Encounters and Ordeals on Violent Incidents and School Safety: Their Status and Relationship

Exposure to violent incidents and safety issues at school remains a significant problem for both teachers and their learners. Communities around the globe are experiencing various forms of violence and most of the victims are the youths and the vulnerable groups. This study used a descriptive correlation approach to address issues on violent incidents and school safety in schools particularly in Davao Oriental. It examined the status of violent incidents and safety in schools and the extent on violent incidents’ influence to the level of school safety. Results reveal that violent incidents moderately occur with an overall mean of 3.29 and overall standard deviation of 0.67 which explains that the respondents’ impressions of violent incidents are the same and means that violent incidents happen regularly. Among the violent incidents happened are gang violence (X= 3.80, SD= 1.20) and arguments among students (X= 3.77 and SD= 0.99). Also, there is a high status of school safety with an overall mean of 3.52 and overall standard deviation of 0.78 which explains that school safety is evident in most occasions. Among the impressions of school safety are I feel safe in my classroom (X= 3.75, SD= 1.00) and I am happy with the way my school is dealing with violence (X= 3.53, SD= 1.23). However, the belief that violent incidents do not occur at their school is described as moderate (X= 2.92, SD= 1.14). Moreover, results also reveal that the magnitude relationship of violent incidents to school safety generated an r-value of -.312 which means that there is a moderate negative relationship between violent incidents and school safety. This means that if there is high occurrence of violent incident, then school safety is low and vice versa.