Teachers and students should both undergo school safety education at the start of the school year. This gives teachers a proper basis for developing safe teaching practices, while at the same time offering methods to foresee, prevent, and if necessary react to violent situations in the classroom. Students should also be given proper school safety education. This will encourage them to avoid situations that may lead to school violence and to report any such situations if they arise.
To ensure a safe classroom environment, teachers must embrace an open while authoritative relationship with their students. This encourages students to be comfortable with discussing potential safety problems with their teacher. Moreover, an open and friendly classroom environment helps all students feel comfortable and involved in both classroom and social activities. This reduces the risk that students will engage in dangerous behavior, as many acts of school violence are fundamentally acts of social rebellion.
Teachers can prevent many cases of school violence by being aware of developing issues before they turn into violent situations. This requires special attention to student interaction, both in the classroom and during social interactions such as lunchtime and recreation. Developing social issues are evident in arguments and insults between students, but can also be seen subtle behavior, such as mumbled remarks and mannerisms in the classroom. Teachers must foresee and confront these issues before they lead to situations of school violence.
Some school safety issues can be averted through restrictions imposed on items allowed in the classroom. For example, banning book bags prevents students from concealing weapons and other harmful objects in the classroom. In addition to book bags and weapons, classroom restrictions on recreational items such as cell phones and music players helps ensure school safety by keeping students focused on their school work while at the same time preventing issues of theft, which are likely to lead to arguments or fights among students.