Schools spend $4B on physical safety measures. Here’s what research says they should do instead.

“Dive Brief: Strategies that help students feel connected and supported can enhance school safety , according to a recent blog post by the Learning Policy Institute. Research shows that investing in evidence-based approaches that build students' psychological sense of safety — such as developing trusting relationships, creating positive school climates and providing mental health supports — can help prevent school violence, the blog said. While schools also need physical safety protections, some technologies being used in schools lack data on effectiveness and can even lead to harm, LPI said. Dive Insight: Schools in the U.S. spend more than $4 billion annually on physical safety measures including metal detectors, surveillance cameras and weapons detection systems, LPI said. But research into how just effective these technologies are in preventing violence is "thin," according to LPI, a nonprofit and nonpartisan education research group. "This spring, many U.S. school administrators will make purchasing decisions investing in further school hardening," the LPI blog said. "Unfortunately, in the name of keeping students safe in school, they may unintentionally be doing the opposite: deploying technologies that erode the trust, belonging, and psychological security that researchers say are the actual foundations of a safe school." For instance, LPI said, school weapons detection systems powered by artificial intelligence have led to wrongful arrests or false weapons identifications. Like security technology used at professional sporting events and concerts, the school-based systems take a digital image of where on the person a weapon is located — such as in a pocket or backpack — and alert staff to the threat. The technology gained popularity in recent years as AI capabilities have improved and as shootings on school campuses reached an all-time high in 2023. The Georgia Senate this session considered but ultimately tabled a bill that would have required weapons detection systems in schools statewide. In one incident that LPI cited elsewhere, a Maryland high school student was confronted at gunpoint and handcuffed by police after a school's weapons detection system initially misidentified a bag of chips the student was carrying. LPI's blog post also found faults with license plate readers and AI monitoring of school-issued student accounts, both of which can cause distrust among students and families. "Every dollar spent on school safety is ultimately a choice about what kind of environment schools create for young people," LPI wrote. "Districts can invest in technologies that monitor and sometimes criminalize students, but these measures often come with significant psychological costs for the school community.”

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