Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 7, 2026
11:18
Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat
Published on: September 12, 2014
Students feeling unsafe in school: fifth graders' experiences
Gloria Jacobson1, Susan K Riesch, Barbara Myers Temkin
1St. Xavier University School of Nursing, Chicago, IL, USA.
Summary
Many fifth-grade students do not feel safe at school, reporting bullying and threats. This lack of safety can lead to stress and risk, impacting children
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- School Safety
- Educational Studies
Background:
- Many elementary school students report feeling unsafe in school environments.
- Understanding children's perceptions of safety is crucial for their well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how fifth-grade students express their experiences of feeling unsafe at school.
- To identify the prevalence, aftereffects, and triggers of feeling unsafe among students.
Main Methods:
- Survey administered to 243 fifth-grade students as part of a larger study.
- Participants who reported feeling unsafe described the specific reasons and consequences.
Main Results:
- 23.8% of fifth-grade students reported sometimes or always feeling unsafe at school.
- Common reasons cited include teasing, bullying, and threats occurring without adult supervision.
- Nearly a third of these students experienced stress, and almost half felt at risk.
Conclusions:
- Feeling unsafe in school has significant implications for students' mental health and risk behaviors.
- Schools and communities must take action to address the factors contributing to student insecurity.
Related Concept Videos
02:04Bullying
A modern form of aggression is bullying. As you learn in your study of child development, socializing and playing with other children is beneficial for children’s psychological development. However, as you may have experienced as a child, not all play behavior has positive outcomes. Some children are aggressive and want to play roughly. Other children are selfish and do not want to share toys. One form of negative social interactions among children that has become a national concern is bullying.
02:09Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
When we hold a stereotype about a person, we have expectations that he or she will fulfill that stereotype. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true. When we hold stereotypes about a person, we tend to treat the person according to our expectations. This treatment can influence the person to act according to our stereotypic expectations, thus confirming our stereotypic beliefs. Research by Rosenthal and...
02:01Group Design
The most basic experimental design involves two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The two groups are designed to be the same except for one difference— experimental manipulation. The experimental group gets the experimental manipulation—that is, the treatment or variable being tested—and the control group does not. Since experimental manipulation is the only difference between the experimental and control groups, we can be sure that any differences between the two are due to...
03:00Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
01:28Survey Safety
Surveying near highways, rough terrain, or power lines involves significant risks. Working along highways is particularly dangerous and requires the use of warning signs and flagmen. It is safest to avoid working directly on roads and use offsets whenever possible. When highway work is unavoidable, it must follow all safety guidelines. Surveyors should wear bright clothing, such as orange reflective vests, to ensure visibility to motorists, coworkers, and hunters. In construction zones, wearing...
04:49Robbers Cave
During the 1950s, the landmark Robbers Cave experiment demonstrated that when groups must compete with one another, intergroup conflict, hostility, and even violence may result. At the Oklahoman summer camp, two troops of boys—termed the Rattlers and the Eagles—took part in a week-long tournament. During this time, their negativity culminated in derogatory name-calling, fistfights, and even vandalism and destruction of property. However, this work also revealed that such tension could be...