Understanding School Safety in the USA: ASU Researchers’ Insights on Student Well-Being

The conversation around school safety in the United States has reached a critical juncture. With over 230 K-12 shooting incidents recorded in 2025 alone, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, it is understandable that physical security dominates public discourse. However, researchers at Arizona State University are pushing for a more comprehensive understanding of what it truly means for students to feel safe in educational environments. Through the SHARE Schools Initiative, ASU scholars are examining how psychological safety, mental health support, and positive school climates contribute to student well-being in ways that traditional security measures cannot address alone.

Redefining Safety: Physical Security Meets Psychological Well-Being

When parents, educators, and policymakers discuss school safety, the immediate focus typically centers on preventing violent incidents—particularly mass shootings. While this concern is valid and essential, Sarah Lindstrom Johnson, a professor at ASU’s T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, argues that this narrow focus misses a critical component of student safety.

Psychological safety, as defined by the researchers, encompasses a student’s ability to feel accepted, valued, and secure enough to ask for help, make mistakes, and express concerns without fear of negative consequences. This dimension of safety directly impacts a student’s capacity to learn, engage, and thrive academically.

National data underscores the urgency of expanding our definition. Approximately 10% of students report missing school due to safety concerns, while roughly 20% experience bullying. These statistics reveal that everyday threats to student well-being—not just catastrophic events—significantly disrupt educational outcomes.

The Mental Health Crisis Connection

The relationship between school safety and student mental health cannot be separated. The CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey revealed that 40% of high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness severe enough to stop participating in usual activities for at least two weeks. As Lindstrom Johnson notes, this level of emotional and psychological distress has direct implications for academic performance and overall educational success.

When students do not feel psychologically safe, their cognitive resources shift from learning to self-protection. A student who is worried about bullying, social exclusion, or ridicule cannot fully engage with classroom material, no matter how effective the teacher or curriculum may be.

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Identifying the Elements That Undermine School Safety

Anthony Peguero, a Foundation Professor at ASU’s Sanford School and the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, identifies several key factors that contribute to students feeling unsafe. These extend well beyond the threat of physical violence:

• Exposure to violence: Including witnessing fights, threats, or aggressive behavior
• Bullying and harassment: Both in-person and through digital channels
• Substance use: Creating unpredictable and potentially dangerous environments
• Mental health challenges: Affecting both individual students and overall school climate

Peguero emphasizes that addressing these concerns requires a comprehensive school climate approach rather than isolated interventions. School climate encompasses students’ perceptions of safety, their engagement levels, their sense of belonging, and the broader environmental context in which learning occurs.

The Multifaceted Nature of School Climate

Effective school safety strategies must address multiple dimensions simultaneously. These include:

• School policies and administrative practices
• Relationship quality between students and educators
• Partnerships with families and community organizations
• Available resources for both students and staff

When any of these elements is weak or missing, the overall sense of safety diminishes. A school might have excellent physical security measures but still fail to create an environment where students feel psychologically protected and supported.

Measuring What Matters: How Schools Assess True Safety

One of the challenges in improving school safety is determining whether students actually feel safe. While administrative data such as disciplinary referrals and incident reports can track physical safety events, they provide limited insight into psychological safety perceptions.

ASU researchers recommend several methods for gathering meaningful safety data:

Comprehensive surveys: Regular surveys of students, staff, and parents can capture perceptions of safety and overall school climate. These tools should ask specific questions about psychological safety, not just physical security concerns.

Youth advisory boards: Giving students a formal voice in school safety discussions provides firsthand perspective on emerging concerns and helps administrators understand issues that might not appear in official data.

Parent organizations: Parents often have insight into their children’s experiences that schools might miss. Structured feedback mechanisms can help bridge this information gap.

The key is creating multiple channels for honest feedback and treating this data collection as an ongoing practice rather than a one-time assessment.

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The SHARE Schools Initiative: ASU’s Comprehensive Approach

The Safe, Healthy, Accessible, Resilient, and Equitable (SHARE) Schools Initiative represents ASU’s effort to bridge the gap between research and practice in school safety. Created by Lindstrom Johnson and Peguero, the initiative brings together researchers and practitioners to help schools better understand safety factors and create more supportive learning environments.

