Elementary Perceptions of Safety and Safe Spaces

Abstract

This study investigates safety perceptions of a multisite elementary student sample ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade students in a rural northeast Georgia county. In an effort to provide this age level with a voice related to their perceptions of safety, a mixed-method design was developed for proper triangulation. All students were first given The Safe and Responsive Schools Survey, which measured five constructs relating to sense of personal safety, belongingness, effective learning/general climate, major safety issues, and incivility. Following the survey administration at both schools, five male and five female students were then chosen from school one to participate in a school zoning activity, which had them rating twelve select zones of the school as “safe” or “unsafe”. This exercise was immediately followed by focus group interviews connected to individual rating explanations. Statistical analyses were then executed, using survey data, to identify differences or shared variance between groups based on grade level, gender, ethnicity, and other factors. The interviews and zoning figures paired with this data helped qualitatively describe the emotions behind individual safety perceptions.

Key Words: safety, perceptions, school climate, zoning, elementary, survey