SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa remained closed Friday following the fatal stabbing of a student, another incident in a troubling trend of school violence.
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While there have always been behavioral issues and needs at schools, it feels like there has been an uptick in recent years.
"It definitely seems like we're hearing a lot more incidents coming up with higher levels of significant experiences of harm that are happening on campus," said Kerri Berkowitz, the founder of the Center for Relational Practices, an organization that specializes in working with school systems to become restorative communities.
This is where Berkowitz's organization comes in, she told KCBS Radio’s Eric Thomas and Margie Shafer on "Ask an Expert" on Friday.
"The idea behind these sorts of practices is to build a strong environment where all the individuals in the community work on establishing strong relationships with each other," she said.
This involves building a strong culture and sense of community within the school environment, through quality relationships, according to Berkowitz.
"Also recognize that conflict is going to happen and when there are experiences of harm – it's how we respond to that experience, to those incidents, where everybody is impacted," she said.
They strive to open up a conversation where people feel safe communicating with each other and encouraging accountability.
This type of process could be facilitated by school resource officers, depending on the individual and how they involved they are in the community.
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