Breaking Down Silos in School Safety Work

A central problem the SHARE initiative addresses is the tendency for professionals to work in isolation. School counselors, administrators, security personnel, and teachers often focus on their specific responsibilities without coordinating their efforts. This siloed approach means that schools may miss connections between different safety concerns or fail to leverage the full range of available expertise.

The initiative is building a community of researchers committed to this collaborative work. Plans include traveling to Washington, D.C., to engage with policymakers about the resources and support schools need, while also maintaining a strong presence in Arizona to connect state leaders, community organizations, educators, families, and students.

The Five Pillars of SHARE

Each element of the SHARE acronym represents a critical dimension of school safety:

• Safe: Protection from physical harm and violence
• Healthy: Support for physical and mental well-being
• Accessible: Ensuring all students can access the resources and support they need
• Resilient: Building capacity to respond effectively to challenges and crises
• Equitable: Addressing disparities in safety and support across different student populations

This framework ensures that school safety efforts do not disproportionately benefit some students while leaving others vulnerable.

Explore our related articles for further reading on comprehensive approaches to educational improvement.

Common Misconceptions About School Safety

ASU researchers identify several ways that schools commonly misunderstand the safety challenge:

Overemphasis on Physical Security Measures

The understandable focus on preventing mass shootings can lead schools to invest heavily in physical security—metal detectors, locked doors, armed guards—while neglecting psychological safety. Some security measures, if implemented without careful consideration, can actually create additional harms for students by making schools feel more like prisons than places of learning.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently developed consensus guidance on school safety to help schools and policymakers consider approaches that promote safety while also supporting student well-being. Peguero served on the committee that developed this guidance, bringing ASU’s research perspective to national policy discussions.

Treating Safety as a One-Time Achievement

Schools sometimes approach safety as a box to check rather than an ongoing process. Safety assessments are conducted, measures are implemented, and then attention shifts elsewhere. Effective safety requires continuous monitoring, evaluation, and adjustment based on evolving needs and emerging data.

Ignoring Student Voice

Adults often design safety measures based on their own perceptions of threat without meaningfully involving students in the process. Yet students are the experts on their own daily experiences and often have valuable insights into where safety breaks down in practice.

Actionable Steps for Schools Seeking to Improve Safety

Based on the SHARE Schools Initiative’s research, schools looking to enhance safety should consider the following approach:

Establish Multidisciplinary Safety Teams

Bring together administrators, teachers, counselors, security personnel, and support staff to regularly examine data on school safety, climate, and student mental health. Different perspectives help identify blind spots and develop more comprehensive solutions.

Implement Routine Data Review

Make reviewing safety and climate data a regular part of school practice, not a one-time exercise. This allows schools to track whether interventions are working, identify emerging concerns early, and make adjustments as needed.

Invest in Relationship Building

Create structured opportunities for positive relationship development between students and adults in the building. Students who feel connected to at least one caring adult at school are more likely to report safety concerns, seek help when needed, and engage positively with the school community.

Address Disparities Directly

Examine safety and discipline data to identify whether certain student populations experience disproportionate harm. Equity-focused safety work ensures that improvements benefit all students, not just those already most privileged within the school system.

Engage Families and Communities

Schools do not exist in isolation. Building partnerships with families and community organizations extends the safety net beyond school walls and creates more consistent support for students.

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Moving Forward: A Broader Vision for School Safety in the USA

The work of ASU researchers through the SHARE Schools Initiative represents an important shift in how we understand and address school safety. By expanding the definition beyond physical security to include psychological well-being, by breaking down professional silos, and by centering equity in safety efforts, this approach offers a path toward schools that are truly safe for all students.

As students return to classrooms across the country, the question of what makes a school feel safe deserves serious attention from educators, policymakers, and communities. The evidence suggests that the answer involves far more than security cameras and locked doors—it requires building environments where every student feels accepted, valued, and supported in their learning journey.

The stakes are high. When schools get safety right, students can focus on learning rather than survival. When they get it wrong, the consequences ripple through academic outcomes, mental health, and long-term life trajectories. ASU’s SHARE Schools Initiative provides a research-backed framework for getting it right.

Share your experiences in the comments below—what does school safety mean to you, and what approaches have you seen work effectively?