What Makes Students Fell Un/Safe in Northern Virginia Public High Schools? (Poster 20)

• In Event: Friday Poster Session 3:05 pm
  In Workshop: AERA Youth Teams in Education Research Poster Session

Abstract

For the past seven months, we (the Youth Research Council, or YRC) have investigated where and why high school students feel safe and unsafe in Northern Virginia public schools using Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) methods. Through interviews, surveys, and other qualitative methods, we have gathered stories and insights from over 100 of our high school peers about what makes them feel safe and unsafe in school environments. We used dialogic and arts-based analysis to construct a framework for understanding what safety means, when and where students feel safe or unsafe in schools, and how students navigate un/safety in their daily lives. We have learned that Northern Virginia’s high schoolers’ feelings about safety depend on factors related to their identies and personal expression, encountering threats of violence, the implementation of school policies, and interpersonal relationships with teachers, administrators, staff, and students. We aim to share our findings and recommendations with school leaders, educational researchers, teachers, and everyone invested in creating inclusive, safe, and identity-affirming learning environments for all students.

Authors

• Meagan Call-Cummings, Johns Hopkins University

• Bethany Monea, University of the District of Columbia

• Ruth Abebe, Youth Teams in Education Research

• Duchmaa Ariunbold, Youth Teams in Education Research

• Emily Ta, Youth Teams in Education Research

• LemLem Lemma, Youth Teams in Education Research

• Gilden Atongazi, Youth Teams in Education Research

• Ziyad Sankoh, Youth Teams in Education Research