, a new framework has emerged around school safety. Through a comprehensive review of school surveys spanning decades, the NIH discovered a key finding that changes the narrative about what makes a school safe. The research found that what makes a school physically safe is largely dependent on kids’ perception of safety at school. In fact, kids feeling safe at school is one of the key predictors in determining how physically safe their behaviors toward themselves and others will be. 

According to the NIH study, “Feeling safer at school tended to decrease the probability of suicide attempts and suicidal ideation at school. Self-harming behavior was also found to be associated with a feeling safe at school.l” ^[1] Bullying in school, and violence, followed the same trends as correlated to overall feelings of safety in school.^[1] 

Ironically, the study found that security measures such as metal detectors and digital surveillance lowered kids’ feelings of safety—perhaps because the technology reinforced the idea of perceived threats—and thus was correlated with a decrease in the overall safety of the school in all measures^[1]

All schools want their students to be safe. The question becomes… What other structures besides surveillance measures might schools implement to increase their physical safety? The NIH study suggests that connections with others and supportive interactions were largely responsible for feelings of safety— friendships, teachers who were kind and cared, staff that were consistent and fair ^[1]. A study with similar findings by Kids Data named emotional and wellness support as key in kids’ feelings of safety at school ^[2]. Because emotional safety breeds physical safety, it is important for schools to double down on their efforts to make sure all students have the feeling of safety while at school. 

Yet, emotional support and connections, even in the best- intentioned schools, can be hard to find. In a recent study of over 60,000 secondary students, ”Fewer than half of middle school students and just over a third of high school students agree that their school has services or programs that help them when they are upset, stressed, or having problems” ^[3] School counselor and psychologist schedules are overburdened, leaving many students without the emotional safety net they need. In the aftermath of the pandemic, this has only intensified—schools report an unprecedented need for student wellness support.

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A New Paradigm for Student Safety

Helping kids feel emotionally safe is central to Clayful Health’s mission. As an extension of mental health teams at both the school and district level, Clayful is a chat-based mental wellness platform where kids can access a trained and certified mental wellness coach on their devices before, during and after school for support. The chats are student-led, meaning students come to Clayful with whatever is on their mind—from friendship issues, to academic stress, or grieving the death of a pet. When counselors or school psychologists are busy or overscheduled, Clayful closes the gap between need and support. Every kid has access to a coach within 60 seconds of logging on to Clayful’s app—meaning that fewer kids are slipping through the cracks.

Kids trust Clayful as a safe space for them to be themselves and to get professional support when they need it. In the case of more serious issues, like self-harm and suicidal ideation, Clayful has research-based protocols that connect students with dedicated school support teams, a student’s family and/or local agencies. School feels safer because kids know Clayful is there. 

The schools and districts Clayful works with know that Clayful’s on-demand, research-based approach to wellness gives everyone an extra layer of safe feelings: kids, school staff, and parents. Clayful is a first-of-its-kind emotional safety net for the entire school community. 

During these months of Suicide & Bullying prevention, the 1:1 support Clayful offers is not only critical to student's mental well-being, but also their physical safety & survival.

Want to learn more? Sign up for a 20-min chat with one of our team members.

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References: 

[1] Mori, Y., Tiiri, E., Khanal, P., Khakurel, J., Mishina, K., & Sourander, A. (2021). Feeling Unsafe at School and Associated Mental Health Difficulties among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review. Children (Basel, Switzerland), 8(3), 232. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8030232

[2] The Importance of Feeling Safe and Connected at School [data analyzed]. (2021). Kidsdata.org

[3] “Youth Truth: Insights From the Student Experience: Emotional & Mental Health” [surveys analyzed] (2020). Youthtruthsurvey.org